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O beautiful, O graceful girl * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I don't know what to do. I have two thoughts. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a tender girl picking flowers * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In my season I used to weave love garlands. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a sweetvoiced girl * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * far more melodious than the lyre, more golden than gold * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * over the eyes night's black slumber * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Delicate girl, in the old days I strayed from you, and now again [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Not one girl, I think, will ever look on the sunlight of another time who has such talent as this one does. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Do I really still long for virginity? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Fool, don't try to bend a stubborn heart. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * mingled with colors fo every kind * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * come now, my holy lyre, find your voice and speak to me. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I was in love with you, Attis, once, long ago. To me you seemed a little girl, and not too graceful. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * You have forgotten me or else you love some other person more than me. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Then love shook my heart like the wind that falls on * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * WITH WHAT EYES? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As the stars surrounding the lovely moon will hide away the splendor of their appearance when in all her fullness she shines the brightest * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Like a child to her mother I have flown to you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [ ] [ [ ] ]for when I look at you face to face [ matched you, and comparing you with blond Helen's if that is permitted to mortal women. Know this in your heart [ [ ] ]dewy banks [ [ ] ] all night long [ [ ] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Eros the Limb-loosener shakes me again - that sweet, bitter, impossible creature. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * But Attis, to you the thought of me grows hateful, and you fly off to Andromeda. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Why, O Irana, does Pandion's daughter the swallow wake me? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Just now Dawn in her golden sandals [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Never yet, O Irana, have I found anyone more vexing than you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mistress Dawn * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For me neither the honey nor the bee * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TO ANDROMEDA That country girl has witched your wishes, all dressed up in her country clothes and she hasn't got the sense to hitch her rags above her ankles. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANOTHER TO THE SAME When you lie dead there will be no memory of you, no one missing you afterward, for you have no part in the roses of Pieria. Unnoticed in the house of Hades, too, you'll wander, flittering after faded corpses. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * certainly now they've had quite enough of Gorgo. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * And Aphrodite said "Sappho, you and my attendant Eros" [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sappho, why do you summon Aphrodite rich in blessings? [ Andromeda certainly has her fair return. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Beauty is beauty only while you gaze on it, but one who's good will soon be beautiful as well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Eros, weaver of tales * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * May the winds and worries bear off the one who blames me in my anguish [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Close beside me now as I pray appearing, Lady Hera, gracious in all your majesty, you whom the Atreidai invoked to help them, while they were completing their many labors, first at Ilion, and then on the ocean sailing for this island: they hadn't power to till they called on you, on the god of strangers Zeus, and on Thyone's delightful son: now I too entreat you, O goddess, help me * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Please Abanthis, your Sappho calls you: won't you take this Lydian lyre and play another song to Gongyla while desire still for that girl, that beautiful girl: her dress's clinging makes you shake when you see it, and I'm happy, for the goddess herself once blamed me, for praying [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * May you sleep upon your gentle companion's breast. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Please, my goddess, goldencrowned Aphrodite, let this very lot fall to ME. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In my eyes he matches the gods, that man who sits there facing you - any man whatever - listening from closeby to the sweetness of your sweetness of your laughter: yes, that - I swear it - sets the heart to shaking inside my breast, since once I look at you for a moment, I can't but my tongue breaks down, and then all at once a subtle fire races inside my skin, my eyes can't see a thing and a whirring whistle cold sweat covers me and a trembling takes ahold of me all over: I'm greener than the grass is and appear to myself to be little But all must be endured, since even a poor [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gongyla [ surely some sign [ most of all [ Hermes entered, the Guide of Souls [ I said, "O my Master, [ by the blessed goddess I [ have no pleasure being above the ground: a desire to die takes hold of me, and to see the dew-wet lotus flowers on the banks of Acheron." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [ ] "Honestly, I would like to die." She was leaving me, saying goodbye, her cheeks wet with tears, and she said to me: "What a cruel unhappiness, Sappho, I swear that I leave you against my will." This is what I replied to her: "Go, fare well, and remember me, for you certainly know how we cared for you. If you don't, why then, I would like to remind you [ for with many a crown of roses mixed with crocus and violets you were garlanded while you were at my side and with many a flower necklace you encircled your tender throat, plaiting blossoms together to make a wreath, and with many perfumes [ precious, queenly [ you anointed yourself [ and on beds of soft luxury you would satisfy all your longing for that tender girl [ Never was there a festival at a shrine or a temple where we were absent [ nor a grove or a dance [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I miss you and yearn after you * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * While she lived here beside us she honored you like a goddess for all to see: it delighted her most to hear you singing. Now among all the women of Lydia she stands out, just as once the sun's finished setting the rosy-fingered moon surpasses all the stars, spreading her light alike on the salt sea and over all the wide blossoming country meadows. Now the dew filters down in its beauty, now roses bloom and the tender chervil and the flowery-scented melilot. Often, when she goes wandering she remembers her kind Attis, and now perhaps her subtle heart is consumed with potent yearning. Always her thoughts turn, longing to come where we also think of her as her song rises over the sea that spreads between us. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ] but age wrinkles my skin already, ]to dance like young fawns ] but what could I do? ] no possible to be ageless ] dawn goddess, rose-armed Eros ] ends of the earth she carried ] considers ] might give me. has made of the sun's brightness and beauty my fortune. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Goddess, I spoke with you in a dream, Cyprus-born Aphrodite * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "O Sappho, I love you [ the Cyprian Queen [ And yet great [ all people the sun shines on [ your glory to all lands [ and even in Acheron you [ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I think that someone will remember us in another time. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers, others call a fleet the most beautiful of sights the dark earth offers, but I say it's what- And it's easy to make this understood by everyone, for she who surpassed all human kind in beauty, Helen, abandoning her men - went sailing off to the shores of Troy and never spent a thought on her child or loving parents: when the goddess seduced her wits and she forgot them all, she could not remember anything but longing, and lightly straying aside, lost her way. But that reminds me she's not here, and I'd rather see her lovely step, her sparkling glance and her face than gaze on all the troops in Lydia in their chariots and * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Back To My Homepage |