The Poems of Sappho Part 1

The Poems of Sappho.

by Sappho.

SAPPHICS

THE MUSES

Hither now, O Muses, leaving the golden House of G.o.d unseen in the azure s.p.a.ces, Come and breathe on bosom and brow and kindle Song like the sunglow;

Come and lift my shaken soul to the sacred Shadow cast by Helicon's rustling forests; Sweep on wings of flame from the middle ether, Seize and uplift me;

Thrill my heart that throbs with unwonted fervor, Chasten mouth and throat with immortal kisses, Till I yield on maddening heights the very Breath of my body.

MUSAGETES

Come with Musagetes, ye Hours and Graces, Dance around the team of swans that attend him Up Parna.s.sian heights, to his holy temple High on the hill-top;

Come, ye Muses, too, from the shades of Pindus, Let your songs, that echo on winds of rapture, Wake the lyre he tunes to the sweet inspiring Sound of your voices.

LOVE'S BANQUET

If Panormus, Cyprus or Paphos hold thee, Either home of G.o.ds or the island temple, Hark again and come at my invocation, G.o.ddess benefic;

Come thou, foam-born Kypris, and pour in dainty Cups of amber gold thy delicate nectar, Subtly mixed with fire that will swiftly kindle Love in our bosoms;

Thus the bowl ambrosial was stirred in Paphos For the feast, and taking the burnished ladle, Hermes poured the wine for the G.o.ds who lifted Reverent beakers;

High they held their goblets and made libation, Spilling wine as pledge to the Fates and Hades Quaffing deep and binding their hearts to Eros, Lauding thy servant.

So to me and my Lesbians round me gathered, Each made mine, an amphor of love long tasted, Bid us drink, who sigh for thy thrill ecstatic, Pa.s.sion's full goblet;

Grant me this, O Kypris, and on thy altar Dawn will see a goat of the breed of Naxos, Snowy doves from Cos and the drip of rarest Lesbian vintage;

For a regal taste is mine and the glowing Zenith-lure and beauty of suns must brighten Love for me, that ever upon perfection Trembles elusive.

MOON AND STARS

When the moon at full on the sill of heaven Lights her beacon, flooding the earth with silver, All the shining stars that about her cl.u.s.ter Hide their fair faces;

So when Anactoria's beauty dazzles Sight of mine, grown dim with the joy it gives me, Gorgo, Atthis, Gyrinno, all the others Fade from my vision.

ODE TO ANACTORIA

Peer of G.o.ds to me is the man thy presence Crowns with joy; who hears, as he sits beside thee, Accents sweet of thy lips the silence breaking, With lovely laughter;

Tones that make the heart in my bosom flutter, For if I, the s.p.a.ce of a moment even, Near to thee come, any word I would utter Instantly fails me;

Vain my stricken tongue would a whisper fashion, Subtly under my skin runs fire ecstatic; Straightway mists surge dim to my eyes and leave them Reft of their vision;

Echoes ring in my ears; a trembling seizes All my body bathed in soft perspiration; Pale as gra.s.s I grow in my pa.s.sion's madness, Like one insensate;

But must I dare all, since to me unworthy, Bliss thy beauty brings that a G.o.d might envy; Never yet was fervid woman a fairer Image of Kypris.

Ah! undying Daughter of G.o.d, befriend me!

Calm my blood that thrills with impending transport; Feed my lips the murmur of words to stir her Bosom to pity;

Overcome with kisses her faintest protest, Melt her mood to mine with amorous touches, Till her low a.s.sent and her sigh's abandon Lure me to rapture.

THE ROSE

If it pleased the whim of Zeus in an idle Hour to choose a king for the flowers, he surely Would have crowned the rose for its regal beauty, Deeming it peerless;

By its grace is valley and hill embellished, Earth is made a shrine for the lover's ardor; Dear it is to flowers as the charm of lovely Eyes are to mortals;

Joy and pride of plants, and the garden's glory, Beauty's blush it brings to the cheek of meadows; Draining fire and dew from the dawn for rarest Color and odor;

Softly breathed, its scent is a plea for pa.s.sion, When it blooms to welcome the kiss of Kypris; Sheathed in fragrant leaves its tremulous petals Laugh in the zephyr.

ODE TO APHRODITE

Aphrodite, subtle of soul and deathless, Daughter of G.o.d, weaver of wiles, I pray thee Neither with care, dread Mistress, nor with anguish, Slay thou my spirit!

But in pity hasten, come now if ever From afar of old when my voice implored thee, Thou hast deigned to listen, leaving the golden House of thy father

With thy chariot yoked; and with doves that drew thee, Fair and fleet around the dark earth from heaven, Dipping vibrant wings down the azure distance, Through the mid-ether;

Very swift they came; and thou, gracious Vision, Leaned with face that smiled in immortal beauty, Leaned to me and asked, "What misfortune threatened?

Why I had called thee?"

"What my frenzied heart craved in utter yearning, Whom its wild desire would persuade to pa.s.sion?

What disdainful charms, madly worshipped, slight thee?

Who wrongs thee, Sappho?"

"She that fain would fly, she shall quickly follow, She that now rejects, yet with gifts shall woo thee, She that heeds thee not, soon shall love to madness, Love thee, the loth one!"

Come to me now thus, G.o.ddess, and release me From distress and pain; and all my distracted Heart would seek, do thou, once again fulfilling, Still be my ally!

SUMMER