|
The Divine Sappho
*
SAPPHO
wikipedia
|
I loved thee, Atthis, in the long ago. When the great oleanders were in flower
in the broad herded meadows full of sun.
|
And we would often at the fall of dusk
wander together by the silver stream.
|
|
When the soft grass-heads were wet with dew
and purple misted in the fading light,
|
and joy I knew and sorrow at thy voice.
|
And the superb magnificence of love.
|
|
The loneliness that saddens solitude----
|
And the sweet speech that makes it durable----
|
The bitter longing and the keen desire.
|
|
The sweet companionship through quiet days. In the slow ample beauty of the world,
|
And the unutterable glad release
within the temple of the holy night.
|
O, Atthis, how I loved thee long ago
in that fair perished summer by the sea!
|