XIX
There is a medlar-tree
Growing in front of my lover's house,
And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.
There is a medlar-tree
Growing in front of my lover's house,
And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.
Sappho
"
And the daughter of Cyprus said to me,
"Child of the earth, 10
Behold, all things are born and attain,
But only as they desire,---
"The sun that is strong, the gods that are wise,
The loving heart,
Deeds and knowledge and beauty and joy,-- 15
But before all else was desire. "
XIII
Sleep thou in the bosom
Of the tender comrade,
While the living water
Whispers in the well-run,
And the oleanders 5
Glimmer in the moonlight.
Soon, ah, soon the shy birds
Will be at their fluting,
And the morning planet
Rise above the garden; 10
For there is a measure
Set to all things mortal.
XIV
Hesperus, bringing together
All that the morning star scattered,--
Sheep to be folded in twilight,
Children for mothers to fondle,--
Me too will bring to the dearest, 5
Tenderest breast in all Lesbos.
XV
In the grey olive-grove a small brown bird
Had built her nest and waited for the spring.
But who could tell the happy thought that came
To lodge beneath my scarlet tunic's fold?
All day long now is the green earth renewed 5
With the bright sea-wind and the yellow blossoms.
From the cool shade I hear the silver plash
Of the blown fountain at the garden's end.
XVI
In the apple boughs the coolness
Murmurs, and the grey leaves flicker
Where sleep wanders.
In this garden all the hot noon
I await thy fluttering footfall 5
Through the twilight.
XVII
Pale rose leaves have fallen
In the fountain water;
And soft reedy flute-notes
Pierce the sultry quiet.
But I wait and listen, 5
Till the trodden gravel
Tells me, all impatience,
It is Phaon's footstep.
XVIII
The courtyard of her house is wide
And cool and still when day departs.
Only the rustle of leaves is there
And running water.
And then her mouth, more delicate 5
Than the frail wood-anemone,
Brushes my cheek, and deeper grow
The purple shadows.
XIX
There is a medlar-tree
Growing in front of my lover's house,
And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.
And when the evening comes, 5
We sit there together in the dusk,
And watch the stars
Appear in the quiet blue.
XX
I behold Arcturus going westward
Down the crowded slope of night-dark azure,
While the Scorpion with red Antares
Trails along the sea-line to the southward.
From the ilex grove there comes soft laughter,-- 5
My companions at their glad love-making,--
While that curly-headed boy from Naxos
With his jade flute marks the purple quiet.
XXI
Softly the first step of twilight
Falls on the darkening dial,
One by one kindle the lights
In Mitylene.
Noises are hushed in the courtyard, 5
The busy day is departing,
Children are called from their games,--
Herds from their grazing.
And from the deep-shadowed angles
Comes the soft murmur of lovers, 10
Then through the quiet of dusk
Bright sudden laughter.
From the hushed street, through the portal,
Where soon my lover will enter,
Comes the pure strain of a flute 15
Tender with passion.
XXII
Once you lay upon my bosom,
While the long blue-silver moonlight
Walked the plain, with that pure passion
All your own.
Now the moon is gone, the Pleiads 5
Gone, the dead of night is going;
Slips the hour, and on my bed
I lie alone.
XXIII
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, 5
When the soft grass-heads were all 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, 10
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 15
Within the temple of the holy night.
O Atthis, how I loved thee long ago
In that fair perished summer by the sea!
XXIV
I shall be ever maiden,
If thou be not my lover,
And no man shall possess me
Henceforth and forever.
But thou alone shalt gather 5
This fragile flower of beauty,--
To crush and keep the fragrance
Like a holy incense.
And the daughter of Cyprus said to me,
"Child of the earth, 10
Behold, all things are born and attain,
But only as they desire,---
"The sun that is strong, the gods that are wise,
The loving heart,
Deeds and knowledge and beauty and joy,-- 15
But before all else was desire. "
XIII
Sleep thou in the bosom
Of the tender comrade,
While the living water
Whispers in the well-run,
And the oleanders 5
Glimmer in the moonlight.
Soon, ah, soon the shy birds
Will be at their fluting,
And the morning planet
Rise above the garden; 10
For there is a measure
Set to all things mortal.
XIV
Hesperus, bringing together
All that the morning star scattered,--
Sheep to be folded in twilight,
Children for mothers to fondle,--
Me too will bring to the dearest, 5
Tenderest breast in all Lesbos.
XV
In the grey olive-grove a small brown bird
Had built her nest and waited for the spring.
But who could tell the happy thought that came
To lodge beneath my scarlet tunic's fold?
All day long now is the green earth renewed 5
With the bright sea-wind and the yellow blossoms.
From the cool shade I hear the silver plash
Of the blown fountain at the garden's end.
XVI
In the apple boughs the coolness
Murmurs, and the grey leaves flicker
Where sleep wanders.
In this garden all the hot noon
I await thy fluttering footfall 5
Through the twilight.
XVII
Pale rose leaves have fallen
In the fountain water;
And soft reedy flute-notes
Pierce the sultry quiet.
But I wait and listen, 5
Till the trodden gravel
Tells me, all impatience,
It is Phaon's footstep.
XVIII
The courtyard of her house is wide
And cool and still when day departs.
Only the rustle of leaves is there
And running water.
And then her mouth, more delicate 5
Than the frail wood-anemone,
Brushes my cheek, and deeper grow
The purple shadows.
XIX
There is a medlar-tree
Growing in front of my lover's house,
And there all day
The wind makes a pleasant sound.
And when the evening comes, 5
We sit there together in the dusk,
And watch the stars
Appear in the quiet blue.
XX
I behold Arcturus going westward
Down the crowded slope of night-dark azure,
While the Scorpion with red Antares
Trails along the sea-line to the southward.
From the ilex grove there comes soft laughter,-- 5
My companions at their glad love-making,--
While that curly-headed boy from Naxos
With his jade flute marks the purple quiet.
XXI
Softly the first step of twilight
Falls on the darkening dial,
One by one kindle the lights
In Mitylene.
Noises are hushed in the courtyard, 5
The busy day is departing,
Children are called from their games,--
Herds from their grazing.
And from the deep-shadowed angles
Comes the soft murmur of lovers, 10
Then through the quiet of dusk
Bright sudden laughter.
From the hushed street, through the portal,
Where soon my lover will enter,
Comes the pure strain of a flute 15
Tender with passion.
XXII
Once you lay upon my bosom,
While the long blue-silver moonlight
Walked the plain, with that pure passion
All your own.
Now the moon is gone, the Pleiads 5
Gone, the dead of night is going;
Slips the hour, and on my bed
I lie alone.
XXIII
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, 5
When the soft grass-heads were all 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, 10
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 15
Within the temple of the holy night.
O Atthis, how I loved thee long ago
In that fair perished summer by the sea!
XXIV
I shall be ever maiden,
If thou be not my lover,
And no man shall possess me
Henceforth and forever.
But thou alone shalt gather 5
This fragile flower of beauty,--
To crush and keep the fragrance
Like a holy incense.
