[Lika_k]

Sappho
Sappho's Lament to Aphrodite
Immortal Aphrodite, rainbow-throned,
child of great Zeus and weaver of sweet wiles;
do not allow distress to crush my soul,
but greet me with your smiles.

Come to my aid, if ever in the past
you listened to my songs at eventide;
and, starting from your father's golden halls,
you hastened to my side,

brought hither in your chariot, ready yoked,
by gleaming birds whose swiftly fluttering skeins
skimmed over the dark earth amid the void
of heavenly domains.

And, as in those past times, O Blessed One,
you asked me in your sweet celestial speech
what was the cause of all my suffering,
why did I now beseech,

and what it was I needed to appease
my frantic heart. You said: Whom must I bow
to your demanding love? O Sappho, tell...
Who brings you sorrow now?

"For even if she flees, she will return;
rejected gifts, she will with gifts requite;
and though she spurns your love, soon will she love —
her very self despite!"

Thus in the same way, free me once again
from grievous care. Accord me what I sigh
and yearn for most. O Queen, do this for me,
and be my strong ally.

(from "Sweet-voiced Sappho. Poems of Sappho and other Ancient Greek Authors translated into English Verse by Theodore Stephanides", 2015)

@темы: s, antiquity, theodore stephanides, 6 BC, sappho