SAPPHO 31 /

TO ME HE SEEMS LIKE A GOD

 AS HE SITS FACING YOU AND

 HEARS YOU NEAR AS YOU SPEAK

 SOFTLY AND LAUGH

 IN A SWEET ECHO THAT JOLTS

 THE HEART IN MY RIBS.  FOR NOW

 AS I LOOK AT YOU MY VOICE

 IS EMPTY AND

 CAN SAY NOTHING AS MY TONGUE

 CRACKS AND A SLENDER FIRE IS QUICK

 UNDER MY SKIN.  MY EYES ARE DEAD

 TO LIGHT, MY EARS

 POUND, AND A SWEAT POURS OVER ME.

  I CONVULSE, GREENER THAN GRASS,

 AND FEEL MY MIND SLIP AS I

 GO CLOSE TO DEATH,

 YET, BEING POOR, MUST SUFFER

 EVERYTHING.

- SAPPHO, 'UNTITLED (FRAGMENT 31)', c.600 BCE.

/

(FROM A SECOND VERSION OF A TRANSLATION

 BY WILLIS BARNSTONE, 1988.)