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Evocation of Sappho
(Words: Sappho Music: Joe Dolce)

I
The gods bless you
may you sleep then
on some tender
girlfriend's breast.

II
Tonight I've watched
the moon and then
the Pleiades
go down.
The night is now
half-gone;
youth goes;
I am in bed alone.

III
My lovely friends
how could I change
towards you,
you who are so beautiful?

IV
You know the place: then
leave Crete and come to us
waiting where the grove is
pleasantest, by precincts
sacred to you; incense
smokes on the altar, cold
streams murmur through
the apple branches, a young
rose thicket shades the ground
and quivering leaves pour
down deep sleep;
in meadows
where horses have grown sleek
among spring flowers,
dill scents the air.

Queen! Cyprian!
Fill our golden cups with love
stirred into clear nectar.

(From Sappho: A New Translation, by Sappho, translated by Mary Barnard, used with permission and published by The University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. USA.)

 

 

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