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O Aphrodite,

God-born and deathless,

Break not my spirit

With bitter anguish:

Thou wilful empress, 5

I pray thee, hither!

As once aforetime

Well thou didst hearken

To my voice far off—

Listen, and leaving 10

Thy father's golden

House in yoked chariot,

Come, thy fleet sparrows

Beating the mid-air

Over the dark earth. 15

Suddenly near me,

Smiling, immortal,

Thy bright regard asked

What had befallen—

Why I had called thee—20

What my mad heart then

Most was desiring.

"What fair thing wouldst thou

Lure now to love thee?

"Who wrongs thee, Sappho? 25

If now she flies thee,

Soon shall she follow;—

Scorning thy gifts now,

Soon be the giver;—

And a loth loved one 30

"Soon be the lover."

So even now, too,

Come and release me

From mordant love pain,

And all my heart's will 35

Help me accomplish!