Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
III. Loves BeginningsBlest as the immortal gods
Sappho (fl. c. 610580 B.C.)From the Greek by Ambrose Phillips
B
The youth who fondly sits by thee,
And hears and sees thee all the while
Softly speak, and sweetly smile.
And raised such tumults in my breast:
For while I gazed, in transport tost,
My breath was gone, my voice was lost.
Ran quick through all my vital frame;
O’er my dim eyes a darkness hung;
My ears with hollow murmurs rung;
My blood with gentle horrors thrilled:
My feeble pulse forgot to play—
I fainted, sunk, and died away.