Deathless Aphrodite, throned in flowers,
Daughter of Zeus, O terrible enchantress,
With this sorrow, with this anguish, break my spirit
Lady, not longer!
Hear anew the voice! O hear and listen!
Come, as in that island dawn thou camest,
Billowing in thy yoked car to Sappho
Forth from thy father's
Golden house in pity! ... I remember:
Fleet and fair thy sparrows drew thee, beating
Fast their wings above the dusky harvests,
Down the pale heavens,
Lightning anon! And thou, O blest and brightest,
Smiling with immortal eyelids, asked me:
'Maiden, what betideth thee? Or wherefore
Callest upon me?
'What is here the longing more than other,
Here in this mad heart? And who the lovely
One beloved that wouldst lure to loving?
Sappho, who wrongs thee?
'See, if now she flies, she soon must follow;
Yes, if spurning gifts, she soon must offer;
Yes, if loving not, she soon must love thee,
Howso unwilling...'
Come again to me! O now! Release me!
End the great pang! And all my heart desireth
Now of fulfillment, fulfill! O Aphrodite,
Fight by my shoulder!
Ode To Aphrodite
Sappho
(4)
Poem topics: car, daughter, father, house, remember, sorrow, voice, fight, great, fast, offer, listen, spirit, terrible, lady, golden, follow, shoulder, island, anguish, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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Write your comment about Ode To Aphrodite poem by Sappho
Shashi Ayer: Lovely translation
kyle david: wrote thi on a piece of notebook paper and then folded it into an origami heart. favorite poem rn ngl
Nina : Alluringly captivating and striking!
patck: I read the ode because I wanted to compare its form to my ode, "Ode to the Dog-Eared Page', written this last March, during a Covid afternoon, suffering a plethora of book reading. What I learned is she wrote 7 stanzas, where I had written only four. Does an ode need to have more than 4 stanzas? I also noticed the word usage was about the same: florid and over blown. Perfect!
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