honu:
Sappho's Hymn to Aphrodite / Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathlessChild of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you,Don't--I beg you, Lady--with pains and tormentsCrush down my spirit, / But before if ever you've heard my pleadingsThen return, as once when you left your father'sGolden house; you yoked to your shining car yourWing-whirring sparrows; / Skimming down the paths of the sky's bright etherOn they brought you over the earth's black bosom,Swiftly--then you stood with a sudden brilliance,Goddess, before me; / Deathless face alight with your smile, you asked meWhat I suffered, who was my cause of anguish,What would ease the pain of my frantic mind, andWhy had I called you / To my side: "And whom should Persuasion summonHere, to soothe the sting of your passion this time?Who is now abusing you, Sappho? Who isTreating you cruelly? / Now she runs away, but she'll soon pursue you;Gifts she now rejects--soon enough she'll give them;Now she doesn't love you, but soon her heart willBurn, though unwilling." / Come to me once more, and abate my torment;Take the bitter care from my mind, and give meAll I long for; Lady, in all my battlesFight as my comrade. /