Page:Sappho and the Vigil of Venus (1920).djvu/21



Rainbow-throned immortal one, Aphrodite,

Child of Zeus, spell-weaver, I bow before thee—

Harrow not my spirit with anguish, mighty

Queen, I implore thee!

Nay, come hither, even as once thou, bending

Down from far to hearken my cry, didst hear me,

From thy Father's palace of gold descending

Drewest anear me

Chariot-wafted: far over midnight-sleeping

Earth, thy fair fleet sparrows, through cloudland riven

Wide by multitudinous wings, came sweeping

Down from thine heaven,

Swiftly came: thou, smiling with those undying

Lips and star-eyes, Blessèd One, smiling me-ward,

Said'st, "What ails thee?—wherefore uprose thy crying

Calling me thee-ward?