Page:The Poems of Sappho (1924).djvu/67

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For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow

And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them,

Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it

Even reluctant.

Come then, I pray, grant me surcease from sorrow,

Drive away care, I beseech thee, O goddess

Fulfil for me what I yearn to accomplish,

Be thou my ally.

A number of other versions in English are of interest for historical or poetical reasons. The first translation of the poem, that by Ambrose Philips in 1711, has chiefly historical and bibliographical importance.

O Venus beauty of the skies,

To whom a thousand temples rise,

Gaily false in gentle smiles,

Full of love-perplexing wiles;

O goddess from my heart remove

The wasting cares and pains of love.