Page:The Poems of Sappho (1924).djvu/71

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What thing I longed for to appease my frantic

Soul: and whom now mutt I persuade, thou askedst,

Whom mutt entangle to thy love, and who now,

Sappho, hath wronged thee.

Yea, for if now he shun, he soon shall chase thee;

Yea, if he take not gifts, he soon shall give them;

Yea, if he love not soon shall he begin to

Love thee, unwilling.

Come to me now too, and from tyrannous sorrow

Free me, and all things that my soul desires to

Have done, do for me Queen, and let thyself too

Be my great ally.

Another good translation is that of Edwin Arnold, 1869, but it does not follow the original closely enough to be very satisfactory.

Splendour-throned Queen, immortal Aphrodite,

Daughter of Jove, Enchantress, I implore thee

Vex not my soul with agonies and anguish,

Slay me not, Goddess!