Sappho: Ode to Aphrodite

Sweetbitter | Mary Magdalene

On the throne of many hues, Immortal Aphrodite,

child of Zeus, weaving wiles: I beg you,

do not break my spirit, O Queen,

with pain or sorrow

but come--if ever before from far away

you heard my voice and listened,

and leaving your father's

golden home you came,

your chariot yoked with lovely sparrows

drawing you quickly over the dark earth

in a whirling cloud of wings down

the sky through midair,

suddenly here. Blessed One, with a smile

on your deathless face, you ask

what have I suffered again

and why do I call again

and what in my wild heart do I most wish

would happen: "Once again who must I

persuade to turn back to your love?

Sappho, who wrongs you?

If now she flees, soon she'll chase.

If rejecting gifts, then she'll give.

If not loving, soon she'll love

even against her will."

Come to me now--release me from these

troubles, everything my heart longs

to have fulfilled, fulfill, and you

be my ally.

Translation by Rayor

Rayor, Diane. Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works, Cambridge University Press, 2014. Introduction & notes by André Lardinois.

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