The Reproach

The Poems of Sappho, by John Myers O'Hara, [1910], at sacred-texts.com

p. 19

THE REPROACH

Kypris, hear my prayer to thee and the Nereids!
Safely bring the ship of my brother homewards,
Bring him back unharmed to the heart that loves him,
                Throbbing remorseful;

Fair Immortal, banish from mind, I pray thee,
Every discord's hint that of yore estranged us;
Grant that never again dissension's hateful
                Wrangle shall part us;

May he never in days to come remember
Keen reproach of mine that had grieved him sorely;
Words that broke my very heart when I heard them
                Uttered by others;

Words that wounded deep and recurring often,
Bowed his head with shame at the public banquet;
Where my scorn, amid festal joy and laughter,
                Sharpened the covert

Jests that stung his pride and assailed his folly,
Slave-espoused when he, a Lesbian noble,
Might have won the fairest in Mitylene,
                Virgins the noblest;

Open slurs that linked his name with Doricha,
Lovely slave that Xanthes had sold in Egypt;
She whose wondrous charms the wealth of Charaxus
                Ransomed from bondage.

Now that he is gone and my anger vanished,
Keen regret and grief for the pain I gave him
Pierce my heart, and fear of loss that is anguish
                Darkens the daylight.