The Sacrifice

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

p. 55

THE SACRIFICE

Upon a cushion soft
  My limbs I place,
My every garment doffed
  For deeper grace;
From burning doves embalmed
  In baccharis,
The scented fumes have calmed
  Me like a kiss.

Beyond the phallic shrine
  That tripods light,
I pledge with holy wine
  An image white;
Anadyomene,
  Than foam more fair,
When from the ravished sea
  She rose to air.

Daughter of God, accept
  These gifts of mine!
Last night my body slept
  In arms divine.
These sated lips and eyes
  That erstwhile sued,
Accord this sacrifice
  In gratitude.