The Farewell

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

p. 87

THE FAREWELL

Beloved, stand face to face,
  And, lifting lids, disclose to me the grace,
The Paphic fire that lingers yet and lies
  Reflected in thy eyes.

Phaon, my sole beloved,
  Stand not to my mad passion all unmoved;
O let, ere thou to far Panormus sail,
  One hour of love prevail.

Dear ingrate, come and let
  Thy breath like odor from a cassolet,
Thy smile, the clinging touch of lips and heart
  Anoint me, ere we part.

Phaon, I yearn and seek
  But thee alone; and what I feel must speak
In all these fond and wilful ways of mine,
  O mortal, made divine!

My girl friends now no more
  Hang their sweet gifts of garlands at my door;
Dear maids, with all your vanished empery
  Ye now are naught to me.

Phaon, thy galley rides
  Within the harbor's mouth and waits the tides
And favoring winds, far to the west to fly
  And leave me here to die.

The brawny rowers lean
  To bend long-stroking oars; and changing scene
And fairer loves than mine shall soon efface
  This last divine embrace.

Phaon, the lifting breeze!
  See, at thy feet I kneel and clasp thy knees!
Go not, go not! O hear my sobbing prayer,
  And yield to my despair!