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Sappho fragment #155
translation by Michael R. Burch 

A short revealing frock?
It's just my luck
your lips were made to mock!

*

Sappho fragment #156
translation by Michael R. Burch 

She keeps her scents
in a dressing-case.
And her sense?
In some undiscoverable place.

*

Sappho #47
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Eros harrows my heart:
wild winds whipping desolate mountains,
uprooting oaks.

*

Sappho #50
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Eros, the limb-shatterer,
rattles me,
an irresistible
constrictor.

*

Sappho #22
translation by Michael R. Burch 

That enticing girl's clinging dresses 
leave me trembling, overcome by happiness,
as once, when I once saw the Goddess 
in my prayers, eclipsing Cyprus. 

*

Sappho #118
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Sing, my sacred tortoiseshell lyre;
come, let my words
accompany your voice.

*

Sappho #58
translation by Michael R. Burch 

Pain
drains
me
to
the
last
drop
.

*

Sappho #90
translation by Michael R. Burch

Mother, how can I weave,
so overwhelmed by love?

*

Sappho #35
translation by Michael R. Burch

With my two small arms, how can I 
think to encircle the sky?

*

Sappho #130
translation by Michael R. Burch

May the gods prolong the night
—yes, let it last forever!—
as long as you sleep in my sight.

*

Sappho #52
translation by Michael R. Burch

The moon has long since set;
the Pleiades are gone;
now half the night is spent,
yet here I lie—alone.

*

Sappho #137
translation by Michael R. Burch

Gold does not rust,
yet my son becomes dust?

*

Sappho #36
translation by Michael R. Burch

Vain woman, foolish thing!
Do you base your worth on a ring?

*

Sappho #113
translation by Michael R. Burch

No droning bee,
nor even the bearer of honey 
for me!

*

Sappho, fragment 24
translation by Michael R. Burch

Don't you remember, in days long gone,
how we did such things, being young?

*

Sappho #29
translation by Michael R. Burch

Someone, somewhere
will remember us,
I swear!

*

Sappho, unnumbered fragment
translation by Michael R. Burch

What cannot be swept
aside
must be wept.

*

Sappho #34
translation by Michael R. Burch

You are,
of all the unapproachable stars,
by far
the fairest,
the brightest,
possessing the Moon's splendor.

*

Sappho #34
translation by Michael R. Burch

Awed by the Moon's splendor,
the stars covered their undistinguished faces.
Even so, we.

*

Sappho #39
translation by Michael R. Burch

We're merely mortal women,
it's true;
the Goddesses have no rivals
but You.

*

Sappho #5
translation by Michael R. Burch

We're eclipsed here by your presence—
you outshine all the ladies of Lydia
as the bright-haloed moon outsplendors the stars.

*

Sappho #2
translation by Michael R. Burch

Leaving your heavenly summit,
I submit
to the mountain,
then plummet.

*

Sappho #129
translation by Michael R. Burch

You forget me
or you love another more!
It's over.

*

Was Sappho the author of the world's first "make love, not war" poem? ...

Sappho fragment 16
translation by Michael R. Burch

Warriors on rearing chargers,
columns of infantry,
fleets of warships:
some say these are the dark earth's redeeming visions.
But I say—
the one I desire.

And this makes sense
because she who so vastly surpassed all mortals in beauty
—Helen—
seduced by Aphrodite, led astray by desire,
set sail for distant Troy,
abandoning her celebrated husband,
leaving behind her parents and child!

Her story reminds me of Anactoria,
who has also departed,
and whose lively dancing and lovely face
I would rather see than all the horsemen and war-chariots of the Lydians,
or all their infantry parading in flashing armor.

*

Sappho #90
translation by Michael R. Burch

Bridegroom,
was there ever a maid
so like a lovely heirloom?

*

Sappho #80
translation by Michael R. Burch

May your head rest
on the breast
of the tenderest guest.

*

Sappho #159
translation by Michael R. Burch

May I lead?
Will you follow?
Foolish man!

Ears so hollow,
minds so shallow,
never can!

*

Sappho #145
translation by Michael R. Burch

Prometheus the Fire-Bearer
robbed the Gods of their power, and so
brought mankind and himself to woe.
must you repeat his error?

*

Sappho #68
translation by Michael R. Burch

Lady,
soon you'll lie dead, disregarded;
then imagine how quickly your reputation fades ...
you who never gathered the roses of Pieria
must assume your place among the obscure,
uncelebrated shades
of Hades.

*

Sappho #121
translation by Michael R. Burch

A tender maiden plucking flowers
persuades the knave
to heroically brave
the world's untender hours.

*

Sappho couplet translations by Michael R. Burch

Darling, let me see your face;
unleash your eyes' grace.

Death is evil; the Gods all agree;
for, had death been good, the Gods would be mortal, like me.

*

Sappho one-line translations by Michael R. Burch

Mere air, my words' fare, but intoxicating to hear.
I'm no resenter; I have a childlike heart.
I'm undecided; my mind's divided!
Is my real desire for maidenhood? Is there any synergy in virginity?
I am an acolyte of wile-weaving Aphrodite.
I cherish extravagance, intoxicated by Love's celestial splendor.
I love the sensual, as I love the sun's ecstatic brilliance.
Once more I dive into this fathomless sea, intoxicated by lust.
Assemble now, Muses, leaving golden landscapes!
The moon shone, full, as the virgins ringed Love's altar.
At the sight of you, words fail me.
You inflame me!
I lust! I crave! F*ck me!
I yearn for, I burn for, the one I miss!
Into the soft arms of the girl I once spurned, I gladly returned.
Stay! I will lay out a cushion for you with the plushest pillows!
My body descends and my comfort depends on your welcoming cushions!
I flutter after you like a chick after its mother.
All mixed up, I drizzled.
She wrapped herself in her most delicate linen.
The softest pallors grace her lovely face.
Just now I was called, enthralled, by golden-sandalled dawn!
That rustic girl bewitches your heart? Hell, her most beguiling art's hiking her dress!
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