Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

T

Soft fcenes of folitude no more can please;
Love enters there, and I'm my own disease.
No more the Lesbian dames my paffions move,
Once the dear objects of my guilty love;
All other loves are loft in only thine,

15

20

25

Oh youth, ungrateful to a flame like mine!
Whom would not all thofe blooming charms furprise,
Thofe heav'nly looks, and dear deluding eyes?
The harp and bow would you like Phoebus bear,
A brighter Phoebus Phaon might appear;
Would you with ivy wreath your flowing hair,
Not Bacchus' felf with Phaon could compare:
Yet Phœbus lov'd, and Bacchus felt the flame;
One Daphne warm'd, and one the Cretan dame;
Nymphs that in verfe no more could rival me,
Than ev'n thofe gods contend in charms with thee.
The Mufes teach me all their foftest lays,
And the wide world refounds with Sappho's praise.
Though great Alcæus more fublimely fings,
And ftrikes with bolder rage the founding ftrings,
No lefs renown attends the moving lyre,
Which Venus tunes, and all her loves infpire.

Nec me Pyrrhiades Methymniadefve puellæ,
Nec me Lefbiadum cætera turba juvant.
Vilis Anactorie, vilis mihi candida Cydno:
Non oculis grata eft Atthis, ut ante, meis;
Atque aliæ centum, quas non fine crimine amavi:
Improbe, multarum quod fuit, unus habes.

Eft in te facies, funt apti lufibus anni.

O facies oculis infidiofa meis!

31

35

15

20

Sume fidem et pharetram; fies manifeftus Apollo:
Accedant capiti cornua; Bacchus eris,

25

Et Phoebus Daphnen, et Gnofida Bacchus amavit;
Nec norat lyricos illa, vel illa modos.

30

At mihi Pegafides blandiffima carmina dictant;
Jam canitur toto nomen in orbe meum.
Nec plus Alcæus, confors patriæque lyræque,
Laudis habet, quamvis grandius ille fonet,

35

To me what Nature has in charms deny'd,
Is well by wit's more lasting flames fupply'd.
Though fhort my ftature, yet my name extends
To heav'n itfelf, and earth's remoteft ends.
Brown as I am, an Ethiopian dame
Infpir'd young Perfeus with a gen'rous flame.
Turtles and doves of diff'rent hues unite,
And gloffy jet is pair'd with fhining white.
If to no charms thou wilt thy heart refign,
But fuch as merit, fuch as equal thine,
By none, alas! by none thou can'st be mov'd;
Phaon alone by Phaon must be lov'd!
Yet once thy Sappho could thy cares employ,
Once in her arms you center'd all your joy :
No time the dear remembrance can remove;
For ch! how vaft a memory has love!
My mufic, then, you could for ever hear,
And all my words were mufic to your ear.
You stopp'd with kifles my enchanting tongue,
And found my kiffes fweeter than my fong.
In all I pleas'd, but moft in what was beft;
And the last joy was dearer than the relt.

Si mihi difficilis formam natura negavit;
Ingenio formæ damna rependo mex.

Sum brevis; at nomen, quod terras impleat omnes,
Eft mihi; menfuram nominis ipfa fero.
Candida fi non fum, placuit Cepheïa Perfeo
Andromede, patriæ fufca colore fuæ:

Et variis albe junguntur fæpe columbæ,
Et niger a viridi turtur amatur ave.

40

45

50

55

40

Si, nifi quæ facie poterit te digna videri,
Nulla futura tua eft; nulla futura tua eft.

45

At me cum legeres, etiam formofa videbar;
Unam jurabas ufque decere loqui.

Cantabam, memini (meminerunt omnia amantes)
Ofcula cantanti tu mihi rapta dabas.

50

55

Hæc quoque laudabas; omnique a parte placebam,
Sed tum præcipue, cum fit amoris opus.

60

65

Then with each word, each glance, each motion fir'd,
You ftill enjoy'd, and yet you still defir'd,
"Till, all diffolving, in the trance we lay,
And in tumultuous raptures dy'd away.
The fair Sicilians now thy foul inflame:
Why was I born, ye Gods! a Lesbian dame?
But ah, beware, Sicilian nymphs! nor boaft
That wand'ring heart which I fo lately loft;
Nor be with all thofe tempting words abus'd,
Those tempting words were all to Sappho us'd.
And you that rule Sicilia's happy plains,
Have pity, Venus, on your poet's pains!
Shall fortune ftill in one fad tenor run,
And still increase the woes fo foon begun?
Inur'd to forrow from my tender years;
My parents' afhes drank my early tears;

70

My brother next, neglecting wealth and fame,
Ignobly burn'd in a destructive flame :

75

Tunc te plus folito lafcivia noftra juvabat,
Crebraque mobilitas, aptaque verba joco;

Quique, ubi jam amborum fuerat confufa voluptas,
Plurimus in laffo corpore languor erat.
Nunc tibi Sicelides veniunt nova præda puellæ;
Quid mihi cum Lefbo? Sicelis effe volo.

At vos erronem tellure remittite noftrum,
Nifiades matres, Nifiadefque nurus.

Neu vos decipiant blanda mendacia linguæ:
Quæ dicit vobis, dixerat ante mihi.

Tu quoque quæ montes celebras, Erycina, Sicanos, (Nam tua fum) vati confule, diva, tuæ.

An gravis inceptum peragit fortuna tenorem ?
Et manet in curfu femper acerba fuo?

Sex mihi natales ierant, cum lecta parentis
Ante diem lacrymas offa bibere meas.
Arlit inops frater, victus meretricis amore;
Miftaque cum turpi damna pudore tulit.
Factus inops agili peragit freta cœrula remo :
Quafque male amifit, nunc male quærit opes:
VOL. I.

I

I

60

65

70

75

Me

85

An infant daughter late my griefs increas'd,
And all a mother's cares diftract my breast.
Alas! what more could Fate itfelf impofe,
But thee, the laft, and greateft of my woes?
No more my robes in waving purple flow,
Nor on my hand the sparkling di monds glow;
No more my locks in ringlets curl'd diffufe
The coftly fweetneis of Arabian dews,
Nor braids of gold the varied treffes bind,
That fly diforder'd with the wanton wind:
For whom fhould Sappho ufe fuch arts as these?
He's gone, whom only fhe defir'd to please!
Cupid's light darts my tender bofom move,
Still is there caufe for Sappho ftill to love:
So from my birth the Sifters fix'd my doom,
And gave to Venus all my life to come;
Or, while my mufe in melting notes complains,
My yielding heart keeps meafure to my strains.
By charms like thine which all my foul have won, 95
Who might not-ah! who would not be undone?

Me quoque, quod monui bene multa fideliter, odit.
Hoc mihi libertas, hoc pia lingua dedit.
Et tanquam defint, quæ me fine fine fatigent,
Accumulat curas filia parva meas.

Ultima tu noftris accedis caufa querelis:
Non agitur vento noftra carina fuo.
Ecce, jacent collo fparfi fine lege capilli;
Nec premit articulos lucida gemma meos.
Vefte tegor vili: nullum eft in crinibus aurum:
Non Arabo nofter rore capillus olet.
Cui colar infelix? aut cui placuiffe laborem?
Ille mihi cultus unicus auctor abeft.

Molle meum levibus cor eft violabile telis ;

Et femper caufa eft, cur ego femper amem.

Sive ita nafcenti legem dixere Sorores,
Nec data funt vitæ fila fevera meæ ;
Sive abeunt ftudia in mores, artefque magiftræ,
Ingenium nobis molle Thaiia facit.
Quid mirum, fi me primæ lanuginis ætas

Abftulit, atque anni, quos vir amare potest?

90

85

99

95

« ПредишнаНапред »