No Word

I have had not one word from her

Frankly I wish I were dead.

When she left, she wept

a great deal; she said to

me, ``This parting must be

endured, Sappho.  I go unwillingly.''

I said, ``Go, and be happy

but remember (you know

well) whom you leave shackled by love

``If you forget me, think

of our gifts to Aphrodite

and all the loveliness that we shared

``all the violet tiaras,

braided rosebuds, dill and

crocus twined around your young neck

``myrrh poured on your head

and on soft mats girls with

all that they most wished for beside them

``while no voices chanted

choruses without ours,

no woodlot bloomed in spring without song…''

translated by: Barnard