He Seems to Me....

Damiatrix Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 589

This poem somehow spoke to me and so I wanted to post it here. It touches me deeply...yet the reason is just below the surface of consciousness. I can only say that I am drawn to it, inexplicably.~~Maia

"He seems to me..." (Sappho, Fragment 31)
translated by Peter Saint-Andre

He seems to me, that one, equal to the gods,
The man fixed there, who sits opposite you
And hears close by your sweet voice
And delightful laugh, which once
Shook the soul in my breast.

For as I look on you,
My voice yields no sound,
Gasping, my silent tongue shivers,
A thin fire runs in under my skin,
In my eyes there is no sight,
My ears pound and throb,
A chill sweat runs over me,
Trembling seizes me all over,
Paler than the reeds am I,
And, weakened, I seem little short of dying.

But all must be endured....