תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Hic ego cum laffos pofuiffem fletibus artus, 185

Conftitit ante oculos Naïas una meos.

Conftitit, & dixit,,,Quoniam non ignibus aequis

,,Ureris, Ambracias terra petenda tibi. ,,Phoebus ab excelfo, quantum patet, afpicit aequor: ,,Actiacum populi Leucadiumque vocant. ,,Hinc fe Deucalion Pyrrhae fuccenfus amore

,,Mifit, & illaefo corpore preffit aquas.

125

,,Nec mora: verfus Amor tetigit lentiffima Pyrrhae

,,Pectora; Deucalion igne levatus erat.

,,Hanc legem locus ille tenet, pete protinus altam

,,Leucada; nec faxo defiluiffe time.,,

Ut monuit, cuin voce abiit, Ego frigida furgo: 200
Nec gravidae lacrymas continuere genae.
Ibimus, o Nymphae, monftrataque faxa petemus.
Sit procul infano victus amore timor.

Quicquid erit, melius quam nunc erit: aura, fubito.
Et mea non magnum corpora pondus habent.

quoque

mollis Amor, pennas fuppone cadenti:

Ne fim Leucadiae mortua crimen aquae.

Inde chelyn Phoebo communia munera ponam

Et fub ea verfus unus & alter erunt.

[ocr errors]

185

190

Here as I lay, and fwell'd with tears the flood, Before my fight a wat'ry Virgin stood: She stood and cry'd,,:0 you that love in vain! ,,Fly hence, and feek the fair Leucadian main. There ftands a rock, from whofe impending fteep ,,Apollo's fane furveys the rolling deep; ‚There injur'd lovers leaping from above, ,,Their flames extinguifh and forget to love. ,,Deucalion once with hopeless fury burn'd, ,,In vain he lov'd, relentless Pyrrha fcorn'd; ,,But when from hence he plung'd into the inain, ,,Deucalion fcorn'd, and Pyrrha lov'd in vain. 196 ,,Hafte, Sappho, hafte, from high Leucadia throw ,,Thy wretched weight, nor dread the deeps be ,,low!,,

[ocr errors]

She fpoke, and vanifh'd with the voice.
And filent tears fall trickling from my eyes.

I rife,

I go, ye Nymphs! thofe rocks and feas to prove;
How much I fear, but ah, how much I love!
I go, ye Nymphs, where furious love infpires;
Let feinale fears fubmit to female fires.
To rocks and feas I fly from Phaon's hate,
And hope from seas and rocks a milder fate.
Ye gentle gales, beneath my body blow,
And foftly lay me on the waves below!

200

205

And thou, kind Love, my finking limbs fuftain
Spread thy foft wings, and waft me o'er the main,
Nor let a lover's death the guiltless flood profane!
On Phoebus' fhrine my harp I'll then bestow,
And this Infeription fhall be plac'd below.
,,Here fhe who fung, to him that did infpire,
,,Sappho to Phoebus confecrates her lyre;

,,Grata lyram pofui tibi, Phoebe, poëtria Sappho
,,Convenit illa mihi, eonvenit illa tibi.,,
Cur tamen Actiacas miferam me mittis ad oras,
Cum profugum poffis ipfe referre pedem ?
Tu mihi Leucadia potes effe falubrior unda:

Et forma & meritis tu mihi Phoebus eris.
An potes, o fcopulis undaque ferocior illa,
Si moriar, titulum mortis habere meae?
At quanto melius jungi mea pectora tecum,
Quain poterant faxis praecipitanda dari!
Haec funt illa, Phaon, quae tu laudare folebas;
Vifaque funt toties ingeniofa tibi.

220

225

Nunc vellem facunda forent: dolor artibus obftat;
Ingeniumque meis fubftitit omne malis.

Non mihi refpondent veteres in carmina vires
Plectra dolore tacent: muta dolore lyra eft.
Lefbides aequoreae, nupturaque nuptaque proles
Lefbides, Aeolia nomina dicta lyra;

Lefbides, infamem quae me feciftis amatae;
Definite ad citharas turba venire meas.

230

240

Abftulit omne Phaon, quod vobis ante placebat. 235
(Me miferam! dixi quam modo pene, meus!)
Efficite ut redeat: vates quoque veftra redibit.
Ingenio vires ille dat, ille rapit.
Ecquid ago precibus? pectufne agrefte movetur?
An riget? & Zephyri verba caduca ferunt?
Qui mea verba ferunt, vellem tua vela referrent
Hoc te, fi faperes, lente, decebat opus.

Sive redis, puppique tuae votiva parantur
Munera; quid laceras pectora nostra mora?

[ocr errors]

What fits with Sappho, Phoebus, fuits with thee; ,,The Gift, the giver, and the God agrees,

But why, alas, relentless youth, ah why To diftant feas mult tender Sappho fly?

Thy charms than thofe may far more pow'rful be 220 And Phœbus' felf is lefs a God to me.

225

Ah! can't thou doom me to the rocks and fea,
O far more faithlefs and more hard than they?
Ah! canft thou rather fee this tender breaft
Dafh'd on thefe rocks than to thy bofom preft;
This breaft which once, in vain! you lik'd fo well;
Where the Loves play'd, and where the Mufes dwell.
Alas! the Mufes now no more inspire,
Untun'd my lute, and filent is my lyre;
My languid numbers have forgot to flow,
And fancy finks beneath a weight of woe.
Ye Lefbian virgins, and ye Lefbian dames,
Themes of my verfe, and objects of my flames,
No more your groves with my glad fongs fhall ring,
No more thefe hands fhall touch the trembling ftring:235
My Phaon's fled, and I thofe arts refign

230

240

(Wretch that I am, to call that Phaon mine!)
Return, fair youth, return, and bring along
Joy to my foul, and vigour to my song:
Abfent from thee, the Poet's flame expires;
But ah! how fiercely burn the Lover's fires?
Gods! can no pray'rs, no fighs, no numbers move
One favage heart, or teach it how to love?
The winds my pray'rs, my fighs, my numbers bear,
The flying winds have loft them all in air!
Oh when, alas! fhall more aufpicious gales
To these fond eyes restore thy welcome fails?
VOL. II.

B

245

[ocr errors]

Solve ratem : Venus orta mari, mare praester eunti.

Aura dabit curfum; tu modo folve ratem.

Ipfe gubernabit refidens in puppe Cupido:
Ipfe dabit tenera vela legetque manu.

Sive juvat longe fugiffe Pelafgida Sappho ;

(Non tamen invenies, cur ego digna fuga.)

(O faltem miferae, Crudelis, epistola dicat:

Ut mihi Leucadiae fata petantur aquae.)

255

« הקודםהמשך »