Phaon
Then meet this One, and know! The hounds of Hell
And Aidoneus himself—
Sappho
And Aidoneus himself— Hush!
Phaon
And Aidoneus himself— Hush! You I seek!
The sorrow of your voice enraptures me,
And though you would elude me, still this arm
Is strong, and this great heart as daring as
That dusky night in Lesbos long ago!
Sappho
Stop, son of passion,—hear!
Phaon
Stop, son of passion,—hear! Not till these arms,
O Oriole-throated woman, hold and fold
About your beauty as in Lesbos once!
Sappho
By all the hours you darkened, by the love
You crushed and left forsaken, hear me now!
Phaon
Thus women change! thus in their time forget!
Sappho
There lies the sorrow—if we could forget!
For one brief hour you gave me all the love
That women ask, and then with cruel hands
Set free the singing voices from the cage,
And shook the glory from the waiting rose;
And in life’s empty garden still I clung
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