Forgotten Ground Regained
Apud Sappho
One might say the wonder of horse,another infantry, an armada yet a third,is the most brilliant sight on the black earth.But I say
it's whom you love. Lucid is the proof:that mortal woman of mankind firstin beauty, Helen, her husband forsake,noble man,
sailing to Troy without thought of kinneither daughter nor dear parents;the Queen of Cyprus seduced her fromher stout home.
While women unite in their upwelling passion,men divide with their might, a sadnessreminding me of Anaktoria, miles awayon a dark ship,
whose soft walk and sunlit faceI'd rather see than armored infantryor Lydia's chariots charging aboutin bright array.
NOTE: This was based on Fr. 16 of Sappho's poems, one of the more complete pieces. Sappho wrote in quantitative verse, where I used alliterative verse based on the Anglo-Saxon model.
Copyright © 1996 Geoff Burling