The harp and bow would you like Phœbus bear,
A brighter Phabus, Phaon might appear;
Would you with ivy wreath your flowing hair,
Not Bacchus' felf with Phaon could compare:
Yet Phoebus lov'd, and Bacchus felt the flame,
One Daphne warm'd, and one the Cretan dame,
Nymphs that in verse no more could rival me,
Than ev'n those Gods contend in charms with thee. 30
The Mufes teach me all their fofteft lays,
And the wide world refounds with Sapho's praife.
Tho' great Alcaus more fublimely fings,
And strikes with boider rage the founding ftrings,
No lefs renown attends the moving lyre,
Which Venus tunes, and all her loves infpire.
To me what nature has in charms deny'd,
Is well by wit's more lafting charms fupply'd.
Tho' fhort my ftature, yet my name extends
To heav'n itself, and earth's remotest ends.
Sume fidem & pharetram; fies manifeftus Apollo:
Accedant capiti cornua; Bacchus eris.
Et Phoebus Daphnen, & Gnofida Bacchus amavit ;
Nec norat lyricos illa, vel illa modos.
At mibi Pegafides blandiffima carmina dictant;
Jam canitur toto nomen in orbe meum.
Nec plus Alcaus, confors patriæque lyræque,
Laudis habet, quamvis grandius ille fonet.
Si mihi difficilis formam natura negavit;
Ingenio forma damna rependo meæ.
Sum brevis; at nomen, quod terras impleat omnes,
Eft mihi; menfuram nominis ipfa fero.
Brown as I am, an Ethiopian dame
Infpir'd young Perfeus with a gen'rous flame.
Turtles and doves of diff'ring hues, unite,
And gloffy jett is pair'd with fhining white.
If to no charms thou wilt thy heart refign,
But fuch as merit, fuch as equal thine,
By none alas! by none thou can't be mov❜d,
Phaon alone by Phaon must be lov'd!
Yet once thy Sapho could thy cares employ,
Once in her arms you center'd all your joy:
Still all those joys to my remembrance move,
For oh! how vast a memory has Love?
My mufic, then, you could for ever hear,
And all my words were mufic to your ear.
You ftop'd with kisses my inchanting tongue,
And found my kiffes sweeter than my fong.
In all I pleas'd, but most in what was best;
And the last joy was dearer than the rest.
Candida fi non fum, placuit Cepheia Perfeo
Andromede, patriæ fufca colore fuæ ;
Et variis alba junguntur fæpe columbæ,
Et niger à viridi turtur amatur ave.
Si, nifi quæ facie poterit te digna videri,
Nulla futura tua eft; nulla futura tua eft.
At me cum legeres, etiam formofa videbar;
Unam jurabas ufque decere loqui.
Cantabam: memini (meminerunt omnia amantes)
Ofcula cantanti tu mihi rapta dabas.
Hac quoque laudabas; omnique à parte placebam,
Sed tunc præcipue, cum fit amoris opus.
Then with each word, each glance, each motion fir'd,
You ftill enjoy'd, and yet you still defir'd,
Till all diffolving in the trance we lay,
And in tumultuous raptures dy'd away.
The fair Sicilians now thy foul inflame;
Why was I born, ye Gods, a Lesbian dame?
But ah beware, Sicilian nymphs! nor boat
That wandring heart which I fo lately loft;
Nor be with all those tempting words abus'd,
Those tempting words were all to Sapho us❜d.
And you that rule Sicilia's happy plains,
Have pity, Venus, on your Poet's pains!
Shall fortune ftill in one fad tenor run,
And ftill increase the woes fo foon begun?
Tunc te plus folito lafcivia noftra juvabat,
Crebraque mobilitas, aptaque verba joco.
Quique, ubi jam amborum fuerat confufa voluptas,
Plurimus in laffo corpore languor erat.
Nunc tibi Sicelides veniunt nova præda puellæ;
Quid mihi cum Lefbo? Sicelis effe volo.
Ovos erronem tellure remittite noftrum
Nifiades matres, Nifiadefque nurus.
Neu vos decipiant blanda mendacia lingua,
Quæ dicit vobis, dixerat ante mihi.
Tu quoque qua montes celebras, Erycina, Sicanos,
(Nam tua fum) vati confule, diva, tue.
An gravis inceptum peragit fortuna tenorem?
Et manet in curfu femper acerba fuo?
Enur'd to forrows from my tender
My parent's ashes drank my early tears:
My brother next, neglecting wealth and fame,
Ignobly burn'd in a destructive flame:
An infant daughter late my griefs increas'd,
And all a mother's cares diftract my breast.
Alas, what more could fate itself impose,
But thee, the laft and greatest of my woes?
No more my robes in waving purple flow,
Nor on my hand the sparkling diamonds glow;
No more my locks in ringlets curl'd diffuse
The coftly sweetness of Arabian dews,
Nor braids of gold the vary'd treffes bind,
That fly disorder'd with the wanton wind:
Sex mihi natales ierant, cum lecta parèntis
Ante diem lacrymas offa bibere meas.
Arfit inops frater, victus meretricis amore;
Miftaque cum turpi damna pudore tulit.
Factus inops agili peragit freta cærula remo:
Quafque male amifit, nunc male quærit opes:
Me quoque, quod monui bene multa fideliter odit.
Hoc mihi libertas, hoc pia lingua dedit.
Et tanquam defint, que me fine fine fatigent,
Accumulat curas filia parva meas.
Ultima tu noftris accedis caufa querelis,
Non agitur vento noftra carina fuo.
Ecce jacent collo fparfi fine lege capilli;
Nec premit articulos lucida gemma meos.
Vefte tegor vili: nullum eft in crinibus aurum:
Non Arabum nofter dona capillus olet.
For whom should Sapho use fuch arts as these?
He's gone, whom only fhe defir'd to please!
Cupid's light darts my tender bofom move,
Still is there caufe for Sapho ftill to love:
So from my birth the Sifters fix'd my doom,
And
gave to Venus all my life to come;
Or while my Muse in melting notes complains,
My yielding heart keeps measure to my ftrains.
By charms like thine which all my foul have won,
Who might not-ah! who would not be undone?
For thofe Aurora Cephalus might scorn,
And with fresh blushes paint the conscious morn.
For those might Cynthia lengthen Phaon's fleep,
And bid Endymion nightly tend his sheep.
Cui color infelix? aut cui placuiffe laborem?
Ille mihi cultus unicus autor abeft.
Molle meum levibus cor eft violabile telis.
Et femper caufa eft, cur ego femper amem.
Sive ita nafcenti legem dixere forores,
Nec data funt vita fila fevera meœ;
Sive abeunt ftudia in mores, artefque magiftræ,
Ingenium nobis molle Thalia dedit.
Quid mirum, fi me primæ lanuginis ætas
Abftulit, atque anni, quos vir amare poteft?
Hunc ne pro Cephalo raperes, Aurora, timebam;
Et faceres: fed te prima rapina tenet.
Hunc fi confpiciat, quæ confpicit omnia, Phabe;
Juffus erit fomnos continuare Phaon.
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