Sappho and Catullus: Sexual Politics

That man to me seems a match for deity;
that man - dare I say? - surpasses the divine,
the one who sits and faces you, the one who
peers at you, who hears

you as you laugh so sweetly, and I'm in hell,
senses shredded, ripped apart; for when I see
you there, Lesbia, there's nothing left of me -
(no voice to speak of )

as my tongue is numbed, my lips struck dumb; pale fire
trickles down my limbs, my ears resound, ring-ting
with their own thunder, and my eyes are covered
by these dark nights, twin.

* * *

Leisure is your death, Catullus, your despair:
in leisure you bask, too much of not enough;
for at their leisure kings are lost, such ancient
cities turned to dust.

Read more...Is the Poem the Complete Original?

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