Sappho's Hymn to Venus

HAIL ! (with eternal beauty blest,
O'er heav'n and earth ador'd!)
Hail, Venus! 'tis thy slave's request,
Her peace may be restor'd:
Break the fond bonds, remove the rankling smart,
And bid thy tyrant son from Sappho's soul depart.

Once you descended, Queen of Love,
At Sappho's bold desire,
From the high roofs of sacred Jove,
Thy ever glorious sire!
I saw thy dusky pinion'd sparrows bear
Thy chariot, rolling light through the rejoicing air,

No transient visit you design'd,
Your wanton birds depart;
And with a look divinely kind,
That sooth'd my fluttering heart:
" Sappho, say you, what sorrow breaks thy rest?
How can I give relief to thy conflicting breast?

Is there a youth severely coy,
My favourite would subdue?
Or has she lost some wandering boy,
To plighted vows untrue?
Spread thy soft nets, the rambler shall return,
And with new lighted flames, more fond more fiercely burn.

Thy proffer'd gifts though he deride,
And scorn thy glowing charms,
Soon shall his every art be try'd
To win thee to his arms:
Though he be now as cold as virgin snow,
The victim, in his turn, shall like rous'd Ætna glow. "

Thee, Goddess, I again invoke,
These mad desires remove!
Again I've felt the furious stroke
Of irresistless Love:
Bid gentle peace to Sappho's breast return,
Or make the youth she loves with mutual ardour burn.