Image of Sappho by Orlay Petrich Soma, 1855
SAPPHO (625. B.C.)
(Meets Bashō (1644) on the Narrow Road North)
Like a sweet-apple
turning red
high
on the tip
of the topmost branch.Forgotten by pickers.
Not forgotten—
they couldn’t reach it.
[Translated from the Greek by Julia Dubnoff]
Again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me
bittersweet,
irresistible,
a crawling beast.
[Translated from the Greek by Julia Dubnoff]
A striking beauty.