THE SEA OF TIME
Reading edition
(Sappho sings to Alcæus)
Only our few short hours, For you and me; Temples and groves and bowers, And then—the Sea! Only our finite word For you and me, Who knows what gods have heard Under the Sea? Love, though the gold moons wane For you and me, We shall not meet again Down by the Sea. Ours shall be hidden ways; For you and me Stretch the long separate days— Mist on the Sea! Artemis—will she say For you and me What Law we must obey Moves in the Sea? Moves, till the faces worn By you and me, Luminous, dream-forsworn Change in the Sea? Change, for unending tides Bear you and me And the Self in us glides From Sea to Sea. Love, shall the sailing souls Of you and me Float where new shore unrolls Rimmed by the Sea? Comes then the meeting place For you and me? Silence ... white bubbles trace Foam on the Sea!