Fiddler's Farewell/To a Song of Sappho Discovered in Egypt
To a Song of Sappho discovered in Egypt
And Sappho's flowers, so few,But roses all.Meleager.
Jonah wept within the whale;But you have sung these centuriesUnder the brown banks of the NileWithin a dead dried crocodile:So fares the learned tale.
When they embalmed the sacred beastThe Sapphic scroll was white and strongTo wrap the spices that were needed,Its song unheard, its word unheededBy crocodile or priest.
The song you sang on Lesbos whenAtthis was kind, or Mica sad;The startled whale spewed Jonah wide,From out the monster mummifiedYour roses sing again.
Your roses! from the seven strandsOf the small harp whereon they grew;The holy beast has had his pleasure,His bellyful of Attic measureUnder the desert sands.
Along strange winds your petals blewIn singing fragments, roses all;The air is heavy on the Nile,The drowsy gods drowse on the whileAs gods are wont to do.