Sappho, your wild songs to the wind,
The wild west wind,
Recall an island to my mind,
All mist-enshrined,
Girt round with waves that break with force,
Fearful, yet kind.
Sappho, your sad songs to the sea,
The southern sea,
Bring back sweet mem’ries of the waves,
The waves to me,
And wild swans flying o’er the white
Sands, by the sea.
Sappho, the finest of your songs,
“Hark to the rain!”
Sends shivering through and through my heart
Its sad refrain,
Just as a broken lute-string strikes
A soul in pain!