ODE TO SAPPHO 
 
[This and the following poems up to page 60 are from 
“ Green Alps.”—R. P. L.]. 
 
O LESBIAN maiden ! 
O plumèd and snowlike in glory of whiteness ! 
O mystical brightness 
With love-lyrics laden ! 
Joy’s fulness is fainting for passion and sorrow. 
To-night melts divine to the dawn of to-morrow, 
O Lesbian maiden ! 
 
The flame-tongue of passion 
Is lambent and strong ; 
In mystical fashion 
Sucks sweetness from shade, 
As the voice of thy song 
In the halls of the dead, 
Breaking fitful and wild, 
Weird waking the slumber of Venus, the sleep of 
her child, 
O Lesbian maiden ! 
 
Thy tongue reaches red 
On that pillar of might ! 
Flaming gold from thy head 
Is a garland of light 
On the forehead of night, 
 
2I