Love
Sappho: LV
From Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (1907)
Soul of sorrow, why this weeping?
What immortal grief hath touched thee
With the poignancy of sadness,—
Testament of tears?
Have the high gods deigned to show thee
Destiny, and disillusion
Fills thy heart at all things human,
Fleeting and desired?
Nay, the gods themselves are fettered
By one law which links together
Truth and nobleness and beauty,
Man and stars and sea.
And they only shall find freedom
Who with courage rise and follow
Where love leads beyond all peril,
Wise beyond all words.
Codex Note
From Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics (1907)
Cite this poem
MLA
Carman, Bliss. “Sappho: LV.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/carman/254/.
Chicago
Carman, Bliss. “Sappho: LV.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/carman/254/.
Read this poem with the Codex →