Love
Leda and the Swan's Egg (Way)
Translated by Arthur S. Way (1920) · From Sappho and the Vigil of Venus (1920)
Leda, 'tis told in ancient song,
Did one day light
On a strange treasure which among
Thick-clustering hyacinths was long
Hidden from sight—
An egg, but of no mortal birth,
Far whiter than all eggs of earth.
And none save Zeus and she, I wis,
Could tell what swan had fathered this,
This egg so white.
Codex Note
Way weaves several fragments in the same metre into one connected poem (his preface); the joins are his.
Cite this poem
MLA
Sappho. “Leda and the Swan's Egg (Way).” Translated by Arthur S. Way. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/sappho/148/.
Chicago
Sappho. “Leda and the Swan's Egg (Way).” Translated by Arthur S. Way. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/sappho/148/.
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