I

…..You burn me…..

                    II

Remembering those things

We did in our youth…

…Many, beautiful things…

                    III

…Again and again…because those

I care for best, do me

Most harm…

                    IV

You came, and I was mad for you

And you cooled my mind that burned with longing…

                    V

Once long ago I loved you, Atthis,

A little graceless child you seemed to me

                    VI

Nightingale, herald of spring

With a voice of longing….

                    VII

Eros, again now, the loosener of limbs troubles me,

Bittersweet, sly, uncontrollable creature….

                    VII

………..but you have forgotten me…

                    VIII

You and my servant Eros….

                    IX

Like the sweet-apple reddening high on the branch,

High on the highest, the apple-pickers forgot,

Or not forgotten, but one they couldn’t reach…

                    X

Neither for me the honey

Nor the honeybee…

                    XI

Come from heaven, wrapped in a purple cloak…

                    XII

Of all the stars, the loveliest…

                    XIII

I spoke to you, Aphrodite, in a dream….

                    XIV

Yet I am not one who takes joy in wounding,

Mine is a quiet mind….

                    XV

Like the mountain hyacinth, the purple flower

That shepherds trample to the ground…

                    XVI

Dear mother, I cannot work the loom

Filled, by Aphrodite, with love for a slender boy…