For a moment I have forgotten
Wars and women who mourn --
I think of the mother who bore me
And thank her that I was born.






By the Sea
IX






The Unchanging



Sun-swept beaches with a light wind blowing
From the immense blue circle of the sea,
And the soft thunder where long waves whiten --
These were the same for Sappho as for me.

Two thousand years -- much has gone by forever,
Change takes the gods and ships and speech of men --