Perception Point

Sappho is one of the first female writers known to the humankind, born somewhere around 612 BC, from the Greek island of Lesbos (ever think of where the word Lesbian is derived from?).

Here is a beautiful translation by Willis Barnstone of one of her poems I read today and had to share,

To Aphrodite of the Flowers, at Knossos

Leave Crete and come to this holy temple
where the pleasant grove of apple trees
circles an altar smoking with frank-
incense.

Here roses leave shadow on the ground
and cold springs babble through apple branches
where shuddering leaves pour down pro-
found sleep

In our meadow where horses graze
and wild flowers of spring blossom,
anise shoots fill the air with a-
roma.

And here, Queen Aphrodite, pour
heavenly nectar into golden cups
and fill them gracefully with sud-
den joy