["To an army wife, in Sardis"]
By Sappho
Translated By Mary Barnard
To an army wife, in Sardis:
Some say a cavalry corps,
some infantry, some, again,
will maintain that the swift oars
of our fleet are the finest
sight on dark earth; but I say
that whatever one loves, is.
This is easily proved: did
not Helen—she who had scanned
the flower of the world’s manhood—
choose as first among men one
who laid Troy’s honor in ruin?
warped to his will, forgetting
love due her own blood, her own
child, she wandered far with him.
So Anactoria, although you
being far away forget us,
the dear sound of your footstep
and light glancing in your eyes
would move me more than glitter
of Lydian horse or armored
tread of mainland infantry
Copyright Credit: Sappho, "[To an army wife, in Sardis...]" from Sappho, translated by Mary Barnard, published by the University of California Press. Copyright © 2012 by The Estate of Mary Barnard. Reprinted by permission of Estate of Mary Barnard.
Source: Sappho, Translated by Mary Barnard (University of California Press, 2012)