III

Fair young men have brought me presents of silver caskets and white mirrors,

Gold for my hair and long lemon-colored chitons and dew-soft perfumes of sweet herbs.

Their bodies are whiter than Leucadian foam and delicate are their flute-girls,

But the wild sleepless nightingales cry in the darkness even as I for Konallis.

We, Konallis and Myrrhine, dedicate to thee, Proserpine, two white torches of wax,

For thou didst watch over our purple-embroidered couch all night;

Was it thou who gavest us the sweetness of sharp caresses?

For at midday when we awoke we laughed to see black poppies blooming beneath our eyes.