THE HYMN TO APHRODITE AND FIFTY-TWO FRAGMENTS,
TOGETHER WITH SAPPHO TO PHAON,
OVID'S HEROIC EPISTLE XV
[FOREWORD]
Tear the red rose to pieces if you will,
The soul that is the rose you may not kill;
Destroy the page, you may, but not the words
That share eternal life with flowers and birds.
And the least words of Sappho—let them fall,
Cast where you will, some bird will rise and call,
Some flower unfold in some forsaken spot.
Hill hyacinth, or blue forget-me-not.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
FOREWORD