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The sun on the tide, the peach on the bough

by Sappho
Translated by Bliss Carman (1904) · From Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics, LXXIII

The sun on the tide, the peach on the bough,
The blue smoke over the hill,
And the shadows trailing the valley-side,
Make up the autumn day.

Ah, no, not half! Thou art not here
Under the bronze beech-leaves,
And thy lover’s soul like a lonely child
Roams through an empty room.

This poem and this translation are in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.

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