Sappho 31.1–17
Sappho 31 (Campbell) — 'he seems to me equal to the gods'. Quoted by 'Longinus' 10.1–3 as a model of selecting and unifying the symptoms of passion; freely translated by Catullus 51. · 19 lines
1–2φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν ἔμμεν᾽ ὤνηρ,
That man seems to me to be equal to the gods,
2–4ὄττις ἐνάντιός τοι ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φωνεί-σας ὐπακούει
whoever sits opposite you and, close by, listens to you speaking sweetly
5–6καὶ γελαίσας ἰμέροεν, τό μ᾽ ἦ μὰν καρδίαν ἐν στήθεσιν ἐπτόαισεν·
and laughing desirably — a thing which truly has set the heart in my breast fluttering;
7–8ὠς γὰρ ἔς σ᾽ ἴδω βρόχε᾽, ὠς με φώναι-σ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἒν ἔτ᾽ εἴκει,
for whenever I glance at you for a moment, then it is no longer possible for me to say even one thing,
9–10ἀλλ᾽ ἄκαν μὲν γλῶσσα †ἔαγε†, λέπτον δ᾽ αὔτικα χρῷ πῦρ ὐπαδεδρόμηκεν,
but in silence my tongue is broken, and at once a thin fire has run beneath my skin,
11–12ὀππάτεσσι δ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἒν ὄρημμ᾽, ἐπιρρόμ-βεισι δ᾽ ἄκουαι,
and with my eyes I see not one thing, and my ears are humming,
13–14κὰδ δέ μ᾽ ἴδρως ψῦχρος ἔχει, τρόμος δὲ παῖσαν ἄγρει,
and a cold sweat covers me, and trembling seizes all of me,
14–16χλωροτέρα δὲ ποίας ἔμμι, τεθνάκην δ᾽ ὀλίγω ᾽πιδεύης φαίνομ᾽ ἔμ᾽ αὔτ[ᾳ.
and I am greener than grass, and I seem to my very self to be little short of dying.
17ἀλλὰ πὰν τόλματον, ἐπεὶ †καὶ πένητα†
But all must be endured, since …