(Sappho XXIII) <br />I loved thee, Atthis, in the long ago, <br />When the great oleanders were in flower <br />In the broad herded meadows full of sun. <br />And we would often at the fall of dusk <br />Wander together by the silver stream, <br />When the soft grass-heads were all wet with dew <br />And purple-miste d in the fading light. <br />And joy I knew and sorrow at thy voice, <br />And the superb magnificence of love,— <br />The loneliness that saddens solitude, <br />And the sweet speech that makes it durable,— <br />The bitter longing and the keen desire, <br />The sweet companionshi p through quiet days <br />In the slow ample beauty of the world, <br />And the unutterable glad release <br />Within the temple of the holy night. <br />O Atthis, how I loved thee long ago <br />In that fair perished summer by the sea!<br /><br />Bliss William Carman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-loved-thee-atthis-in-the-long-ago-2/
