Song Of The Rose

For Zeus chose us a King of the flowers in his mirth,
He would call to the rose, and would royally crown it;
For the rose, ho, the rose! is the grace of the earth,
Is the light of the plants that are growing upon it!

For the rose, ho, the rose! is the eye of the flowers,
Is the blush of the meadows that feel themselves fair,
Is the lightning of beauty that strikes through the bowers
On pale lovers that sit in the glow unaware.

Ho, the rose breathes of love! ho, the rose lifts the cup
To the red lips of Cypris invoked for a guest!
Ho, the rose having curled its sweet leaves for the world
Takes delight in the motion its petals keep up,
As they laugh to the wind as it laughs from the west.

Sappho was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, in about 615 BC. Not much is known about her life, although it is known that she ran an acadamy for single women. She was also a follower of the cults of Aphrodite and Eros.

legend has it that she threw herself from a cliff, after a lover broke her heart. Other historians say she dies of old age in around 550AD. You decide, the former tale is more tragic, and fitting of a great poet, don't you think?