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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO THE BELOVED by PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

First Line: SHE STOOD AND CRIED, 'O YOU THAT LOVE IN VAIN'
Last Line: THY WRETCHED WEIGHT, NOR DREAD THE DEEPS BELOW!
Subject(s): LEUCADIA, GREECE; SANTA MAURA;

SHE stood and cried, "O you that love in vain,
Fly hence, and seek the fair Leucadian main:
There stands a rock, from whose impending steep
Apollo's fane surveys the rolling deep;
There injured lovers, leaping from above,
Their flames extinguish, and forget to love.
Deucalion once with hopeless fury burned,
In vain he loved: relentless Pyrrha scorned:
But when from hence he plunged into the main,
Deucalion scorned, and Pyrrha loved in vain.
Haste, Sappho, haste, from high Leucadia throw
Thy wretched weight, nor dread the deeps below!



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