Classic Poem

On one of those sweet nights that oft
Their lustre o'er the Ægean fling,
Beneath my casement, low and soft,
I heard a Lesbian lover sing;
And, listening both with ear and thought,
These sounds upon the night breeze caught —
" Oh, happy as the gods is he,
" Who gazes at this hour on thee! "

The song was one by Sappho sung,
In the first love-dreams of her lyre,
When words of passion from her tongue
Fell like a shower of living fire.
And still, at close of every strain,
I heard these burning words again —
" Oh, happy as the gods is he,
" Who listens at this hour to thee! "