April Twenty-Sixth

IN SPRING THE QUINCE

IN THE Spring the quince and the
Pomegranate bloom in the
Sacred Park of the Maidens,
And the vine tendril curls in
The shade of the downy vine leaf.
But for me Love never sleeps.
He scorches me like a blaze
Of lightning and he shakes me
To the roots like a storm out of
Thrace, and he overwhelms my heart
With black frenzy and seasickness.

-- BY IBYCUS (c. 560 B.C.), translated by KENNETH REXROTH