Sappho and Phaon, David Jacques-Louis (1809)

Sappho and Phaon

Sappho, such control of poetic words,
But thy heart runs unrestrained as a stag.
Surely did not follow songs of love birds
Phaon with great ease thy heart did he snag

Were thou charmed by Aphrodite’s gift to him?
A competitor of her Adonis.
Soon causing thou to feel more than a whim,
Phaon so willing to accept your muss.

Thou and he created a carnal fire.
He expressed an insatiable desire.
Of thy loving touch he early did tire.
Abandoned, alone now to play thy lyre.

Thy asking the fates this love to remove,
If not let thee drown. The fates did behoove.