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GRECIAN MAIDENS REMEMBER SAPPHO, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When evening came, around the well
Alternate Author Name(s): Little, Thomas


WHEN evening came, around the well
They sate, beneath the rising moon,
And some, with voice of awe could tell
Of midnight's fays and nymphs who dwell
In holy fountains; some would tune
Their lutes to sounds of softest close,
To tell of Sappho's love and woes.


Among these maidens there was one
Who to Leucadia late had been ,
Had stood beneath the evening sun
On its white, towering cliffs, and seen
The very spot where Sappho sung
Her swan - like music, ere she sprung
(Still holding in that fearful leap
By her loved lyre) into the deep;
And dying quenched the fatal fire,
At once , of both her heart and lyre.


Mutely they listened all; and well
Did the young travelled maiden tell
Of the dread height to which that steep
Beetles above the eddying deep;
Of the lone sea birds, wheeling round
The dizzy edge with mournful sound;
And of the scented lilies, (some
Of whose white flowers, the damsel said
Herself had gathered, and brought home
In memory of the minstrel maid ,)
Still blooming on that fearful place.






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