Sapphic Fragment 3

always, I yearn to give

wings to words, yet of the glorious

resounding cries, of the beautiful and good, you

force me into a shamed silence of pain, stifling me

with fear, blame, regret[?]

for your swollen

[fingers?] as I let you take your fill. for though my thinking

arose all self-condemning, it was not thus

as you accused; nothing is arranged

erratically, nor erotically, though

all night long, l[a]ying anxious, I am aware

of your allegations of evildoing;

but I, in my desire-choked silence, my willful blindness,

lay blame on other souls, all those deluded minds,

those cursed, those blessed ones,

all around whom you spread your downy wings,

all whom you loved,

all whom you destroyed

unknowingly?

I reject that you'd willingly break us,

and yet

the truth lies naked.

have you no temperance, no shame?

--

Creative reconstruction; bold words are the original fragment.