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Fragment 31

He seems to me equal to the gods, that man who sits opposite you and close by hears you sweetly speaking and laughing delightfully — which sets my heart to fluttering in my breast, for when I look at you for a moment, then it is no longer possible for me to speak but my tongue has snapped, at once a subtle fire has stolen beneath my flesh, I see nothing with my eyes, my ears hum, sweat pours from me, a trembling seizes me all over, I am greener than grass, and it seems to me that I am little short of being gone.

Sappho, 600 BC

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