Better a sparrow, living or dead, than no birdsong at all.
What a woman says to an eager lover, write it on running water, write it on air.
I write of youth, of love, and have access by these to sing of cleanly wantonness.
It is difficult to lay aside a confirmed passion.
Away with you, water, destruction of wine!
I can imagine no greater misfortune for a cultured people than to see in the hands of the rulers not only the civil, but also the religious power.