Sappho 27

σὺ τοῦτ᾿ ἀλλ᾿ ὄττι τάχιστα

It makes me ill to think about it too,
how the people I love the most
sometimes treat me the worst. Don’t let that be you.

Let’s go to their wedding, and drink their aperitifs,
and nibble a few petits fours. I’ll offer a toast,
then we’ll leave by the service door. Let them keep their beliefs

as long as they can. I no longer think there’s a road
to happiness if you expect to steer, ride, and coast
for the rest of your life with just one copilot. No god

even tries to live that way:
as for us mortals, each one of us ends up a ghost
with an armful of dry regrets. You can’t make people stay.