Classic Poem

What means the mist opaque that veils these eyes?
Why does yon threatening tempest shroud the day?
Why does thy altar, Venus, fade away,
And on my breast the dews of horror rise?
Phaon is false! Be dim, ye orient skies,
And let black Erebus succeed your ray!
Let clashing thunders roll, and lightnings play—
Phaon is false! and hopeless Sappho dies!
‘Farewell, my Lesbian love’, you might have said
(Such sweet remembrance had some pity proved),
Or coldly thus, ‘Farewell, oh Lesbian maid’—
No task severe for one so fondly loved!
The gentle thought had soothed my wandering shade,
From life's dark valley, and its thorns, removed!