After Sappho, fragment 31

The dinner guest placed opposite the girl I love
must be a current favourite of the powers above.

How your infectious laughter and delicious voice
have captivated him, the fool! He has no choice.

Three places down, my heart is thumping like a drum.
I look at you. My tongue has snapped, no words will come,

my ears are humming and I seem to have gone blind,
I’m trembling, burning, drenched with sweat; and in my mind

the thought that you, my own, should smile on him instead
is slowly killing me. Now that I’m almost dead,

I wonder, is my appetite for love as keen?
Or is it only envy that is evergreen?