I hadn't realised, when I left my homeland,
how visions of its mountains -
of Taiygetos - would haunt me,
and rise up to reproach me
from the sea, as crests of waves;
nor had I reflected
how quickly I might weary
of the cloistered life,
the flat green fields
and luxury of Troy,
and grow nostalgic for my city,
walled only with hills;
our Artemis,
whose discipline is pain.
It is not my husband,
Menelaos, whom I miss -
how could he understand
this leavetaking, much less
forgive... but oh that Sparta
should remember me -
not bitterly - as one
who learned too late
the cost of love.
Note: At the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, in ancient Sparta, youths underwent endurance tests by flogging.