Sappho

[Dark Muse]

Hymen Hymenaon

First voice........Raise the rafter! Hoist
......................them higher! Here comes
......................a bridegromm taller
......................than Ares!

Second Voice....Hymen Hymenaon


First Voice...... He towers
.....................above tall men as
.....................poets of Lebos
.....................over all others

Second Voice...Sing Hymen
....................O Hymenaon

[Redzeppelin]

Two of my favorites by "The Tenth Muse"

#46
Thank you, my dear

You came, and you did
well to come: I needed
you. You have made

love blaze up in
my breast - bless you!
Bless you as often

as the hours have
been endless to me
while you were gone



#53
With this venom

Irresistable
and bittersweet

that loosener
of limbs, Love

reptile-like
strikes me down



Sappho's longing, her desire, her frankness are astounding to read. It's a shame we have so few fragments of her often startling verse.

[Dark Muse]

Thank you for sharing those, they are both very lovely

We drink to your health

Lucky Bridegroom!
Now the wedding you
asked for is over

and your wife is the
girl you asked for;
she's a bride who is

charming to look at,
with eyes as soft as
honey and a face

that Love has lighted
with his own beauty.
Aprhodite has surely

outdone herself in
doing honor to you!

[Dark Muse]

Bridesmaids' Carol I

O Bride brimful of 
rosy little loves!

O brightest jewel of
the Queen of Paphos!

Come now
          to your
bedroom   to your
bed
     and play there
sweetly  gently 
with your bridegroom

And may Hesperus
lead you not all
unwilling
           until
you stand wondering 
before the silver 

Thron of Hera
Queen of Marriage

[FalseReality]

We know this much

Death is an evil;
we have the gods'
word for it; they too
would die if death
were a good thing

Rich as you are
Death will finish
you: afterwards no
one will remember

or want you: you
had no share in
the Pierian roses

You will flitter
invisible among
the indistinct dead
in Hell's palace
darting fitfully

The nightingale's

the soft spoken
announcer of
Spring's presence

And last

You may forget but

Let me tell you
this: someone in
some future time
will think of us

[shortstoryfan]

You know, I saw this thread and it just reminded me of something (kind of unrelated) that may interest some. I heard last year an aria from an opera based on the life of Sappho. I can't remember who wrote it, but it was pretty intense. Just thought I would share something I know a little bit about...music.

[Dark Muse]

ooh an Opera about Sappho sounds interesting

[Dark Muse]

Bridemaids' Carol II

First voice......Virginity O
....................my virginity!

....................Where will you
....................go when I loose
....................you?

Second Voice.... I am off
................... a place I shall never
....................never come back
....................from

.........................Dear Bride!
....................I shall never
....................come back to you

.........................Never!

[Dark Muse]

They're locked in, oh!

The doorkeeper's
feet are twelve
yards long! ten shoe-

makers used five
oxhides to cobble
sandals for them!

[Dark Muse]

Lament for a Maidenhead

first voice........Like a quince-apple
.....................ripening on a top
.....................branch in a tree top

.....................not once noticed by
.....................harvesters of if
.....................not unoticed, not reached

second voice....Like a hyacinth in
.....................the mountains trampled
.....................by shepherds until
.....................only a purple stain
.....................remains on the ground

[Taliesin]

Ooooo..me likey....

By the way, Charles Gounod has an opera about Sappho - perhaps that was what shortstoryfan meant?

[Dark Muse]

I found these Pre-Rapahelite paintings of Sappho


Sappho and Alcaeus ~ Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema


Sappho and Erinna at Mytelene ~ Simeon Solomon


Sappho ~ Charles August Mengin


In the Days of Sappho ~ John William Godward

[Dark Muse]

You wear her livery

Shining with gold,
you, too, Hecate,
Queen of the Night, hand-
maid to Aphrodite

[Dark Muse]

Why am I crying?

Am I still sad
becasue of my
lost maidenhead?

[Dark Muse]

You know the place: then

Leave Crete and come to us
waiting where the grove is
pleasantest, by precincts

sacred to you; incense
smokes on the altar, cold
streams murmur through 
       the

apple branches, a young
rose thicket shades the
       ground
and quivering leaves pour 

down deep sleep; in meadows
where horses have grown sleek
among spring flowers, dill

scents the air. Queen! Cyprian!
Fill our gold cups with love
stirred into clear nectar