Sappho

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Awed by her splendor

Stars near lovely
moon cover thier own
bright faces
                when she
is roundest and lights
earth with her silver

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Now, while we dance

Come here to us
gentle Gaiety,
Revelry, Radiance

and you Muses
with lovely hair

The evening star

Is the most
beautiful
of all stars

It is time now

First voice:...................For you who are so
..................................pretty and charming

..................................to shae in games
..................................that the pink-ankled
..................................Graces play, and

..................................gold Aphrodite

..................................O never!

Second voice: ...............I shall be
..................................a virgin always

For her sake

We ask you
to come now

O Graces O
rosy-armed
perfection:

God's daughters

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

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.

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!

Code:

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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

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Quote:

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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

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Quote:

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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

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Quote:

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The nightingale's

the soft spoken
announcer of
Spring's presence

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And last

Quote:

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You may forget but

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

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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.

ooh an Opera about Sappho sounds interesting

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!

They're locked in, oh!

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

makers used five
oxhides to cobble
sandals for them!

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

Ooooo..me likey....

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

I found these Pre-Rapahelite paintings of Sappho

http://www.artmagick.com/images/cont...d/tadema11.jpg
Sappho and Alcaeus ~ Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

http://www.artmagick.com/images/cont...d/solomon2.jpg
Sappho and Erinna at Mytelene ~ Simeon Solomon

http://www.artmagick.com/images/cont...ed/mengin1.jpg
Sappho ~ Charles August Mengin

http://www.artmagick.com/images/cont.../godward65.jpg
In the Days of Sappho ~ John William Godward

You wear her livery

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

Why am I crying?

Am I still sad
becasue of my
lost maidenhead?

Code:

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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

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Code:

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Prayer to my lady of Paphos

Dapple-throned Aphrodite,
eternal daughter of God,
snare-knitter! Don't, I beg
        you,

cow my heart with grief!
      Come,
as once when you heard my
      far-
off cry and, listening,
      stepped

from your father's house to your
gold car, to yoke the pair whose
beautiful thick-feathered wings

oaring down mid-air from heaven
carried you to light swiftly
on dark earth; than, blissful one,

smiling your immortal smile
you asked, What ailed me now that
made me call you again? What

was is that my distracted
heart most wanted?  "Whom has
Persuasion to bring round now

"to your love? Who, Sappho, is
unfair to you? For, let her
run, she will soon run after;

"if she won't accept gifts, she
will one day give them; and if
she won't love you- she soon will

"love although unwillingly...."
If ever-come now! Relieve
this intolerable pain!

What my heart most hopes will
happen, make happen; you your-
self join forces my side!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dark Muse

In the spring twilight

The full moon shining:
Girls take thier places
as through around an altar

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Wow, this is nice. If we rearrange it into this:

The full moon shining:
As through around an altar
Girls take their places

it becomes a haiku!!!

I would consider this a very lovely poem:



Please


Come back to me, Gongyla, here tonight,
You, my rose, with your Lydian lyre.
There hovers forever around you delight:
A beauty desired.

Even your garment plunders my eyes.
I am enchanted: I who once
Complained to the Cyprus-born goddess,
Whom I now beseech

Never to let this lose me grace
But rather bring you back to me:
Amongst all mortal women the one
I most wish to see.


--Translated by Paul Roche

And this poem is very effective for all its brevity;



To Andromeda


That country girl has witched your wishes,
all dressed up in her country clothes
and she hasn't got the sense
to hitch her rags above her ankles.


--Translated by Jim Powell

And what subject is harder to broach in poietry than mixed feelings?



"On the throne of many hues, Immortal Aphrodite"


On the throne of many hues, Immortal Aphrodite,
child of Zeus, weaving wiles--I beg you
not to subdue my spirit, Queen,
with pain or sorrow

but come--if ever before
having heard my voice from far away
you listened, and leaving your father's
golden home you came

in your chariot yoked with swift, lovely
sparrows bringing you over the dark earth
thick-feathered wings swirling down
from the sky through mid-air

arriving quickly--you, Blessed One,
with a smile on your unaging face
asking again what have I suffered
and why am I calling again

and in my wild heart what did I most wish
to happen to me: "Again whom must I persuade
back into the harness of your love?
Sappho, who wrongs you?

For if she flees, soon she'll pursue,
she doesn't accept gifts, but she'll give,
if not now loving, soon she'll love
even against her will."

Come to me now again, release me from
this pain, everything my spirit longs
to have fulfilled, fulfill, and you
be my ally


--Translated by Diane Rayor

Ok this one is my all time favorite of hers. I just LOVE this one.

He is more than a hero

He is a god in my eyes-
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you-he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can't

speak-my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn't far from me.

Code:

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Yes, Atthis, you may be sure

                Even in Sardis
Anactoria will think often
      of us

of the life we shared here,
        when you seemed
the Goddess incarnate
to her and your singing
      pleased her best

Now among Lydian women she in her
turn stands first as the red-
fingered moon rising at sunset takes

precedence over stars around her;
her light spreads equally
on the salt sea and fields thick with
      bloom

Delicious dew pours down to freshen
roses, delicate thyme
and blossoming sweet clover; she
      wanders

aimlessly, thinking of gentle
Atthis, her heart hanging
heavy with longing in her little breast

She shouts aloud, Come! we know it;
thousand eared-night repeats that cry
across the sea shinning between us

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Code:

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To an army wife, in Sardis:

Some say cavalry corps,
some infantry, some, again,
will maintain that the swift
          oars

of our fleet are the finest
sight on dark earth; but I say
that whatever one loves, is.

This is easily proved: did
not Helen-she who had
        scanned
the flower of world's
manhood-

choose as first among men one
who laid Tory's honor ruin?
warped to his will, forgetting

love due her own blood, her own
child, she wandered far with him.
So Anactoria, although you

being far away forget us,
the dear sound of your footstep
and light glancing in your eyes

would move me more than glitter
Lydian horse or armored
tread of mainland infantry

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dark Muse

Ok this one is my all time favorite of hers. I just LOVE this one.

He is more than a hero

He is a god in my eyes-
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you-he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can't

speak-my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn't far from me.

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This can provide a constructive example of how varied translations can be. I also admire this poem, but I discovered it in this form:



“There's a man I really believe’s in heaven,
-over there, that man. To be sitting near you,
knee to knee so close to you, hear your voice, your
cozy low laughter,
close to you - enough in the very thought to
put my heart at once to palpitation.
I, come face to face with you on a sudden,
stand in a stupor:
tongue a lump, unable to lift; elusive
little flames play over the skin and smoulder
under. Eyes go blind in a flash; and ears hear
only their own din.
Head to toe I'm cold with a sudden moisture;
Knees are faint; my cheeks, in an instant, drain to
pale as grass. I think to myself, the end? I'm
really going under?

Well, endure is all I can do . . .”

Wow that is quite different, though I have to admit to prefering my translation over that one. But it reads almost like a different poem even though shares roughly the same sentiment.

It took me a moment to realize that it was the same poem. I agree that with respect to their mechanics, the poems differ greatly . . . but I think the “sentiment” of each translation is equivalent. Were it not, one or both of the translators would have failed badly in their endeavors ;).

I just purchased a third translation of Sapho's poetry... somewhat phenomenal considering the fragmentary state of her work. I've owned the Mary Barnard translation for years. A couple years ago I purchased the Anne Carson translation which lends a rather post-modern voice to the poet Sappho as she insists on retaining the fragmentary state of the works and adding nothing... surmising nothing... that was not there. Today I picked up a newer translation (2006) by Willis Barnstone. I'll try to post a few examples over the nest few days or so.

I have to say I love Mary Barnard's interpritation of the work.

While it is an interesting concept of keeping the work in its fragmeneted state and preusuming nothing, I do not like that Post-modern feel it has when you read it. It just does not feel as fluid or passionate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crystalmoonshin

Wow, this is nice. If we rearrange it into this:

The full moon shining:
As through around an altar
Girls take their places

it becomes a haiku!!!

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Full
Moon
Shining
Alter
Girls
Take
Places
Around

Now it's a mock 8 character poem.

Just shows you how you can reduce language yet still retain the comprehension. I think the poem is still readable, but you could play with it further:

Around Alter Girls Take their Places;
The full moon

or perhaps if I was creative, and not limited to the format on the forum (it is almost impossible to get indents in) I could have broken girls up into letters, and quite literally around the alter. I'll try anyway, just

Shining...Full...Moon
...............g
....i......Alter........s
..........r.......l


Or something like that. And now I know I have been reading too much.

I have not one word
from her

Frankly I wish I were dead.
When she left, she wept

a great deal; she said to
me, "This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go
unwillingly."

I said, "Go, and be happy
but remember (you know
well) whom you leave
shackled by love

"If you forget me, think
of our gifts to Aphrodite
and all the loveliness that we shared

"all the violet tiaras,
braided rosebuds, dill and
crocus twined around your young neck

"myrrh poured on your head
and on soft mat girls with
all they most wished for beside
them

"while no voices chanted
choruses without ours,
no woodlot bloomed in spring
without song..."

I might note that even when posting an excerpt of a poem by Sappho (or anyone else) in translation one should give credit to the translator through a proper citation. I don't state this merely to be picky... but I would certainly like to know who the translator is in such an instance.

Sorry, I had mentioned this sometime earlier, but that was a few pages ago.

All my translations are Mary Barnard

Originally Posted by Dark Muse:

In the spring twilight

The full moon shining:
Girls take thier places
as through around an altar

Wow, this is nice. If we rearrange it into this:

The full moon shining:
As through around an altar
Girls take their places

it becomes a haiku!!!

Originally Posted by JBI:

Full
Moon
Shining
Alter
Girls
Take
Places
Around

Now it's a mock 8 character poem.

Just shows you how you can reduce language yet still retain the comprehension. I think the poem is still readable, but you could play with it further:

Around Alter Girls Take their Places;
The full moon

or perhaps if I was creative, and not limited to the format on the forum (it is almost impossible to get indents in) I could have broken girls up into letters, and quite literally around the alter. I'll try anyway, just

Shining...Full...Moon
...............g
....i......Alter........s
..........r.......l


Or something like that. And now I know I have been reading too much.

Barnstone translates this as:

The moon appeared in her fullness
when women took their place around the altar

tr. Willis Barstone: Sweetbitter Love: Poems of Sappho

Anne Carson has it:

full appeared the moon
and when they around the altar took their places

tr. Anne Carson, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

not one girl, I think
........who looks on the light of the sun
..............will ever
..............have wisdom
..............like this

tr. Anne Carson: If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

I actually quite like this version by Anne Carson. Her translations are less within the Western Romantic poetic tradition and come closer to capturing that something of a compression in Sappho that comes close to certain Chinese and Japanese lyric poems

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It was you Atthis, who said

"Sappho, if you will not get
up and let us look at you
I shall never love you again!

 "Get up, unleash your
      suppleness,
    lift off your Chian
      nightdress
and, like lilly leaning into

"a spring, bathe in the
          water
Cleis is brigning your best
purple frock and the yellow

"tunic down from the clothes chest;
you will have a cloak thrown over
you and flowers crowning your
            hair........

"Praxinoa, my child, will you please
roast nuts for our breakfast? One
of the gods is being good to us:

"today we are going at last
into Mitylene, our favorite
city, with Sappho the lovliest

"of its women; she will walk
among us like a mother with
all her daughters around her

"when she comes home from
      exile......."

But you forget everything

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