Hymn to Aphrodite by Sappho loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Immortal Aphrodite, throned in splendor! Wile-weaving daughter of Zeus, enchantress, and beguiler! I implore you, dread mistress, discipline me no longer with love's weariness, anguish and distress!
But come to me once again in kindness, heeding my prayers as you have done before; O, come Divine One, descend once again from your Father's golden dominions!
Your chariot yoked to love's consecrated doves, their multitudinous pinions aflutter, you once came gliding from heaven's utmost heights, descending through bright ether to the dark-bosomed earth.
Swiftly they came and vanished, leaving you, O my Goddess, smiling, your face eternally beautiful, asking me what unfathomable longing compelled me to cry out.
Asking me what I sought in my hopeless, bewildered desire. Asking, "Who has harmed you, why are you so alarmed, my poor Sappho? Whom should Persuasion summon here?"
"Though today she flees love, soon she will pursue you; spurning love's gifts, soon she shall return them; tomorrow she will woo you, however unwillingly!"
Come to me now, most Holy Aphrodite! Release me from my heavy heartache and anguish; grant me all I request, be once again my ally and protector!
"Hymn to Aphrodite" is the only poem by Sappho of Lesbos to survive in its entirety. The poem survived intact because it was quoted in full by Dionysus, a Roman orator, in his "On Literary Composition," published around 30 B.C. A number of Sappho's poems mention or are addressed to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It is believed that Sappho may have belonged to a cult that worshiped Aphrodite with songs and poetry. If so, "Hymn to Aphrodite" may have been composed for performance within the cult. However, we have few verifiable details about the "real" Sappho, and much conjecture based on fragments of her poetry and what other people said about her, in many cases centuries after her death. We do know, however, that she was held in very high regard. For instance, when Sappho visited Syracuse the residents were so honored they erected a statue to commemorate the occasion! During Sappho's lifetime, coins of Lesbos were minted with her image. Furthermore, Sappho was called "the Tenth Muse" and the other nine were goddesses. Keywords/Tags: Sappho, Lesbos, translation, Greek, hymn, Aphrodite, Zeus, daughter, immortal, goddess, holy, lady, enchantress, enchantment, love potion, charm, spell, persuasion, beguiler, beguilement, mistress, discipline, dominatrix, prayer, prayers, chariot, heaven, descent, ally, protector, lust, desire, passion, longing, sex
Hushed yet melodic, the hills and the valleys sleep unaware of the nightingale's call while the pale calla lilies lie listening, glistening... this is their night, the first night of fall.
Son, tonight, a woman awaits you; she is more vibrant, more lovely than spring. She'll meet you in moonlight, soft and warm, all alone... then you'll know why the nightingale sings.
Just yesterday the stars were afire; then how desire flashed through my veins! But now I am older; night has come, I'm alone... for you I will sing as the nightingale sings.
NOTE: The calla lily symbolizes beauty, purity, innocence, faithfulness and true devotion. According to Greek mythology, when the Milky Way was formed by the goddess Hera’s breast milk, the drops that fell to earth became calla lilies.
Sing, my sacred tortoiseshell lyre; come, let my words accompany your voice.
Sappho, fragment 16 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Warriors on rearing chargers, columns of infantry, fleets of warships: some say these are the dark earth's redeeming visions. But I say― the one I desire.
And this makes perfect sense because she who so vastly surpassed all mortals in beauty ―Helen― seduced by Aphrodite, led astray by desire, set sail for distant Troy, abandoning her celebrated husband, leaving behind her parents and child!
Her story reminds me of Anactoria, who has also departed, and whose lively dancing and lovely face I would rather see than all the horsemen and war-chariots of the Lydians, or all their infantry parading in flashing armor.
Sappho, fragment 3 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
To me that boy seems blessed by the gods because he sits beside you, basking in your brilliant presence.
The sound of your voice roils my heart! Your laughter?―bright water, dislodging pebbles
in a chaotic vortex. You suck up my breath! My heart bucks in my ribs. I can't breathe. I can't speak.
My breasts glow with intense heat; desire's blush-inducing fires redden my flesh. My ears seem hollow; they ring emptily. My tongue is broken and cleaves to its roof.
I sweat profusely. I shiver. Suddenly, I grow pale and feel only a second short of dying. And yet I must endure, somehow,
despite my poverty.
Sappho, fragment 2 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
How can I compete with that damned man who fancies himself one of the gods, impressing you with his "eloquence," when just the thought of sitting in your radiant presence, of hearing your lovely voice and lively laughter, sets my heart hammering at my breast? Hell, when I catch just a quick glimpse of you, I'm left speechless, tongue-tied, and immediately a blush like a delicate flame reddens my skin. Then my vision dims with tears, my ears ring, I sweat profusely, and every muscle in my body trembles. When the blood finally settles, I grow paler than summer grass, till in my exhausted madness, I'm as limp as the dead. And yet I must risk all, because I'm bereft without you ...
Sappho, fragment 4 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
"Honestly, I just want to die!" she exclaimed, crying heartfelt tears, inconsolably sad to be leaving me.
Grieving, she said, "How deeply we have loved, we two, Sappho! Oh, I really don't want to go!"
I answered her thus: "Go on, go and be happy, remembering me, for you know how deeply I cared for you. And if you don't remember, please let me remind you of all the lovely emotions we felt as with many wreathes of violets, roses and crocuses you sat beside me adorning your delicate neck.
Once garlands had been fashioned of many woven flowers, we anointed our bodies with much expensive myrrh like royalty on soft couches, then my tender caresses fulfilled your desire ..."
Sappho's Rose loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The rose is― the ornament of the earth, the glory of nature, the archetype of the flowers, the blush of the meadows, a lightning flash of beauty.
Sappho, fragment 31 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
... at the sight of you, words fail me ...
Sappho, fragment 24 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
... don't you remember, in days bygone ... how we, too, did such things, being young?
Sappho, fragment 34 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You are, of all the unapproachable stars, by far the fairest, the brightest― possessing the Moon's splendor.
Sappho, fragment 34 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Awed by the Moon's splendor, the stars covered their undistinguished faces. Even so, we.
Sappho, fragment 39 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
We're merely mortal women, it's true; the Goddesses have no rivals but You.
Sappho, fragment 5 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
We're eclipsed here by your presence― you outshine all the ladies of Lydia as the bright-haloed moon outsplendors the stars.
Sappho, fragment 35 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
With my two small arms, how can I think to encircle the sky?
Sappho, fragment 2 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Leaving your heavenly summit, I submit to the mountain, then plummet.
Sappho, fragment 129 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You forget me or you love another more! It's over.
Sappho, fragment 137 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Gold does not rust, yet my son becomes dust?
Sappho, fragment 36 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Vain woman, foolish thing! Do you base your worth on a ring?
Sappho, fragment 113 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
No droning bee, nor even the bearer of honey for me!
Sappho, fragment 113 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Neither the honey nor the bee for me!
Sappho, fragment 130 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
May the gods prolong the night -- "yes, let it last forever! -- as long as you sleep in my sight.
Sappho, fragment 37 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I'm undecided. My mind? Divided.
Sappho, fragment 37 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Unsure as a babe new-born, My mind is divided, torn.
Sappho, fragment 37 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I don't know what to do: My mind is divided, two.
Sappho, fragment 52 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The moon has long since set; the Pleiades are gone; now half the night is spent, yet here I lie, alone. Sappho, fragment 100 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
When the bride comes let her train rejoice!
Sappho, fragment 90 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Bridegroom, was there ever a maid so like a lovely heirloom?
Sappho, fragment 19 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You anoint yourself with the most exquisite perfume.
Sappho, fragment 120 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
But I'm no resenter; I have a childlike heart ...
Sappho, fragment 80 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
May your head rest on the breast of the tenderest guest.
Sappho, fragment 80 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Is my real desire for maidenhood?
Sappho, fragment 80 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Is there any synergy in virginity?
Sappho, fragment 75 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Dica! Do not enter the presence of Goddesses ungarlanded! First weave sprigs of dill with those delicate hands, if you desire their favor!
Sappho, fragment 79 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I cherish extravagance, intoxicated by Love's celestial splendor.
Sappho, fragment 79 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I love the sensual as I love the sun's ecstatic brilliance.
Sappho, fragment 81 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Assemble now, Muses, leaving golden landscapes!
Sappho, fragment 29 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Darling, let me see your face; unleash your eyes' grace.
Sappho, fragment 29 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Turn to me, favor me with your eyes' acceptance.
Sappho, fragment 29 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Look me in the face, smile, reveal your eyes' grace ...
Sappho, fragment 4 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The moon shone, full as the virgins ringed Love's altar ...
Sappho, fragment 11 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You inflame me!
Sappho, fragment 11 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You ignite and inflame me ... You melt me.
Sappho, fragment 12 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I am an acolyte of wile-weaving Aphrodite.
Sappho, fragment 14 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Eros descends from heaven, discarding his imperial purple mantle.
Sappho, fragment 35 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Although you are very dear to me you must marry a younger filly: for I'm by far too old for you, and this old mare's just not that damn silly.
Sappho, after Anacreon loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Once more I dive into this fathomless sea, intoxicated by lust.
Sappho, after Menander loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Some say Sappho was the first ardent maiden goaded by wild emotion to fling herself from the white-frothed rocks into this raging ocean for love of Phaon ... but others reject that premise and say it was Aphrodite, for love of Adonis.
Sappho, fragment 93 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You're the sweetest apple reddening on the highest bough, which the harvesters missed, or forgot―somehow―
or perhaps they just couldn't reach you, then or now.
Sappho, fragment 145 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Prometheus the Fire-Bearer robbed the Gods of their power, and so brought mankind and himself to woe ... must you repeat his error?
Sappho, fragment 159 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
May I lead? Will you follow? Foolish man!
Ears so hollow, minds so shallow, never can!
Sappho, fragments 122 & 123 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Your voice― a sweeter liar than the lyre, more dearly sold and bought, than gold.
Sappho, fragment 42 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
She wrapped herself then in most delicate linen.
Sappho, fragment 70 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
That rustic girl bewitches your heart? Hell, her most beguiling art's hiking the hem of her dress to seduce you with her ankles' nakedness!
Sappho, fragment 94 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Shepherds trample the larkspur whose petals empurple the heath, foreshadowing shepherds' grief.
Sappho, fragment 100 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The softest pallors grace her lovely face.
Sappho, fragment 36 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I yearn for―I burn for―the one I miss!
Sappho, fragment 30 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Maidens, keeping vigil all night long, go make a lovely song, someday, out of desires you abide for the violet-petalled bride.
Or better yet―arise, regale! Go entice the eligible bachelors so that we shocked elders can sleep less than love-plagued nightingales!
Sappho, fragment 121 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
A tender maiden plucking flowers persuades the knave to heroically brave the world's untender hours.
Sappho, fragment 68 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Lady, soon you'll lie dead, disregarded; then imagine how quickly your reputation fades ... you who never gathered the roses of Pieria must assume your place among the obscure, uncelebrated shades.
Sappho, fragment 137 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Death is evil; the Gods all agree; for, had death been good, the Gods would be mortal like me.
Sappho, fragment 43 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Come, dear ones, let us cease our singing: morning dawns.
Sappho, fragment 14 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Today may buffeting winds bear my distress and care away.
Sappho, fragment 15 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Just now I was called, enthralled, by the golden-sandalled dawn...
Sappho, fragment 69 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Into the soft arms of the girl I once spurned, I gladly returned.
Sappho, fragment 29 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Since my paps are dry and my barren womb rests, let me praise lively girls with violet-sweet breasts.
Sappho, fragment 1 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Beautiful swift sparrows rising on whirring wings flee the dark earth for the sun-bright air ...
Sappho, fragment 58 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
The girls of the ripening maidenhead wore garlands.
Sappho, fragment 94 & 98 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Listen, my dear; by the Goddess I swear that I, too, (like you) had to renounce my false frigidity and surrender my virginity. My wedding night was not so bad; you too have nothing to fear, so be glad! (But then why do I still sometimes think with dread of my lost maidenhead?)
Sappho, fragment 100 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Bridegroom, rest on the tender breast of the maiden you love best.
Sappho, fragment 103 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Maidenhead! Maidenhead! So swiftly departed! Why have you left us forever brokenhearted?
Sappho, fragment 2 loose translation by Michael R. Burch, after Sappho and Tennyson
I sip the cup of costly death; I lose my color; I catch my breath whenever I contemplate your presence, or absence.
Sappho, fragments 73 & 74 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
They have been very generous with me, the violet-strewing Muses; thanks to their gifts I have become famous.
Sappho, fragment 3 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Stars ringing the lovely moon pale to insignificance when she illuminates the earth with her magnificence.
Sappho, fragment 49 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
You have returned! You did well to not depart because I pined for you. Now you have re-lit the torch I bear for you in my heart, this flare of Love. I bless you and bless you and bless you because we're no longer apart.
Sappho, fragment 52 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Yesterday, you came to my house to sing for me.
Today, I come to you to return the favor.
Talk to me. Do. Sweet talk, I love the flavor!
Please send away your maids and let us share a private heaven- haven.
Sappho, fragment19 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
There was no dance, no sacred dalliance, from which we were absent.
Sappho, fragment 20 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
... shot through with innumerable hues ...
Sappho, fragment 38 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I flutter after you like a chick after its mother ...
Sappho, fragment 30 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Stay! I will lay out a cushion for you with plushest pillows ...
Sappho, fragment 50 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
My body descends and my comfort depends on your welcoming cushions!
Sappho, fragment 133 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Of all the stars the fairest, Hesperus, Lead the maiden straight to the bridegroom's bed, honoring Hera, the goddess of marriage.
Sappho, fragment 134 loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Selene came to Endymion in the cave, made love to him as he slept, then crept away before the sun could prove its light and warmth the more adept.
Helen, Troyless an original poem by Michael R. Burch
"The face that launched a thousand ships ..."
Helen, bright accompaniment, accouterment of war as sure as all the polished swords of princes groomed to lie in mausoleums all eternity ...
The price of love is not so high as never to have loved once in the dark beyond foreseeing. Now, as dawn gleams pale upon small wind-fanned waves, amid white sails, ...
now all that war entails becomes as small, as though receding. Paris in your arms was never yours, nor were you his at all. And should gods call
in numberless strange voices, should you hear, still what would be the difference? Men must die to be remembered. Fame, the shrillest cry, leaves all the world dismembered.
Hold him, lie, tell many pleasant tales of lips and thighs; enthrall him with your sweetness, till the pall and ash lie cold upon him.
Is this all? You saw fear in his eyes, and now they dim with fear’s remembrance. Love, the fiercest cry, becomes gasped sighs in his once-gallant hymn of dreamed “salvation.” Still, you do not care
because you have this moment, and no man can touch you as he can ... and when he’s gone there will be other men to look upon your beauty, and have done.
Smile―woebegone, pale, haggard. Will the tales
paint this―your final portrait? Can the stars
find any strange alignments, Zodiacs, to spell, or unspell, what held beauty lacks?
Published by The Raintown Review, Triplopia, The Electic Muse, The Chained Muse, The Pennsylvania Review, and in a YouTube recital by David B. Gosselin
SAPPHO'S POEMS FOR ATTIS AND ANACTORIA
Most of Sappho's poems are fragments but the first poem below, variously titled "The Anactoria Poem, " "Helen's Eidolon" and "Some People Say" is largely intact. Was Sappho the author of the world's first 'make love, not war' poem?
Some People Say Sappho, fragment 16 (Lobel-Page 16 / Voigt 16) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Warriors on rearing chargers, columns of infantry, fleets of warships: some call these the dark earth's redeeming visions. But I say�" the one I desire.
Nor am I unique, since she who so vastly surpassed all mortals in beauty �"Helen�" seduced by Aphrodite, led astray by desire, departed for distant Troy, abandoned her celebrated husband, turned her back on her parents and child!
Her story reminds me of Anactoria, who has also departed, and whose lively dancing and lovely face I would rather see than all the horsemen and war-chariots of the Lydians, or their columns of infantry parading in flashing armor.
Ode to Anactoria or Ode to Attis Sappho, fragment 94 (Lobel-Page 94 / Voigt 94) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
So my Attis has not returned and thus, let the truth be said, I wish I were dead...
'Honestly, I just want to die! ' Attis sighed, shedding heartfelt tears, inconsolably sad when she left me.
'How deeply we have loved, we two, Sappho! Oh, I really don't want to go! '
I answered her tenderly, 'Go as you must and be happy, trust- ing your remembrance of me, for you know how much I loved you.
And if you begin to forget, please try to recall all the heavenly emotions we felt as with many wreathes of violets, roses and crocuses you sat beside me adorning your delicate neck.
Once garlands had been fashioned of many woven flowers, with much expensive myrrh we anointed our bodies like royalty on soft couches, then my tender caresses fulfilled your desire...'
Unfortunately, fragment 94 has several gaps and I have tried to imagine what Sappho might have been saying.
The following are Sappho's poems for Attis or Atthis...
Sappho, fragment 49 (Lobel-Page 49 / Voigt 49) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
1. I loved you, Attis, long ago... even when you seemed a graceless child.
2. I fell in love with you, Attis, long ago... You seemed immature to me then, and not all that graceful.
(Source: Hephaestion, Plutarch and others.)
Sappho, fragment 131 (Lobel-Page 131 / Voigt 130) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You reject me, Attis, as if you find me distasteful, flitting off to Andrómeda...
Sappho, fragment 96 (Lobel-Page 96.1-22 / Voigt 96 / Diehl 98) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Attis, our beloved, dwells in distant Sardis, but her thoughts often return here, to our island, and how we honored her like a goddess, and how she loved to hear us singing her praises. Now she surpasses all Sardinian women, as, after sunset the rosy-fingered moon outshines the surrounding stars, illuminating salt seas and meadows alike. Thus the dew sparkles, the rose revives, and the tender chervil and sweetclover blossom. Now oftentimes when our beloved goes wandering abroad, she is reminded of our gentle Attis; then her heart assaults her tender breast with its painful pangs and she cries aloud for us to console her. Truly, we understand all too well the distress she feels, because Night, the many-eared, calls to us from across the dividing sea. But to go there is not easy, nor to rival a goddess in her loveliness.
Ode to Anactoria Sappho, fragment 31 (Lobel-Page 31 / Voigt 31) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
How can I compete with that damned man who fancies himself one of the gods, impressing you with his 'eloquence' … when just the thought of sitting in your radiant presence, of hearing your lovely voice and lively laughter, sets my heart hammering at my breast? Hell, when I catch just a quick glimpse of you, I'm left speechless, tongue-tied, and immediately a blush like a delicate flame reddens my skin. Then my vision dims with tears, my ears ring, I sweat profusely, and every muscle in my body trembles. When the blood finally settles, I grow paler than summer grass, till in my exhausted madness, I'm as limp as the dead. And yet I must risk all, being bereft without you...
Ode to Anactoria Sappho, fragment 31 (Lobel-Page 31 / Voigt 31) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
To me that boy seems blessed by the gods because he sits beside you, basking in your brilliant presence. My heart races at the sound of your voice! Your laughter? ―bright water, dislodging pebbles in a chaotic vortex. I can't catch my breath! My heart bucks in my ribs. I can't breathe. I can't speak. My breasts glow with intense heat; desire's blush-inducing fires redden my flesh. My ears seem hollow; they ring emptily. My tongue is broken and cleaves to its roof. I sweat profusely. I shiver. Suddenly, I grow pale and feel only a second short of dying. And yet I must endure, somehow, despite my poverty.
The following poems by Sappho may have been addressed to Attis or Anactoria, or written with them in mind…
Sappho, fragment 22 (Lobel-Page 22 / Diehl 33,36) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
That enticing girl's clinging dresses leave me trembling, overcome by happiness, as once, when I saw the Goddess in my prayers eclipsing Cyprus.
Sappho, fragment 34 (Lobel-Page 34 / Voigt 34) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Awed by the Moon's splendor, the stars covered their undistinguished faces. Even so, we.
Sappho, fragment 39 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
We're merely mortal women, it's true; the Goddesses have no rivals but You.
Sappho, fragment 5 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
We're eclipsed here by your presence�" you outshine all the ladies of Lydia as the bright-haloed moon outsplendors the stars.
I suspect the fragment above is about Anactoria, since Sappho associates Anactoria with Lydia in fragment 16.
Sappho, fragment 2 (Lobel-Page 2.1A) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Leaving your heavenly summit, I submit to the mountain, then plummet.
Sappho associates her lovers with higher elevations: the moon, stars, mountain peaks.
Sappho, fragment 130 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
May the gods prolong the night �"yes, let it last forever! �" as long as you sleep in my sight.
Sappho, fragment 102 (Lobel-Page 102 / Voigt 102) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Mother, how can I weave, so overwhelmed by love?
Sappho, fragment 147 (Lobel-Page 147 / Cox 30) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Someone, somewhere will remember us, I swear!
'From Dio Chrysostom, who, writing about A.D.100, remarks that this is said 'with perfect beauty.''―Edwin Marion Cox
Sappho, fragment 10 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I lust! I crave! F**k me!
Sappho, fragment 11 (Cox 109) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You inflame me!
Sappho, fragment 36 (Lobel-Page 36 / Cox 24 & 25) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
1. I yearn for―I burn for―the one I miss!
2. While you learn, I burn.
3. While you discern your will, I burn still.
According to Edwin Marion Cox, this fragment is from the Etymologicum Magnum.
Sappho, fragment 155 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
A short revealing frock? It's just my luck your lips were made to mock!
Pollux wrote: 'Sappho used the word beudos for a woman's dress, a kimbericon, a kind of short transparent frock.'
Sappho, fragment 156 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
She keeps her scents in a dressing-case. And her sense? In some undiscoverable place.
Phrynichus wrote: 'Sappho calls a woman's dressing-case, where she keeps her scents and such things, grute.'
Sappho, fragment 47 (Lobel-Page 47 / Voigt 47) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Eros harrows my heart: wild winds whipping desolate mountains, uprooting oaks.
The poem above is my favorite Sappho epigram. The metaphor of Eros (sexual desire) harrowing mountain slopes, leveling oaks and leaving them desolate, is really something―truly powerful and evocative. According to Edwin Marion Cox, this Sapphic epigram was 'Quoted by Maximus Tyrius about 150 B.C. He speaks of Socrates exciting Phaedus to madness, when he speaks of love.'
Sappho, fragment 130 (Lobel-Page 130 / Voigt 130) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Eros, the limb-shatterer, rattles me, an irresistible constrictor.
Sappho, unnumbered fragment loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
What cannot be swept aside must be wept.
Sappho, fragment 138 (Lobel-Page 138) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
1. Darling, let me see your face; unleash your eyes' grace.
2. Turn to me, favor me with your eyes' indulgence.
3. Look me in the face, smile, reveal your eyes' grace...
4. Turn to me, favor me with your eyes' acceptance.
5. Darling, let me see your smiling face; favor me again with your eyes' grace.
Sappho, fragment 38 (Incertum 25, Cox 36) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I flutter after you like a chick after its mother...
From the 'Etymologicum Magnum' according to Edwin Marion Cox.
In the following poem Sappho asks Aphrodite to "persuade" someone to fall in love with her. The poem strikes me as a sort of love charm or enchantment…
Hymn to Aphrodite (Lobel-Page 1) by Sappho loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Immortal Aphrodite, throned in splendor! Wile-weaving daughter of Zeus, enchantress and beguiler! I implore you, dread mistress, discipline me no longer with such vigor!
But come to me once again in kindness, heeding my prayers, as you did so graciously before; O, come Divine One, descend once more from heaven's golden dominions!
Then with your chariot yoked to love's white consecrated doves, their multitudinous pinions aflutter, you came gliding from heaven's shining heights, to this dark gutter.
Swiftly they came and vanished, leaving you, O my Goddess, smiling, your face eternally beautiful, asking me what unfathomable longing compelled me to cry out.
Asking me what I sought in my bewildered desire. Asking, 'Who has harmed you, why are you so alarmed, my poor Sappho? Whom should Persuasion summon here? '
'Although today she flees love, soon she will pursue you; spurning love's gifts, soon she shall give them; tomorrow she will woo you, however unwillingly! '
Come to me now, O most Holy Aphrodite! Free me now from my heavy heartache and anguish! Graciously grant me all I request! Be once again my ally and protector!
'Hymn to Aphrodite' is the only poem by Sappho of Lesbos to survive in its entirety. The poem survived intact because it was quoted in full by Dionysus, a Roman orator, in his 'On Literary Composition, ' published around 30 B.C. A number of Sappho's poems mention or are addressed to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It is believed that Sappho may have belonged to a cult that worshiped Aphrodite with songs and poetry. If so, 'Hymn to Aphrodite' may have been composed for performance within the cult. However, we have few verifiable details about the 'real' Sappho, and much conjecture based on fragments of her poetry and what other people said about her, in many cases centuries after her death. We do know, however, that she was held in very high regard. For instance, when Sappho visited Syracuse the residents were so honored they erected a statue to commemorate the occasion! During Sappho's lifetime, coins of Lesbos were minted with her image. Furthermore, Sappho was called 'the Tenth Muse' and the other nine were goddesses. Here is another translation of the same poem...
Hymn to Aphrodite by Sappho loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Rainbow-appareled, immortal-throned Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, wile-weaver, I beseech you: Hail! Spare me your reproaches and chastisements. Do not punish, dire Lady, my penitent soul! But come now, descend, favor me with your presence. Please hear my voice now beseeching, however unclear or afar, your own dear voice, which is Olympus's essence �" golden, wherever you are... Begging you to harness your sun-chariot's chargers �" those swift doves now winging you above the black earth, till their white pinions whirring bring you down to me from heaven through earth's middle air... Suddenly they arrived, and you, O my Blessed One, smiling with your immortal countenance, asked what hurt me, and for what reason I cried out... And what did I want to happen most in my crazed heart? 'Whom then shall Persuasion bring to you, my dearest? Who, Sappho, hurts you? " "For if she flees, soon will she follow; and if she does not accept gifts, soon she will give them; and if she does not love, soon she will love despite herself! ' Come to me now, relieve my harsh worries, free me heart from its anguish, and once again be my battle-ally!
Sappho, fragment 113
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
No droning bee,
nor even the bearer of honey
for me!
Sappho, fragment 113
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Neither the honey
nor the bee
for me!
Sappho, fragment 52
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
The moon has long since set;
The Pleiades are gone;
Now half the night is spent,
Yet here I lie ... alone.
Sappho, fragment 2 (Lobel-Page 2 / Voigt 2)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Come, Cypris, from Crete
to meet me at this holy temple
where a lovely grove of apple awaits our presence
bowering altars
fuming with frankincense.
Here brisk waters babble beneath apple branches,
the grounds are overshadowed by roses,
and through the flickering leaves
enchantments shimmer.
Here the horses will nibble flowers
as we gorge on apples
and the breezes blow
honey-sweet with nectar ...
Here, Cypris, we will gather up garlands,
pour the nectar gracefully into golden cups
and with gladness
commence our festivities.
Sappho, fragment 58 (Lobel-Page 58)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Virgins, be zealous for the violet-scented Muses' lovely gifts
and those of the melodious lyre ...
but my once-supple skin sags now;
my arthritic bones creak;
my ravenblack hair's turned white;
my lighthearted heart's grown heavy;
my knees buckle;
my feet, once fleet as fawns, fail the dance.
I often bemoan my fate ... but what's the use?
Not to grow old is, of course, not an option.
I am reminded of Tithonus, adored by Dawn with her arms full of roses,
who, overwhelmed by love, carried him off beyond death's dark dominion.
Handsome for a day, but soon withered with age,
he became an object of pity to his ageless wife.
Sappho, fragment 132 (Lobel-Page 132)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
1.
I have a delightful daughter
fairer than the fairest flowers, Cleis,
whom I cherish more than all Lydia and lovely Lesbos.
2.
I have a lovely daughter
with a face like the fairest flowers,
my beloved Cleis …
It bears noting that Sappho mentions her daughter and brothers, but not her husband. We do not know if this means she was unmarried, because so many of her verses have been lost.
Sappho, fragment 131 (Lobel-Page 131)
loose translations/interpretations by Michael R. Burch
1.
You reject me, Attis,
as if you find me distasteful,
flitting off to Andromeda ...
2.
Attis, you forsake me
and flit off to Andromeda ...
Sappho, fragment 140 (Lobel-Page 140)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
He is dying, Cytherea, the delicate Adonis.
What shall we lovers do?
Rip off your clothes, bare your breasts and abuse them!
Sappho, fragment 36
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Vain woman, foolish thing!
Do you base your worth on a ring?
Sappho, fragment 130
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
May the gods prolong the night
�"yes, let it last forever!�"
as long as you sleep in my sight.
... a sweet-voiced maiden ...
�"Sappho, fragment 153, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I have the most childlike heart ...
�"Sappho, fragment 120, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
There was no dance,
no sacred dalliance,
from which we were absent.
�"Sappho, fragment 19, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I love the sensual
as I love the sun’s ecstatic brilliance.
�"Sappho, fragment 9, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I love the sensual
as I love the sun’s splendor.
�"Sappho, fragment 9, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You anointed yourself
with most exquisite perfume.
�"Sappho, fragment 19, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Awed by the moon’s splendor,
stars covered their undistinguished faces.
Even so, we.
�"Sappho, fragment 34, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Sappho, fragment 138, loose translations/interpretations by Michael R. Burch
1.
Darling, let me see your face;
unleash your eyes' grace.
2.
Turn to me, favor me
with your eyes' indulgence.
3.
Look me in the face,
smile,
reveal your eyes' grace ...
4.
Turn to me,
favor me
with your eyes’ indulgence
Those I most charm
do me the most harm.
�"Sappho, fragment 12, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Those I charm the most
do me the most harm.
�"Sappho, fragment 12, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Midnight.
The hours drone on
as I moan here, alone.
�"Sappho, fragment 52, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Once again I dive into this fathomless ocean,
intoxicated by lust.
�"Sappho, after Anacreon, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Did this epigram perhaps inspire the legend that Sappho leapt into the sea to her doom, over her despair for her love for the ferryman Phaon? See the following poem ...
The Legend of Sappho and Phaon, after Menander
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Some say Sappho was an ardent maiden
goaded by wild emotion
to fling herself from the white-frothed rocks of Leukas
into this raging ocean
for love of Phaon ...
but others reject that premise
and say it was Aphrodite, for love of Adonis.
In Menander's play The Leukadia he refers to a legend that Sappho flung herself from the White Rock of Leukas in pursuit of Phaon. We owe the preservation of those verses to Strabo, who cited them. Phaon appears in works by Ovid, Lucian and Aelian. He is also mentioned by Plautus in Miles Gloriosus as being one of only two men in the whole world, who "ever had the luck to be so passionately loved by a woman."
Sappho, fragment 24, loose translations/interpretations by Michael R. Burch
1a.
Dear, don't you remember how, in days long gone,
we did such things, being young?
1b.
Dear, don't you remember, in days long gone,
how we did such things, being young?
2.
Don't you remember, in days bygone,
how we did such things, being young?
3.
Remember? In our youth
we too did such reckless things.
Sappho, fragment 154, loose translations/interpretations by Michael R. Burch
1.
The moon rose and we women
thronged it like an altar.
2.
Maidens throng
at the altar of Love
all night long.
Even as their hearts froze,
their feathers molted.
�"Sappho, fragment 42, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Your voice beguiles me.
Your laughter lifts my heart’s wings.
If I listen to you, even for a moment, I am left speechless.
�"Sappho, fragment 31, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
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