Sappho's "POEMS and FRAGMENTS"

(Sappho’s poems and fragments, Transl. Stanley Lombardo, Hackett, 2002)

These poems and fragments were completely new to me.  I had heard the name Sappho before and knew the adjective 'sapphic' but knew nothing of the person or her work.  This was a fascinating story and body of work to be made aware of.  It was amazing to see how powerful and evocative these fragments are – and the effect they have had on many people over the centuries, especially women in the 20^th century.  I was fascinated to read about how many of the fragments were discovered between 1897-1937, almost 3000 years after she wrote them, preserved because they had been written on potsherds and on scraps of papyrus or parchment that were discovered in ancient middens in Egypt.  It was also intriguing how several pieces have come down to us only through being quoted by later writers.

These poems and fragments are full of passion.  Amazing to see that this endures over the centuries and with only scraps of words surviving, still so powerful and moving in a culture and time so far removed from when they were written:

“Come to me again now, release me

from my agony, fulfill all

that my heart desires, and fight for me,

fight at my side, Goddess”

“Look at him, just like a god,

that man sitting across from you,

whoever he is,

listening to your

close, sweet voice,

your irresistible laughter

And Oh yes,

It sets my heart racing –

one glance at you

and I can’t get any words out,

my voice cracks,

a thin flame runs under my skin,

my eyes go blind,

my ears ring,

a cold sweat pours down my body,

I tremble all over,

turn paler than grass.

Look at me

Just a shade from the dead”

“do not crush my spirit with anguish”

There are so few words in these poems yet they exude passion.

Where the words aren’t passionate, they are so evocative, often bittersweet, and with compelling descriptions of the world around her, the island of Lesbos.

“Sweet mother, I can no longer work the loom.

Slender Aphrodite has made me fall in love with a boy.”

“You have forgotten me,

or you love someone else more.”

“…

but I love delicacy, and love has won for me

the light of the sun, the sunlight’s beauty”

“…

drove your chariot pulled by sparrows

swift and beautiful

over the black earth, their wings a blur

as they streaked down from heaven

…”

“I do not expect my fingers

to graze the sky”

 "...

as at sunset, the rose-fingered moon

outshines all stars, spreading her light

over the salt sea, the flowering fields,

and the glimmering dew falls, roses

bloom amid delicate starflowers

chervil and sweet clover

.."

Though this poetry does not contain much of Reason, there are some references about moral concerns and how to live life.

“He who is beautiful is beautiful only when seen,

But he who is good will be beautiful at once.”

“But if you are my friend,

Go to a younger woman’s bed;

For I will not endure an affair

In which I am older than the man.”

I enjoyed the introduction to this edition, by Pamela Gordon and when I have time, I’d love to read more about the time as well as about the women who have been drawn to Sappho and her poems.  They remind me of the women in the 19^th and early 20^th century who weren’t content to live a conventional life but found ways to travel and live a life they preferred, away from society.  

Amazingly brave.

Passion wins through in these poems, leaving Reason the realm of Athenian intellectuals.