The Poems of Sappho

by Sappho

Overview

The Poems of Sappho Sappho - Sappho is widely recognized as one of the great poets of world literature, an author whose works have caused her readers to repeat in many different forms Strabo's amazed epithet when he wrote that she could only be called "a marvel."The reception of Sappho's poetry even through the twentieth century offers a case study of the conflicts induced by the sexual preferences she seemingly alludes to in her verse.Little is known with certainty about the life of Sappho, or Psappha in her native Aeolic dialect. She was born probably about 620 B.C. to an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos during a great cultural flowering in the area.In antiquity Sappho was regularly counted among the greatest of poets and was often referred to as "the Poetess," just as Homer was called "the Poet.Praised for their simplicity and sincerity, the poems of Sappho evoke powerful and memorable images through her focus on emotion and individualism that foreshadows modern poetry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783985941230
Publisher:	Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
Publication date:	10/20/2021
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	111
File size:	625 KB
Age Range:	6 Years

About the Author

Sappho ( or ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, born on the island of Lesbos. In history and poetry texts, she is sometimes associated with the city of Mytilene on Lesbos; she was also said to have been born in Eresos, another city on Lesbos. Her birth was sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving fragments.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

1 TO APHRODITE

Immortal Queen of the gorgeous throne,
2 TO TBROCHEO

No God in Heaven I count so high As one that sits my darling by,
3
4

By the cool brookside the breeze Murmurs' mid the apple-trees;
5 TO APHRODITE

Whether Thou art w Cyprus and Paphos or at Panormus,

6 TO APHRODITE

Come, Love, and mix with dainty cheer In cups of gold Thy heavenly wine,
7 TO APHRODITE

and to Thee I will burn the rich fat of a white goat.

8

and I will leave behind for thee

9 TO APHRODITE

Love-Goddess of the wreath of gold,
10 OF THE MUSES

... whose gift of their own work Hath brought me honour ...

11 TO CERTAIN SEEMING-FORTUNATE WOMEN

... But to me The Muses gave true wealth, and when I die I shall not be forgot.

12 OF HER WOMEN FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCE

These songs I'll sing to-day with all my might For my sweet comrades' sake and dear deliaht.

13

For those I have done good to Do me the greatest wrong.

14

To you my pretty ones this mind of mine Can never change.

15

but as for me, I am conscious of this; —

16 OF DOVES

and they With lightening care and slackening wing

17

because of my pain

18

... and those who blame,
19

The golden-slippered Dawn was hardly come, When ...

20

... towards the feet hung down,
21 OF JASON'S MANTLE.

... with manifold hues comminglèd
23

and I long and I yearn

24 TO1 HECATE

Aphrodite's golden-shining handmaid

25 FROM AN ADONIS-SONG

Woe for Adonis!

26

He thinks himself ... who

27

YOU burn me

28 OF LOVE

(a) (b) giver of pain weaver of tales

29

my darling

30

to gentle-voiced maidens

31 OF LOVE

offspring of Earth and Heaven

32 TO THE EVENING STAR

Fairest of all the Stars that shine

33 TO PERSUASION

daughter of Aphrodite

34

... heart
35 TO CHARAXUS

Aye! seek the false and shun the true,
36 TO THE NEREIDS

Golden Daughters of the Foam Bring me my brother safely home,
37 TO CHARAXUS

... And, Cypris, may she find e' en Thee Less sweet than once Thou wert, nor boast what bliss Is Doricha s with a new mate like this!

38 TO ANACTORIA

A host of horse or foot may be To some the fairest sight to see,
39

unexpectedly.

40 TO HERA

Great Hera, grant my prayer to-night,
41

When tempests rage, the mariner, for fear of the great blasts of the wind, doth cast his cargo overboard and drive his vessel ashore; as for me, I pray I may be bound nowhither in time of storm, nor be fain, with fear lying heavy in my heart, to cast my cargo for worthless into the deep; but if so be it should fall to Nereus in his flowing pageant of the sea to receive the gift of my goods.

42

And if these paps their milk could give,
43

... 'Sweet dames,' I answered O,
44

... For when I look on you,
45 TOGONGYLA

Come to-night with your Lydian lyre,
46

For you came to my house the other day and sang to me, and that is why I am come. O talk with me! come down and make me free of thy beauty. For we are walking near, and well you know it. Quick, send your handmaidens away, and may the Gods grant me whatsoever They have for me! Were there a road which man could tread to great Olympus, I would ever ...

47 FROM A WEDDING SONG

... And we maidens spend all the night at this door, singing of the love that is between thee, thrice happy bridegroom, and a bride whose breast is sweet as violets. But get thee up and go when the Dawn shall come, and may great Hermes lead thy feet where thou shalt find just so much ill-luck as we shall see sleep to-night

(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Poems of Sappho"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Dover Publications, Inc..
Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Introduction,
Apology,
Life of Sappho,
The Poems,