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Come Close
'Yes, we did many things, then - all Beautiful ...'
Lyrical, powerful poems about love, sexuality, sun-soaked Greece and the gods.
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.
Sappho (c.630-570 BCE).
Sappho's Stung with Love is available in Penguin Classics.
Lyrical, powerful poems about love, sexuality, sun-soaked Greece and the gods.
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.
Sappho (c.630-570 BCE).
Sappho's Stung with Love is available in Penguin Classics.
55 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
About the author
Sappho
292 books1,722 followersWork of Greek lyric poet Sappho, noted for its passionate and erotic celebration of the beauty of young women and men, after flourit circa 600 BC and survives only in fragments.
Ancient history poetry texts associate Sappho (Σαπφώ or Ψάπφω) sometimes with the city of Mytilene or suppose her birth in Eresos, another city, sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC. She died around 570 BC. People throughout antiquity well knew and greatly admired the bulk, now lost, but her immense reputation endured.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho
Ancient history poetry texts associate Sappho (Σαπφώ or Ψάπφω) sometimes with the city of Mytilene or suppose her birth in Eresos, another city, sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC. She died around 570 BC. People throughout antiquity well knew and greatly admired the bulk, now lost, but her immense reputation endured.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 738 reviews
August 7, 2017
"Come close you precious
Graces and muses
With beautiful tresses……"
The ancient Greeks were nothing if they weren’t frivolous. But every society has its limits. Male homosexuality is frequently referenced in works of antiquity. But, female homosexuality is almost non-existent. Sappho makes an unusual case in her poetry. Not unusual in its content, but unusual in its rarity. Sappho’s poetry is relatively simple, whist she doesn’t explicitly argue for same sex coupling, she provides an image of female homoerotic lust alongside all other forms. The lyre is very representative of her wants:
"Here is the reason: it is wrong
To play a funeral song
In the musician’s house-
It simply would not be decorous.
God-crafted product of the tortoise shell,
Come to me lyre be voluble."
And there’s the rub, if the Greeks accepted it among men, at least to an extent, why not allow the women the same acceptance? Sappho makes a stark argument, one that suggests the importance of lust with an oneness with the gods.
“Some call ships, infantry or horseman
The greatest beauty the earth can offer
I say it is what a person
most lusts after”
An affinity can be created if mankind engaged in his natural passions, more so than going to war and slaughtering one’s fellows. That just destroys everything, life, love and lust. For me Sappho provides an almost visionary idea, an idealistic harmony within oneself and the rest of the universe. The poems are a true pleasure to read; they are soft in content and speak with a breath of life. I almost imagined the speaker whispering in a completely chilled out tone of relaxation and tranquillity. I enjoyed this selection, but won’t be reading any more by her. There’s enough in here for me.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 74
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
Graces and muses
With beautiful tresses……"
The ancient Greeks were nothing if they weren’t frivolous. But every society has its limits. Male homosexuality is frequently referenced in works of antiquity. But, female homosexuality is almost non-existent. Sappho makes an unusual case in her poetry. Not unusual in its content, but unusual in its rarity. Sappho’s poetry is relatively simple, whist she doesn’t explicitly argue for same sex coupling, she provides an image of female homoerotic lust alongside all other forms. The lyre is very representative of her wants:
"Here is the reason: it is wrong
To play a funeral song
In the musician’s house-
It simply would not be decorous.
God-crafted product of the tortoise shell,
Come to me lyre be voluble."
And there’s the rub, if the Greeks accepted it among men, at least to an extent, why not allow the women the same acceptance? Sappho makes a stark argument, one that suggests the importance of lust with an oneness with the gods.
“Some call ships, infantry or horseman
The greatest beauty the earth can offer
I say it is what a person
most lusts after”
An affinity can be created if mankind engaged in his natural passions, more so than going to war and slaughtering one’s fellows. That just destroys everything, life, love and lust. For me Sappho provides an almost visionary idea, an idealistic harmony within oneself and the rest of the universe. The poems are a true pleasure to read; they are soft in content and speak with a breath of life. I almost imagined the speaker whispering in a completely chilled out tone of relaxation and tranquillity. I enjoyed this selection, but won’t be reading any more by her. There’s enough in here for me.
Penguin Little Black Classic- 74
The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.
June 25, 2023
"I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are."
-------------------------------
i mean, of course i have come upon sappho before, but this is the first time i have the chance to experience a solid chunk of her works.
for some fragments, i have read the french translation of yves battustini (gallimard poésie) and the english one by aaron poochigan (penguin little black classics), and as someone who have been studying academic ancient greek for four years, i can confidently say that poochigan's translation doesn't nearly do the original verses justice like the french one does. consequently, the five stars given to this book are for the content, not the quality of the translation. i will soon read the latest translation by anne carson, and maybe i will write a translation commentary, who knows 🫠
February 11, 2021
That impossible predator,
Eros the Limb-Loosener,
Bitter-sweetly and afresh
Savages my flesh
Reading this collection of poems a dynamic image composed of the many striking impressions left on the reader’s mind comes alive in a single, scintillating whole. Here is Sappho of Lesbos – young and insistent, old and ardent - with her delicate fingers on her own throbbing pulse through which courses fragrant blood of desire and death-longing pervading her frangible heart with a surrendering melancholy whether she is walking towards the blessed temple with frankincense sticks in hand and a prayer-complaint on her luscious lips: Who, Sappho, at a word, must grow / Again receptive to your love, or reclining under thick boughs in a luxuriant spot where a bracing spring / Percolates, roses without number / Umber the earth and, rustling, / The leaves drip slumber, or whether she is resigned for the night to her lonely bed clutching the frills of the mattress and pressing her head down on the pillow, thinking forlornly Come close, you precious / Graces and Muses / With beautiful Tresses, soliloquizing with a nostalgic overflow for her absentee lover:
You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then – all
Beautiful…
The image, the trailer, the glimpse grows into a broader story wherein Sappho leads her girl friends into exploring the depths of desire through a symbolic visit to the majestic temples and its water gardens to gather fragrant sprays from the red roses, and where, happy and gay, they exchange stories. Sappho says this and what she says, says it beautifully. Take a look at this one:
Her garment (when you stole a glance)
Roused you, and I’m in ecstasy.
Likewise, the goddess Kypris once
Disciplined me
Blaming the way I prayed…
She takes us through the war preparations when deathless glories out of Asia arise to threaten the peace and tranquility of her idyllic existence. Amid the clatter of teaming horses harnessed to chariots, war drums beating to the tune of her heartbeat, wives and maids clambered aboard the transports, soldiers beautified with the jewelry of armaments, Sappho’s mind slips off into a private reverie and she thus muses:
Star clusters near the fair moon dim
Their shapely shimmering whenever
She rises, lucent to the brim
And flowing over
And I would rather watch her body
Sway, her glistening face flash dalliance
Than Lydian war cars at the ready
And armed battalions.
I have a copy of Sappho’s complete poems I bought a while ago and after getting a taste of her through this collection I’m eager to go through the whole of her. Hopefully soon <3
July 2015
Eros the Limb-Loosener,
Bitter-sweetly and afresh
Savages my flesh
Reading this collection of poems a dynamic image composed of the many striking impressions left on the reader’s mind comes alive in a single, scintillating whole. Here is Sappho of Lesbos – young and insistent, old and ardent - with her delicate fingers on her own throbbing pulse through which courses fragrant blood of desire and death-longing pervading her frangible heart with a surrendering melancholy whether she is walking towards the blessed temple with frankincense sticks in hand and a prayer-complaint on her luscious lips: Who, Sappho, at a word, must grow / Again receptive to your love, or reclining under thick boughs in a luxuriant spot where a bracing spring / Percolates, roses without number / Umber the earth and, rustling, / The leaves drip slumber, or whether she is resigned for the night to her lonely bed clutching the frills of the mattress and pressing her head down on the pillow, thinking forlornly Come close, you precious / Graces and Muses / With beautiful Tresses, soliloquizing with a nostalgic overflow for her absentee lover:
You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then – all
Beautiful…
The image, the trailer, the glimpse grows into a broader story wherein Sappho leads her girl friends into exploring the depths of desire through a symbolic visit to the majestic temples and its water gardens to gather fragrant sprays from the red roses, and where, happy and gay, they exchange stories. Sappho says this and what she says, says it beautifully. Take a look at this one:
Her garment (when you stole a glance)
Roused you, and I’m in ecstasy.
Likewise, the goddess Kypris once
Disciplined me
Blaming the way I prayed…
She takes us through the war preparations when deathless glories out of Asia arise to threaten the peace and tranquility of her idyllic existence. Amid the clatter of teaming horses harnessed to chariots, war drums beating to the tune of her heartbeat, wives and maids clambered aboard the transports, soldiers beautified with the jewelry of armaments, Sappho’s mind slips off into a private reverie and she thus muses:
Star clusters near the fair moon dim
Their shapely shimmering whenever
She rises, lucent to the brim
And flowing over
And I would rather watch her body
Sway, her glistening face flash dalliance
Than Lydian war cars at the ready
And armed battalions.
I have a copy of Sappho’s complete poems I bought a while ago and after getting a taste of her through this collection I’m eager to go through the whole of her. Hopefully soon <3
July 2015
September 20, 2017
When I first read these poems, I thought Sappho was male. But after researching his her poetry I learned that Sappho was a actually a female archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. I couldn't believe it. This is such a game changer for me because it has stunning consequences for the meaning of her poetry – it turns out that not a man mused about the beauty and his lust for women, no, it was a woman herself. I love it when people are unapologetic about their sexuality, especially in times when that wasn't the norm (I know that Ancient Greece was great at accepting gay pairings... but lesbian ones, not so much!)
And did you know that the term 'lesbian' is actually derived from the name of the Greek island of Lesbos (where Sappho lived!) like THIS IS THE KIND OF HISTORY LESSON I AM HERE FOR!
And I have to say that I am a huge fan of her poetry. It makes me sad that so much of it is lost or only passed down in fragments. Nonetheless, her lyrical musings are still outstanding. I loved how lavishly and explicit she handled her metaphors. The way she talked about desire and death-longing was not #relatable for me, but still I was able to feel her struggle (which is what poetry is about imo).
In general, Sappho voiced a lot of feelings that we still associate with love today – feelings of betrayal and lust, feelings of being overwhelmed and shy, feelings of being dependant and scared. I am not huge on the romance ya'll but I appreciated that she let me in on her struggle. I feel like a lot of young girls could profit from reading her poetry (heck, everyone could).
And did you know that the term 'lesbian' is actually derived from the name of the Greek island of Lesbos (where Sappho lived!) like THIS IS THE KIND OF HISTORY LESSON I AM HERE FOR!
'Yes, we did many things then – allSappho was a prolific poet, probably composing around 10,000 lines. Her poetry was well-known and greatly admired through much of antiquity, and she was among the canon of nine lyric poets most highly esteemed by scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Today, most of Sappho's poetry is lost, but it is still considered extraordinary, and her works have continued to influence other writers up until the modern day. Beyond her poetry, she is well known as a symbol of love and desire between women.
Beautiful...'
And I have to say that I am a huge fan of her poetry. It makes me sad that so much of it is lost or only passed down in fragments. Nonetheless, her lyrical musings are still outstanding. I loved how lavishly and explicit she handled her metaphors. The way she talked about desire and death-longing was not #relatable for me, but still I was able to feel her struggle (which is what poetry is about imo).
That impossible predator,Well, at least we know that love made people dumb even before the Common Era.
Eros the Limb-Loosener,
Bitter-sweetly and afresh
Savages my flesh.
Like a gale smiting an oak
On mountainous terrain,
Eros, with a stroke,
Shattered my brain.
In general, Sappho voiced a lot of feelings that we still associate with love today – feelings of betrayal and lust, feelings of being overwhelmed and shy, feelings of being dependant and scared. I am not huge on the romance ya'll but I appreciated that she let me in on her struggle. I feel like a lot of young girls could profit from reading her poetry (heck, everyone could).
Some call ships, infantry or horsemenYou tell 'em, gurl!
The greatest beauty earth can offer;
I say it is whatever a person
Most lusts after.
November 6, 2022
the smile on her face and the way she held my hand
September 24, 2020
I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.
July 26, 2019
‘’Yes, we did many things, then - all beautiful…’’
‘’Θέλω στ’ αλήθεια να πεθάνω.’’
‘’Τεθνάκην δ᾽ ἀδόλως θέλω.’’
‘’In all honesty, I want to die.’’
Fat ass mood.
‘’Head to breast, upon
The flesh
Of a plush
Companion.’’
‘’Σε φιληνάδας τρυφερής τα στήθια να κοιμόσουν!’’
Like I said before, i’m trying poetry this year. It’s mostly because I want to buy more of the penguin little black classics and the majority I care about are poems. Fun fact about me, I hate poetry :)) this is gonna be fun… lately I’ve been wanting to read Sappho, don’t know why. I don’t think I’ll read more of her poems but if I find a cheap collection of her work in Greek I will probably buy it.
Yes I went to google and read that shit in modern and ancient greek. I’m just THAT cultured. Appreciate my hustle.
‘’Θέλω στ’ αλήθεια να πεθάνω.’’
‘’Τεθνάκην δ᾽ ἀδόλως θέλω.’’
‘’In all honesty, I want to die.’’
Fat ass mood.
‘’Head to breast, upon
The flesh
Of a plush
Companion.’’
‘’Σε φιληνάδας τρυφερής τα στήθια να κοιμόσουν!’’
Like I said before, i’m trying poetry this year. It’s mostly because I want to buy more of the penguin little black classics and the majority I care about are poems. Fun fact about me, I hate poetry :)) this is gonna be fun… lately I’ve been wanting to read Sappho, don’t know why. I don’t think I’ll read more of her poems but if I find a cheap collection of her work in Greek I will probably buy it.
Yes I went to google and read that shit in modern and ancient greek. I’m just THAT cultured. Appreciate my hustle.
April 15, 2015
But I love extravagance,
And wanting it has handed down
The glitter and glamour of the sun
As my inheritance.
I truly do believe no maiden that will live
To look upon the brilliance of the sun
Ever will be contemplative
Like this one.
And wanting it has handed down
The glitter and glamour of the sun
As my inheritance.
I truly do believe no maiden that will live
To look upon the brilliance of the sun
Ever will be contemplative
Like this one.
January 16, 2022
03/80 penguin little black classics
just me, her (sappho) and the moon :-) not only am i Alive but this has birthed me. i hadn’t read any translation that wasn’t by carson before but i really enjoyed this one (though “subtly bedizened aphrodite” was jarring)! so beautiful? so heartbreaking? no choice but to stare at the sky and/or the ceiling for hours. also! “i declare / that later on / even in an age unlike our own / someone will remember who we are” (written centuries before christ....... i’m crying) has to be in the top three of Those lines from literature for me, the most impactful and life-changing........the world is so beautiful and the only energy i have left in me is to live with a tender heart. thinking about the handprints on cave walls and old letters and paintings that have survived and all that we have lost... languages and voices i will never hear and the thoughts and feelings i will never know and the culture i will never see?!!! i am going to EXPLODE
just me, her (sappho) and the moon :-) not only am i Alive but this has birthed me. i hadn’t read any translation that wasn’t by carson before but i really enjoyed this one (though “subtly bedizened aphrodite” was jarring)! so beautiful? so heartbreaking? no choice but to stare at the sky and/or the ceiling for hours. also! “i declare / that later on / even in an age unlike our own / someone will remember who we are” (written centuries before christ....... i’m crying) has to be in the top three of Those lines from literature for me, the most impactful and life-changing........the world is so beautiful and the only energy i have left in me is to live with a tender heart. thinking about the handprints on cave walls and old letters and paintings that have survived and all that we have lost... languages and voices i will never hear and the thoughts and feelings i will never know and the culture i will never see?!!! i am going to EXPLODE
October 28, 2023
'I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.'
Driven by the forces of love, Sappho's words are as tender as a feather in the wind.
Her creative skill is deeply felt, pure expression of rhythmical, breathing artistry. The Poetess leaves behind an enigmatic, innovative, and elegant literary treasure.
Highly recommended!
🖤🖤🖤
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.'
Driven by the forces of love, Sappho's words are as tender as a feather in the wind.
Her creative skill is deeply felt, pure expression of rhythmical, breathing artistry. The Poetess leaves behind an enigmatic, innovative, and elegant literary treasure.
Highly recommended!
🖤🖤🖤
January 31, 2022
RIP Neil Perry you would've loved this
October 31, 2016
"Untainted Graces
With wrists like roses,
Please come close,"
There was this tumblr post, that was something like:
them: "do you have any fantasies?"
me: "so, I find this complete, untarnished document of Sapphos poems"
and I related to it a lot.
Sappho is just so goddamned poetic. Like some drunk, seductive nymph in a clearing, resting in a crystal blue pond, and you look at her and you realize the world is beautiful, you are mortal, and love is a rock hard punch and a feather light touch that you feel all at once.
She's wisdom, she's grace, she's sassy as fuck, and I love her.
Why did they not store your documents in the well-protected vaults of history? Why did they let you slide into near-oblivion, with your fierce words and fiercer loving?
The world is cruel and your words are soothing. I have a two-thousand year old crush. Can you imagine.
"Some call ships, infantry or horsemen
The greatest beauty earth can offer;
I say it is whatever a person
More lusts after."
With wrists like roses,
Please come close,"
There was this tumblr post, that was something like:
them: "do you have any fantasies?"
me: "so, I find this complete, untarnished document of Sapphos poems"
and I related to it a lot.
Sappho is just so goddamned poetic. Like some drunk, seductive nymph in a clearing, resting in a crystal blue pond, and you look at her and you realize the world is beautiful, you are mortal, and love is a rock hard punch and a feather light touch that you feel all at once.
She's wisdom, she's grace, she's sassy as fuck, and I love her.
Why did they not store your documents in the well-protected vaults of history? Why did they let you slide into near-oblivion, with your fierce words and fiercer loving?
The world is cruel and your words are soothing. I have a two-thousand year old crush. Can you imagine.
"Some call ships, infantry or horsemen
The greatest beauty earth can offer;
I say it is whatever a person
More lusts after."
January 18, 2023
sappho was so real when she said god is unrivaled like a lesbian
November 5, 2020
I don’t have a lot of experience with poetry - most times, I don’t even like poetry that much. But this. THIS. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. I will most definitely be coming back to some of these poems, and let the cadence of the words transport me back into that beautiful and endlessly aesthetic world (seriously, is there anything more aesthetic than sapphics in Ancient Greece!?!?!? Anyway).
In conclusion, Sappho is such a QUEEN and I’m gonna buy other books by her asap
In conclusion, Sappho is such a QUEEN and I’m gonna buy other books by her asap
July 22, 2021
« I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are »
my heart is full
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are »
my heart is full
Read
December 7, 2020I read this in the bath while listening to Phoebe Bridgers - the way Sappho intended.
January 2, 2023
“I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.”
a great collection to start the new year.
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.”
a great collection to start the new year.
March 9, 2023
reading sappho makes me feel like im laying in a field and wearing flower crowns with a woman that i love
January 1, 2021
"Since I have cast my lot, please, golden-crowned
Aphrodite, let me win this round!"
- Sappho
Vol N° 74 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. This volume contains about 46 of Sappho's poems/fragments assembled from Penguin's book Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments, translated by Aaron Poochigian (2009).
It is broken down into several groupings:
1. Goddesses
2. Desire and Death-Longing
3. Her Girls and Family
4. Troy
5. Maidens and Marriages
6. The Wisdom of Sappho
I was first introduced to Sappho through J.D. Salinger in his short stories Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction. I'll write a bit more later. Gotta run and play with the kids.
Aphrodite, let me win this round!"
- Sappho
Vol N° 74 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set. This volume contains about 46 of Sappho's poems/fragments assembled from Penguin's book Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments, translated by Aaron Poochigian (2009).
It is broken down into several groupings:
1. Goddesses
2. Desire and Death-Longing
3. Her Girls and Family
4. Troy
5. Maidens and Marriages
6. The Wisdom of Sappho
I was first introduced to Sappho through J.D. Salinger in his short stories Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction. I'll write a bit more later. Gotta run and play with the kids.
February 19, 2021
I'm gay so this was required reading.
September 20, 2020
Of course Sappho is incredible, she's steeped in this delicious, ancient mystique that rings of honey and lotus plants. I picture ancient Greece shrouded in gold and honey-skinned women in long tresses and rich coloured head scarves eating freshly plucked fruit. Beautiful.
March 19, 2022
The people I most strive to please
Do me the worst injuries
same Sappho, same
Do me the worst injuries
same Sappho, same
June 18, 2024
'In all honesty, I want to die
Leaving for good after a good long cry’
Leaving for good after a good long cry’
June 16, 2022
Since I have cast my lot, please, golden-crowned
Aphrodite, let me win this round!
Sappho Born c. 630 BCE and Died c. 570 BCE, Mytilene, Lesbos, Come Close in 6 parts, is taken from Aaron Poochigian’s translation of Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments.
Goddesses
Once lost in Hades’ hall
You will be homeless and invisible –
Another shadow flittering back and forth
With shadows of no worth.
Desire and Death-Longing
Her Girls and Family
Troy
Maidens and Marriages
The Wisdom of Sappho
The gorgeous man presents a gorgeous view;
The good man will in time be gorgeous, too.
Will he?! :)
Aphrodite, let me win this round!
Sappho Born c. 630 BCE and Died c. 570 BCE, Mytilene, Lesbos, Come Close in 6 parts, is taken from Aaron Poochigian’s translation of Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments.
Goddesses
Once lost in Hades’ hall
You will be homeless and invisible –
Another shadow flittering back and forth
With shadows of no worth.
Desire and Death-Longing
Her Girls and Family
Troy
Maidens and Marriages
The Wisdom of Sappho
The gorgeous man presents a gorgeous view;
The good man will in time be gorgeous, too.
Will he?! :)
January 26, 2024
You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then -- all
Beautiful...
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then -- all
Beautiful...
August 16, 2022
“I declare that later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are“
~Sappho
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are“
~Sappho
September 2, 2018
Reading Sappho knowing that she was not one of those lustful male Greeks, but in fact a lesbian poetess changes everything. Her poetry, full of attraction and lust, were mainly directed at women she loved and desired.
In a way, it's the context that makes me enjoy the poems more then their actual lyricism. They're pompous and occasionally a bit too opulent for my personal liking:
"Time and again we plucked lush flowers, wed
Spray after spray in strands and fastened them
Around your soft neck; you perfumed your head"
Little is known of her life for certain, but what remains are her words and the influence she had on other writers (and lovers!) that came after. It is when Sappho gets more intimate, more quiet, that she creates something of purity and beauty:
"You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes we did many things, then - all
Beautiful . . ."
In 2015 Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
In a way, it's the context that makes me enjoy the poems more then their actual lyricism. They're pompous and occasionally a bit too opulent for my personal liking:
"Time and again we plucked lush flowers, wed
Spray after spray in strands and fastened them
Around your soft neck; you perfumed your head"
Little is known of her life for certain, but what remains are her words and the influence she had on other writers (and lovers!) that came after. It is when Sappho gets more intimate, more quiet, that she creates something of purity and beauty:
"You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes we did many things, then - all
Beautiful . . ."
In 2015 Penguin introduced the Little Black Classics series to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Including little stories from "around the world and across many centuries" as the publisher describes, I have been intrigued to read those for a long time, before finally having started. I hope to sooner or later read and review all of them!
January 28, 2021
‘In all honesty, I want to die.’
Leaving for good after a good long cry,
She said: ‘We both have suffered terribly,
But, Sappho, it is hard to say goodbye.’
I said: ‘Go with my blessing if you go
Always remembering what we did. To me
You have meant everything, as you well know.
‘Yet, lest it slip your mind, I shall review
Everything we have shared – the good times, too:
‘You culled violets and roses, bloom and stem,
Often in spring and I looked on as you
Wove a bouquet into a diadem.
(...)
Leaving for good after a good long cry,
She said: ‘We both have suffered terribly,
But, Sappho, it is hard to say goodbye.’
I said: ‘Go with my blessing if you go
Always remembering what we did. To me
You have meant everything, as you well know.
‘Yet, lest it slip your mind, I shall review
Everything we have shared – the good times, too:
‘You culled violets and roses, bloom and stem,
Often in spring and I looked on as you
Wove a bouquet into a diadem.
(...)
June 12, 2020
You will have memories
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then - all
Beautiful...
***
Some call ships, infantry or horsemen
The greatest beauty earth can offer;
I say it is whatever a person
Most lusts after.
***
I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.
Because of what we did back then
When we were new at this,
Yes, we did many things, then - all
Beautiful...
***
Some call ships, infantry or horsemen
The greatest beauty earth can offer;
I say it is whatever a person
Most lusts after.
***
I declare
That later on,
Even in an age unlike our own,
Someone will remember who we are.
Read
March 27, 2015Sappho, my love, my light.
These translations by Aaron Poochigian are stunning to read. Lyrical and beautiful.
These translations by Aaron Poochigian are stunning to read. Lyrical and beautiful.
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