Sappho

舞者

Please also refer to Hermes' post re translation of Sappho's poetry on this forum: http://www.reeds.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=3766&extra=page%3D1

Sappho
circa 630 B.C.

One of the great Greek lyrists and few known female poets of the ancient world, Sappho was born some time between 630 and 612 BC. She was an aristocrat who married a prosperous merchant, and she had a daughter named Cleis. Her wealth afforded her with the opportunity to live her life as she chose, and she chose to spend it studying the arts on the isle of Lesbos.

In the seventh century BC, Lesbos was a cultural center. Sappho spent most her time on the island, though she also traveled widely throughout Greece. She was exiled for a time because of political activities in her family, and she spent this time in Sicily. By this time she was known as a poet, and the residents of Syracuse were so honored by her visit that they erected a statue to her.

Sappho was called a lyrist because, as was the custom of the time, she wrote her poems to be performed with the accompaniment of a lyre. Sappho composed her own music and refined the prevailing lyric meter to a point that it is now known as sapphic meter. She innovated lyric poetry both in technique and style, becoming part of a new wave of Greek lyrists who moved from writing poetry from the point of view of gods and muses to the personal vantage point of the individual. She was one of the first poets to write from the first person, describing love and loss as it affected her personally.

Her style was sensual and melodic; primarily songs of love, yearning, and reflection. Most commonly the target of her affections was female, often one of the many women sent to her for education in the arts. She nurtured these women, wrote poems of love and adoration to them, and when they eventually left the island to be married, she composed their wedding songs. That Sappho's poetry was not condemned in her time for its homoerotic content (though it was disparaged by scholars in later centuries) suggests that perhaps love between women was not persecuted then as it has been in more recent times. Especially in the last century, Sappho has become so synonymous with woman-love that two of the most popular words to describe female homosexuality--lesbian and sapphic have derived from her.

How well was Sappho honored in ancient times? Plato elevated her from the status of great lyric poet to one of the muses. Upon hearing one of her songs, Solon, an Athenian ruler, lawyer, and a poet himself, asked that he be taught the song "Because I want to learn it and die."

In more modern times, many poets have been inspired by her works. Michael Field, Pierre Louys, Renée Vivien, Marie-Madeleine, Amy Lowell, and H.D. all cited Sappho as a strong influence on their work.

Given the fame that her work has enjoyed, it is somewhat surprising to learn that only one of Sappho's poems is available in its entirety--all of the rest exist as fragments of her original work. At one time, there were perhaps nine complete volumes of her poetry, but over the centuries, from neglect, natural disasters, and possibly some censorship by close-minded scholars, her work was lost. Late in the 19th century, however, manuscripts dating back to the eighth century AD were discovered in the Nile Valley, and some of these manuscripts proved to contained Sappho's work. Excavations that followed in ancient Egyptian refuse heaps unearthed a quantity of papyruses from the first century BC to the 10th century AD. Here, strips of papyrus--some containing her poetry--were found in number. These strips had been used to wrap mummies, stuff sacred animals, and wrap coffins. The work to piece these together and identify them has continued into the twentieth century.

Many translations of these fragments are available today, with each of these translations offering a different approach to her work. Translating Sappho's poetry is challenging, partly because of the fragmented nature of the material. In reconstructing a poem, the translator must either trail off into oblivion periodically, or speculate on the missing pieces and take the risk (for the sake of lyric flow) of introducing elements that Sappho did not intend. Breaks in the poem can affect the intact lines, as well, robbing them of critical context. Even with the complication of fragments aside, a translator still has to decide how to translate the ancient Greek text, where to insert line breaks, how to stress each word, and any number of technical details that affect the meaning and the lyricism of the resulting poem. It makes sense, then, for those who are interested in Sappho's work (and not fluent in ancient Greek) to read multiple translations to obtain several viewpoints.

From ancient times to today, Sappho has remained an important literary and cultural figure. Her works continued to be studied and translated, new poets are inspired by her constantly, and speculation on her life remains popular in the form of fictionalized tales and ardent research. For a woman who has been dead for over two thousand years, this is quite an achievement.

Source: http://www.sappho.com/poetry/sappho.html

舞者

This (Source:http://www.sappho.com/poetry/sappho2.html) is an example of several translations of an excerpt of Sappho's poem, the lovesickness experienced witnessing a beloved in the presence of a man--all beautiful yet quite different in style. This serves to illustrate that the grace of creation may take on so many different faces of magnificence.

[Dancer's seemingly non-sequential private thought reading this]: once we know it in a different sphere, must we still rehearse it on earth?  Would the experience on the fantastical/imaginary and bodily level complete the fantasy/dream of rehearsing it on earth, and therefore release the necessity for playing it out on earth?  The necessity may or may not be satisfied (a question), yet the "need" might not be released due to the personality's yearning for drama. If it must be acted out, then would experiencing it on a different level preempt the experience as a human being in flesh and blood? It is said that to the unconscious, acting out in flesh and blood is no different from experiencing on the imaginary level--then existence in flesh would be unnecessary.  Experience taught that there might be different wrinkles or layers that imagining cannot penetrate (certainly that is inconclusive as it could be the result of a distracted, undisciplined and untrained thinking).



This page presents a single poem of Sappho's, as it is translated by six different translators. Reading these translations should give you an idea of the possible changes in meaning and tone that a translator can introduce to Sappho's work.

Translations available here:

Josephine Balmer
Mary Barnard
Willis Barnstone
Jim Powell
Diane Rayor
Paul Roche

Translation by Josephine Balmer

It seems to me that man is equal to the gods,
that is, whoever sits opposite you
and, drawing nearer, savours, as you speak,
the sweetness of your voice

and the thrill of your laugh, which have so stirred the heart
in my own breast, that whenever I catch
sight of you, even if for a moment,
then my voice deserts me

and my tongue is struck silent, a delicate fire
suddenly races underneath my skin,
my eyes see nothing, my ears whistle like
the whirling of a top

and sweat pours down me and a trembling creeps over
my whole body, I am greener than grass,
at such times, I seem to be no more than
a step away from death;

but all can be endured since even a pauper....


Translation by Mary Barnard

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


Translation by Willis Barnstone

"Seizure"

To me he seems like a god
as he sits facing you and
hears you near as you speak
softly and laugh

in a sweet echo that jolts
the heart in my ribs. For now
as I look at you my voice
is empty and

can say nothing as my tongue
cracks and slender fire quick
under my skin. My eyes are dead
to light, my ears


Translation by Jim Powell

In my eyes he matches the gods, that man who
sits there facing you--any man whatever--
listening from closeby to the sweetness of your
   voice as you talk, the

sweetness of your laughter: yes, that--I swear it--
sets the heart to shaking inside my breast, since
once I look at you for a moment, I can't
   speak any longer,

but my tongue breaks down, and then all at once a
subtle fire races inside my skin, my
eyes can't see a thing and a whirring whistle
   thrums at my hearing,

cold sweat covers me and a trembling takes
ahold of me all over: I'm greener than the
gras is and appear to myself to be little
   short of dying

But all must be endured, since even a poor [


Translation by Diane Rayor

To me it seems
that man has the fortune of the gods,
whoever sits beside you, and close,
who listens to you sweetly speaking
and laughing temptingly;
my heart flutters in my breast,
whenever I look quickly, for a moment--
I say nothing, my tongue broken,
a delicate fire runs under my skin,
my eyes see nothing, my ears roar,
cold sweat rushes down me,
trembling seizes me,
I am greener than grass,
to myself I seem
needing but little to die. But all must be endured, since...


Translation by Paul Roche

"I More Than Envy Him"

He is a god in my eyes, that man,
Given to sit in front of you
And close to himself sweetly to hear
   The sound of you speaking.

Your magical laugh--this I swear--
Batters my heart--my breast astir--
My voice when I see you suddenly near
   Refuses to come.

My tongue breaks up and a delicate fire
Runs through my flesh; I see not a thing
With my eyes, and all that I hear
   In my ears is a hum.

The sweat runs down, a shuddering takes
Me in every part and pale as the drying
Grasses, then, I think I am near
   The moment of dying.

[ 本帖最后由  于 2006-3-18 12:58 编辑 ]

舞者

http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/sappho/index.htm

mu

Sappho herself was very short, and not pretty at all.
It surprised me very much!~

舞者

What did you expect? Beautiful face with beautiful heart/thoughts/expressions?

怀抱花朵的孩子

Chinene scholar Tian xiaofei has a book about Sappho : 《“萨福”:一个欧美文学传统的生成》.

mu

原帖由 怀抱花朵的孩子 于 2006-5-13 23:59 发表
Chinene scholar Tian xiaofei has a book about Sappho : 《“萨福”:一个欧美文学传统的生成》.

I've read this before, very inspiring.

Eternity's

outstanding woman poet :P