Poems of Sappho: An Interpretative Rendition into English — Epithalamia - Threnodes
Artisans, raise high the roof beam!
Tall is the bridegroom as Ares, Taller by far than the tallest, O Hymenæus!
Ay!
towering over his fellows, As over men of all other Lands towers the Lesbian singer, O Hymenæus!
Well-favored, too, is the maiden, Eyes that are sweeter than honey, Fair both in face and in figure, O Hymenæus!
For there was never another Virgin in loveliness like her, By Aphrodite so honored, O Hymenæus!
O happy bridegroom, the wedding Comes to the point of completion;
Thou hast the maid of thy choosing, O Hymenæus!
See how a paleness suffuses Soft o'er her exquisite features, Passion's benign premonition, O Hymenæus!
Go to the couch unreluctant, Rejoicing and sweet to the bridegroom;
He in his turn is rejoicing, O Hymenæus!
May Hesperus lead thee, and Hera, She whom to-night that ye honor, Silver-throned Goddess of marriage, O Hymenæus!
BRIDAL SONG
Bride, that goest to the bridal chamber In the dove-drawn car of Aphrodite, By a band of dimpled Loves surrounded;
Bride, of maidens all the fairest image Mitylene treasures of the Goddess, Rosy-ankled Graces Are thy playmates;
Bride, O fair and lovely, thy companions Are the gracious hours that onward passing For thy gladsome footsteps Scatter garlands.
Bride, that blushing like the sweetest apple On the very branch's end, so strangely Overlooked, ungathered By the gleaners;
Bride, that like the apple that was never Overlooked but out of reach so plainly, Only one thy rarest Fruit may gather;
Bride, that into womanhood has ripened For the harvest of the bridegroom only, He alone shall taste thy Hoarded sweetness.
EPITHALAMIUM
Vesper is here!
behold Faint gleams that welcome shine!
Rise from the feast, O youths, And chant the fescennine!
Before the porch we sing The hymeneal song;
Vesper is here, O youths!
The star we waited long.
We lead the festal groups Across the bridegroom's porch;
Vesper is here, O youths!
Wave high the bridal torch.
Hail, noble bridegroom, hail!
The virgin fair has come;
Unlatch the door and lead Her timid footsteps home.
Hail, noble bridegroom, hail!
Straight as a tender tree;
Fond as a folding vine Thy bride will cling to thee.
PIERIA'S ROSE
Pale death shall come, and thou and thine shall be, Then and thereafter, to all memory Forgotten as the wind that yesterday Blew the last lingering apple buds away;
For thou hadst never that undying rose To grace the brow and shed immortal glows;
Pieria's fadeless flower that few may claim To wreathe and save thy unremembered name.
Ay!
even on the fields of Dis unknown, Obscure among the shadows and alone, Thy flitting shade shall pass uncomforted Of any heed from all the flitting dead.
But no one maid, I think, beneath the skies, At any time shall live and be as wise, In sooth, as I am; for the Muses Nine Have made me honored and their gifts are mine;
And men, I think, will never quite forget My songs or me; so long as stars shall set Or sun shall rise, or hearts feel love's desire, My voice shall cross their dreams, a sigh of fire.
LAMENT FOR ADONIS
Ah, for Adonis!
See, he is dying, Delicate, lovely, Slender Adonis.
Ah, for Adonis!
Weep, O ye maidens, Beating your bosoms, Rending your tunics.
O Cytherea, Hasten, for never Loved thou another As thy Adonis.
See, on the rosy Cheek with its dimple, Blushing no longer, Thanatos' shadow.
Save him, O Goddess!
Thou, the beguiler, All-powerful, holy, Stay the dread evil.
Ah, for Adonis!
No more at vintage Time will he come with Bloom of the meadows.
Ah, for Adonis!
See, he is dying, Fading as flowers With the lost summer.
THE STRICKEN FLOWER
Think not to ever look as once of yore, Atthis, upon my love; for thou no more Wilt find intact upon its stem the flower Thy guile left slain and bleeding in that hour.
So ruthless shepherds crush beneath their feet The hill flower blooming in the summer heat;
The hyacinth whose purple heart is found Left bruised and dead, to darken on the ground.
DEATH
Death is an evil; so the Gods decree, So they have judged, and such must rightly be Our mortal view; for they who dwell on high Had never lived, had it been good to die.
And so the poet's house should never know Of tears and lamentations any show;
Such things befit not us who deathless sing Of love and beauty, gladness and the spring.
No hint of grief should mar the features of Our dreams of endless beauty, lasting love;
For they reflect the joy inviolate, Eternal calm that fronts whatever fate.
Clëis, my darling, grieve no more, I pray!
Let wandering winds thy sorrow bear away, And all our care; my daughter, let thy smile Shine through thy tears and gladden me the while.
PERSEPHONE
I saw a tender maiden plucking flowers Once, long ago, in the bright morning hours;
And then from heaven I saw a sudden cloud Fall swift and dark, and heard her cry aloud.
Again I looked, but from my open door My anxious eyes espied the maid no more;
The cloud had vanished, bearing her away To underlands beyond the smiling day.
PARTHENEIA
DIDAKTIKA
MAIDENHOOD
