Chapter X: Miscellaneous 152 (2)

She wrote in the Aeolic dialect, the form of which Bergk has restored in almost every instance. The absence of rough breathings, the throwing back of the accent, and the use of the digamma ([Greek: W]) and of many forms and words unknown to ordinary Attic Greek, all testify to this. Three idyls ascribed to Theocr[)i]tus (cf. fr. 65) are imitations of the dialect, metre, and manner of the old Aeolic poets; and the 28th, says Professor Mahaffy, 'is an elegant little address to an ivory spindle which the poet was sending as a present to the wife of his physician friend, Nikias of Cos, and was probably composed on the model of a poem of Sappho.'

Her poems or [Greek: melê] were undoubtedly written for recitation with the aid of music; 'they were, in fact,' to quote Professor Mahaffy again, 'the earliest specimens of what is called in modern days the _Song_ or _Ballad_, in which the repetition of short rhythms produces a certain pleasant monotony, easy to remember and easy to understand.'

What Melic poetry like Sappho's actually was is best comprehended in the light of Plato's definition of _melos_, that it is 'compounded out of three things, speech, music, and rhythm.'

Aristox[)e]nus, as quoted by Plutarch, ascribes to her the invention of the Mixo-Lydian mode. Mr. William Chappell thinks the plain meaning of Aristoxenus' assertion is merely that she sang softly and plaintively, and at a higher pitch than any of her predecessors. All Greek modes can be exhibited by means of our diatonic scale--by the white keys, for example, omitting the black ones, of our modern pianofortes; the various modes having been merely divisions of the diatonic scale into certain regions each consisting of one octave. The ecclesiastical Mixo-Lydian mode, supposed to be similar to the Greek mode of the same name, is the scale of our G major without the F# or leading note. It was called in the early Christian Church 'the angelic mode,' and is now known as the Seventh of the ecclesiastical or Gregorian modes. The more celebrated instances of the use of this mode in modern church music are Palestrina's four-part motet _Dies sanctificatus_, the Antiphon _Asperges me_ as given in the Roman Gradual, and the Sarum melody of _Sanctorum meritis_ printed in the Rev. T. Helmore's _Hymnal Noted_. The subjoined example of it is given in Sir George Grove's _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_:--

together with a technical description of its construction.

Sappho is said by Athenaeus, quoting Menaechmus and Aristoxenus, to have been the first of the Greek poets to use the P[=e]ktis ([Greek: pêktis]), a foreign instrument of uncertain form, a kind of harp (cf. fr. 122), which was played by the fingers without a plectrum. Athenaeus says the Pektis was identical with the Mag[)a]dis, but in this he was plainly wrong, for Mr. William Chappell has shown that any instrument which was played in octaves was called a Magadis, and when it was in the form of a lyre it had a bridge to divide the strings into two parts, in the ratio of 2 to 1, so that the short part of each string gave a sound just one octave higher than the other. Sappho also mentions (in fr. 154) the Bar[=o]mos or Barmos, and the Sarb[)i]tos or Barb[)i]tos, kinds of many-stringed Lesbian lyres which cannot now be identified.

As to the metres in which Sappho wrote, it is unnecessary to describe them elaborately here. They are discussed in all treatises on Greek or Latin metres, and Neue has treated of them at great length in his edition of Sappho. Suffice it to say that Bergk has as far as possible arranged the fragments according to their metres, of which I have given indications--often purposely general--in the headings to the various divisions. The metre commonly called after her name was probably not invented by her; it was only called Sapphic because of her frequent use of it. Its strophe is made up thus:

- v - = - v v - v - =
- v - = - v v - v - =
- v - = - v v - v - =
- v v - =

Professor Robinson Ellis, in the preface to his translation of Catullus, gives some examples of Elizabethan renderings of the Sapphic stanza into English; but nothing repeats its rhythm to my ear so well as Swinburne's _Sapphics_:

All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids,
Shed not dew, nor shook nor unclosed a feather,
Yet with lips shut close and with eyes of iron
Stood and beheld me.

With such lines as these ringing in the reader's ears, he can almost hear Sappho herself singing

Songs that move the heart of the shaken heaven,
Songs that break the heart of the earth with pity,
Hearing, to hear them.

In the face of so much testimony to Sappho's genius, and in the presence of every glowing word of hers that has been spared to us, those 'grains of golden sand which the torrent of Time has carried down to us,' as Professor F. T. Palgrave says, there is no need for me to panegyrise the poetess whom the whole world has been long since contented to hold without a parallel. What Sappho wrote, to earn such unchallenged fame, we can only vainly long to know; what still remains for us to judge her by, I am willing to leave my readers to estimate.

I

IN SAPPHIC METRE

1

[Greek: Poikilothron', athanat' Aphrodita,]
[Greek: pai Dios, doloploke, lissomai se]
[Greek: mê m' asaisi mêt' oniaisi damna,]
[Greek: potnia, thymon;]
[Greek: alla tuid' elth', aipota katerôta]
[Greek: tas emas audôs aioisa pêlui]
[Greek: eklyes, patros de domon lipoisa]
[Greek: chrysion êlthes]
[Greek: arm' ypozeuxaisa; kaloi de s' agon]
[Greek: ôkees strouthoi peri gas melainas]
[Greek: pykna dineuntes pter' ap' ôranô aithe-]
[Greek: ras dia messô.]
[Greek: aipsa d' exikonto; ty d', ô makaira,]
[Greek: meidiasais' athanatô prosôpô,]
[Greek: êre', otti dêute pepontha kôtti]
[Greek: dêute kalêmi,]
[Greek: kôtti moi malista thelô genesthai]
[Greek: mainola thymô; tina dêute Peithô]
[Greek: mais agên es san philotata, tis s', ô]
[Greek: Psapph', adikêei?]
[Greek: kai gar ai pheugei, tacheôs diôxei,]
[Greek: ai de dôra mê deket' alla dôsei,]
[Greek: ai de mê philei, tacheôs philêsei]
[Greek: kôuk etheloisa.]
[Greek: elthe moi kai nyn, chalepan de lyson]
[Greek: ek merimnan, ossa de moi telessai]
[Greek: thymos imerrei, teleson; sy d' auta]
[Greek: symmachos esso.]

_Immortal Aphrodite of the broidered throne, daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee break not my spirit with anguish and distress, O Queen. But come hither, if ever before thou didst hear my voice afar, and listen, and leaving thy father's golden house camest with chariot yoked, and fair fleet sparrows drew thee, flapping fast their wings around the dark earth, from heaven through mid sky. Quickly arrived they; and thou, blessed one, smiling with immortal countenance, didst ask What now is befallen me, and Why now I call, and What I in my mad heart most desire to see. 'What Beauty now wouldst thou draw to love thee? Who wrongs thee, Sappho? For even if she flies she shall soon follow, and if she rejects gifts shall yet give, and if she loves not shall soon love, however loth.' Come, I pray thee, now too, and release me from cruel cares; and all that my heart desires to accomplish, accomplish thou, and be thyself my ally._

A HYMN TO VENUS.

O Venus, beauty of the skies,
To whom a thousand temples rise,
Gaily false in gentle smiles,
Full of love-perplexing wiles;
O goddess, from my heart remove
The wasting cares and pains of love.

If ever thou hast kindly heard
A song in soft distress preferred,
Propitious to my tuneful vow,
O gentle goddess, hear me now.
Descend, thou bright immortal guest,
In all thy radiant charms confessed.

Thou once didst leave almighty Jove
And all the golden roofs above;
The car thy wanton sparrows drew,
Hovering in air they lightly flew;
As to my bower they winged their way
I saw their quivering pinions play.

The birds dismissed (while you remain)
Bore back their empty car again:
Then you, with looks divinely mild,
In every heavenly feature smiled,
And asked what new complaints I made,
And why I called you to my aid?

What frenzy in my bosom raged,
And by what cure to be assuaged?
What gentle youth I would allure,
Whom in my artful toils secure?
Who does thy tender heart subdue,
Tell me, my Sappho, tell me who?

Though now he shuns thy longing arms,
He soon shall court thy slighted charms;
Though now thy offerings he despise,
He soon to thee shall sacrifice;
Though now he freeze, he soon shall burn,
And be thy victim in his turn.

Celestial visitant, once more
Thy needful presence I implore.
In pity come, and ease my grief,
Bring my distempered soul relief,
Favour thy suppliant's hidden fires,
And give me all my heart desires.
AMBROSE PHILIPS, 1711.

TO THE GODDESS OF LOVE.

O Venus, daughter of the mighty Jove,
Most knowing in the mystery of love,
Help me, oh help me, quickly send relief,
And suffer not my heart to break with grief.

If ever thou didst hear me when I prayed,
Come now, my goddess, to thy Sappho's aid.
Orisons used, such favour hast thou shewn,
From heaven's golden mansions called thee down.

See, see, she comes in her cerulean car,
Passing the middle regions of the air.
Mark how her nimble sparrows stretch the wing,
And with uncommon speed their Mistress bring.

Arrived, and sparrows loosed, hastens to me;
Then smiling asks, What is it troubles thee?
Why am I called? Tell me what Sappho wants.
Oh, know you not the cause of all my plaints?

I love, I burn, and only love require;
And nothing less can quench the raging fire.
What youth, what raving lover shall I gain?
Where is the captive that should wear my chain?

Alas, poor Sappho, who is this ingrate
Provokes thee so, for love returning hate?
Does he now fly thee? He shall soon return;
Pursue thee, and with equal ardour burn.

Would he no presents at thy hands receive?
He will repent it, and more largely give.
The force of love no longer can withstand;
He must be fond, wholly at thy command.

When wilt thou work this change? Now, Venus free,
Now ease my mind of so much misery;
In this amour my powerful aider be;
Make Phaon love, but let him love like me.
HERBERT, 1713.

HYMN TO VENUS.

Immortal Venus, throned above
In radiant beauty, child of Jove,
O skilled in every art of love
And artful snare;
Dread power, to whom I bend the knee,
Release my soul and set it free
From bonds of piercing agony
And gloomy care.
Yet come thyself, if e'er, benign,
Thy listening ears thou didst incline
To my rude lay, the starry shine
Of Jove's court leaving,
In chariot yoked with coursers fair,
Thine own immortal birds that bear
Thee swift to earth, the middle air
With bright wings cleaving.
Soon they were sped--and thou, most blest,
In thine own smiles ambrosial dressed,
Didst ask what griefs my mind oppressed--
What meant my song--
What end my frenzied thoughts pursue--
For what loved youth I spread anew
My amorous nets--'Who, Sappho, who
'Hath done thee wrong?
'What though he fly, he'll soon return--
'Still press thy gifts, though now he spurn;
'Heed not his coldness--soon he'll burn,
'E'en though thou chide.'
--And saidst thou thus, dread goddess? Oh,
Come then once more to ease my woe:
Grant all, and thy great self bestow,
My shield and guide!
JOHN HERMAN MERIVALE, 1833.

HYMN TO APHRODITE.

Golden-throned beyond the sky,
Jove-born immortality:
Hear and heal a suppliant's pain:
Let not love be love in vain!

Come, as once to Love's imploring
Accents of a maid's adoring,
Wafted 'neath the golden dome
Bore thee from thy father's home;

When far off thy coming glowed,
Whirling down th' aethereal road,
On thy dove-drawn progress glancing,
'Mid the light of wings advancing;

And at once the radiant hue
Of immortal smiles I knew;
Heard the voice of reassurance
Ask the tale of love's endurance:--

'Why such prayer? And who for thee,
Sappho, should be touch'd by me;
Passion-charmed in frenzy strong--
Who hath wrought my Sappho wrong?

'--Soon for flight pursuit wilt find,
Proffer'd gifts for gifts declined;
Soon, thro' long reluctance earn'd,
Love refused be Love return'd.'

--To thy suppliant so returning,
Consummate a maiden's yearning:
Love, from deep despair set free,
Championing to victory!
F. T. PALGRAVE, 1854.

Splendour-throned Queen, immortal Aphrodite,
Daughter of Jove, Enchantress, I implore thee
Vex not my soul with agonies and anguish;
Slay me not, Goddess!
Come in thy pity--come, if I have prayed thee;
Come at the cry of my sorrow; in the old times
Oft thou hast heard, and left thy father's heaven,
Left the gold houses,
Yoking thy chariot. Swiftly did the doves fly,
Swiftly they brought thee, waving plumes of wonder--
Waving their dark plumes all across the aether,
All down the azure.
Very soon they lighted. Then didst thou, Divine one,
Laugh a bright laugh from lips and eyes immortal,
Ask me, 'What ailed me--wherefore out of heaven
'Thus I had called thee?
'What it was made me madden in my heart so?'
Question me, smiling--say to me, 'My Sappho,
'Who is it wrongs thee? Tell me who refuses
'Thee, vainly sighing.'
'Be it who it may be, he that flies shall follow;
'He that rejects gifts, he shall bring thee many;
'He that hates now shall love thee dearly, madly--
'Aye, though thou wouldst not.'
So once again come, Mistress; and, releasing
Me from my sadness, give me what I sue for,
Grant me my prayer, and be as heretofore now
Friend and protectress.
EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

Beautiful-throned, immortal Aphrodite,
Daughter of Zeus, beguiler, I implore thee,
Weigh me not down with weariness and anguish
O thou most holy!

Come to me now, if ever thou in kindness
Hearkenedst my words,--and often hast thou hearkened--
Heeding, and coming from the mansions golden
Of thy great Father,

Yoking thy chariot, borne by the most lovely
Consecrated birds, with dusky-tinted pinions,
Waving swift wings from utmost heights of heaven
Through the mid-ether;

Swiftly they vanished, leaving thee, O goddess,
Smiling, with face immortal in its beauty,
Asking why I grieved, and why in utter longing
I had dared call thee;

Asking what I sought, thus hopeless in desiring,
Wildered in brain, and spreading nets of passion--
Alas, for whom? and saidst thou, 'Who has harmed thee?
'O my poor Sappho!

'Though now he flies, ere long he shall pursue thee;
'Fearing thy gifts, he too in turn shall bring them;
'Loveless to-day, to-morrow he shall woo thee,
'Though thou shouldst spurn him.'

Thus seek me now, O holy Aphrodite!
Save me from anguish; give me all I ask for,
Gifts at thy hand; and thine shall be the glory,
Sacred protector!
T. W. HIGGINSON, 1871.

O fickle-souled, deathless one, Aphrodite,
Daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee,
Lady august, never with pangs and bitter
Anguish affray me!

But hither come often, as erst with favour
My invocations pitifully heeding,
Leaving thy sire's golden abode, thou camest
Down to me speeding.

Yoked to thy car, delicate sparrows drew thee
Fleetly to earth, fluttering fast their pinions,
From heaven's height through middle ether's liquid
Sunny dominions.

Soon they arrived; thou, O divine one, smiling
Sweetly from that countenance all immortal,
Askedst my grief, wherefore I so had called thee
From the bright portal?

What my wild soul languished for, frenzy-stricken?
'Who thy love now is it that ill requiteth,
Sappho? and who thee and thy tender yearning
Wrongfully slighteth?

Though he now fly, quickly he shall pursue thee--
Scorns he thy gifts? Soon he shall freely offer--
Loves he not? Soon, even wert thou unwilling,
Love shall he proffer.'

Come to me then, loosen me from my torment,
All my heart's wish unto fulfilment guide thou,
Grant and fulfil! And an ally most trusty
Ever abide thou.
MORETON JOHN WALHOUSE, in _The
Gentleman's Magazine_, 1877.

Glittering-throned, undying Aphrodite,
Wile-weaving daughter of high Zeus, I pray thee,
Tame not my soul with heavy woe, dread mistress,
Nay, nor with anguish!

But hither come, if ever erst of old time
Thou didst incline, and listenedst to my crying,
And from thy father's palace down descending,
Camest with golden

Chariot yoked: thee fair swift-flying sparrows
Over dark earth with multitudinous fluttering,
Pinion on pinion, thorough middle ether
Down from heaven hurried.

Quickly they came like light, and thou, blest lady,
Smiling with clear undying eyes didst ask me
What was the woe that troubled me, and wherefore
I had cried to thee:

What thing I longed for to appease my frantic
Soul: and Whom now must I persuade, thou askedst,
Whom must entangle to thy love, and who now,
Sappho, hath wronged thee?

Yea, for if now he shun, he soon shall chase thee;
Yea, if he take not gifts, he soon shall give them;
Yea, if he love not, soon shall he begin to
Love thee, unwilling.

Come to me now too, and from tyrannous sorrow
Free me, and all things that my soul desires to
Have done, do for me, queen, and let thyself too
Be my great ally!
J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS, 1893.

Besides these complete versions--many others there are, but these are by far the best--compare the following stanza out of Akenside's _Ode on Lyric Poetry_ (about 1745):--

But lo, to Sappho's melting airs
Descends the radiant queen of Love:
She smiles, and asks what fonder cares
Her suppliant's plaintive measures move:
Why is my faithful maid distressed?
Who, Sappho, wounds thy tender breast?
Say, flies he?--Soon he shall pursue.
Shuns he thy gifts?--He soon shall give.
Slights he thy sorrows?--He shall grieve,
And soon to all thy wishes bow.

And Swinburne's paraphrase--

For I beheld in sleep the light that is
In her high place in Paphos, heard the kiss
Of body and soul that mix with eager tears
And laughter stinging through the eyes and ears:
Saw Love, as burning flame from crown to feet,
Imperishable, upon her storied seat;
Clear eyelids lifted toward the north and south,
A mind of many colours, and a mouth
Of many tunes and kisses; and she bowed,
With all her subtle face laughing aloud,
Bowed down upon me, saying, 'Who doth thee wrong,
Sappho?' but thou--thy body is the song,
Thy mouth the music; thou art more than I,
Though my voice die not till the whole world die;
Though men that hear it madden; though love weep,
Though nature change, though shame be charmed to sleep.
Ay, wilt thou slay me lest I kiss thee dead?
Yet the queen laughed from her sweet heart and said:
'Even she that flies shall follow for thy sake,
And she shall give thee gifts that would not take,
Shall kiss that would not kiss thee' (yea, kiss me)
'When thou wouldst not'--when I would not kiss thee!
_Anactoria_, p. 67 f.

And his--

_O thou of divers-coloured mind,[7] O thou_
_Deathless, God's daughter subtle-souled_--lo now,
Now to the song above all songs, in flight
Higher than the day-star's height,
And sweet as sound the moving wings of night!
_Thou of the divers-coloured seat_--behold
Her very song of old!--
_O deathless, O Gods daughter subtle-souled!_
* * * * *
_Child of God, close craftswoman, I beseech thee;_
_Bid not ache nor agony break nor master,_
_Lady, my spirit._
_Songs of the Spring-tides_: On the Cliffs.

As well as Frederick Tennyson's--

Come to me; what I seek in vain
Bring thou; into my spirit send
Peace after care, balm after pain;
And be my friend.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing at Rome about 25 B.C., quotes this, commonly called _The Ode to Aphrodite_, as a perfect illustration of the elaborately finished style of poetry, showing in detail how its grace and beauty lie in the subtle harmony between the words and the ideas. Certain lines of it, though nowhere else the whole, are preserved by Hephaestion and other authors.

2

[Greek: Phainetai moi kênos isos theoisin]
[Greek: emmen ônêr, ostis enantios toi]
[Greek: izanei, kai plasion ady phôneu-]
[Greek: sas hypakouei]
[Greek: kai gelaisas imeroen, to moi man]
[Greek: kardian en stêthesin eptoasen;]
[Greek: hôs gar euidon brocheôs se, phônas]
[Greek: ouden et' eikei;]
[Greek: alla kam men glôssa eage, lepton d']
[Greek: autika chrô pyr ypadedromaken,]
[Greek: oppatessi d' ouden orêm', epirrom-]
[Greek: beisi d' akouai.]
[Greek: a de midrôs kakcheetai, tromos de]
[Greek: paisan agrei, chlôrotera de poias]
[Greek: emmi, tethnakên d' oligô 'pideuês]
[Greek: phainomai [alla].]
[Greek: alla pan tolmaton, [epei kai penêta].]

_That man seems to me peer of gods, who sits in thy presence, and hears close to him thy sweet speech and lovely laughter; that indeed makes my heart flutter in my bosom. For when I see thee but a little, I have no utterance left, my tongue is broken down, and straightway a subtle fire has run under my skin, with my eyes I have no sight, my ears ring, sweat pours down, and a trembling seizes all my body; I am paler than grass, and seem in my madness little better than one dead. But I must dare all, since one so poor_ ...

The famous imitation of this ode by Catullus, li., _Ad Lesbiam_--

Ille mi par esse deo videtur,
Ille, si fas est, superare divos,
Qui sedens adversus identidem te
Spectat et audit
Dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
Eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
* * * * *
Lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
Flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
Tintinant aures, gemina teguntur
Lumina nocte--

is thus translated by Mr. W. E. Gladstone:--

Him rival to the gods I place,
Him loftier yet, if loftier be,
Who, Lesbia, sits before thy face,
Who listens and who looks on thee;

Thee smiling soft. Yet this delight
Doth all my sense consign to death;
For when thou dawnest on my sight,
Ah, wretched! flits my labouring breath.

My tongue is palsied. Subtly hid
Fire creeps me through from limb to limb:
My loud ears tingle all unbid:
Twin clouds of night mine eyes bedim.

and recently by the late Sir R. F. Burton:--

Peer of a god meseemeth he,
Nay, passing gods (an that can be!),
Who all the while sits facing thee,
Sees thee and hears
Thy low sweet laughs which (ah me!) daze
Mine every sense, and as I gaze
Upon thee, Lesbia, o'er me strays
. . . . . .
My tongue is dulled, my limbs adown
Flows subtle flame; with sound its own
Rings either ear, and o'er are strown
Mine eyes with night.

----

Blest as the immortal gods is he,
The youth who fondly sits by thee,
And hears and sees thee all the while
Softly speak and sweetly smile.

'Twas this deprived my soul of rest,
And raised such tumults in my breast;
For while I gazed, in transport tost,
My breath was gone, my voice was lost:

My bosom glowed; the subtle flame
Ran quick through all my vital frame;
O'er my dim eyes a darkness hung;
My ears with hollow murmurs rung.

In dewy damps my limbs were chilled;
My blood with gentle horror thrilled;
My feeble pulse forgot to play;
I fainted, sank, and died away.
AMBROSE PHILIPS, 1711.

Thy fatal shafts unerring move,
I bow before thine altar, Love
I feel thy soft resistless flame
Glide swift through all my vital frame.

For while I gaze my bosom glows,
My blood in tides impetuous flows;
Hope, fear, and joy alternate roll,
And floods of transports whelm my soul.

My faltering tongue attempts in vain
In soothing murmurs to complain;
My tongue some secret magic ties,
My murmurs sink in broken sighs.

Condemned to nurse eternal care,
And ever drop the silent tear,
Unheard I mourn, unknown I sigh,
Unfriended live, unpitied die.
SMOLLETT, in _Roderick Random_, 1748.

Blest as the immortal gods is he,
The youth whose eyes may look on thee,
Whose ears thy tongue's sweet melody
May still devour.
Thou smilest too?--sweet smile, whose charm
Has struck my soul with wild alarm,
And, when I see thee, bids disarm
Each vital power.
Speechless I gaze: the flame within
Runs swift o'er all my quivering skin;
My eyeballs swim; with dizzy din
My brain reels round;
And cold drops fall; and tremblings frail
Seize every limb; and grassy pale
I grow; and then--together fail
Both sight and sound.
JOHN HERMAN MERIVALE, 1833.

Peer of gods he seemeth to me, the blissful
Man who sits and gazes at thee before him,
Close beside thee sits, and in silence hears thee
Silverly speaking,
Laughing love's low laughter. Oh this, this only
Stirs the troubled heart in my breast to tremble!
For should I but see thee a little moment,
Straight is my voice hushed;
Yea, my tongue is broken, and through and through me
'Neath the flesh impalpable fire runs tingling;
Nothing see mine eyes, and a noise of roaring
Waves in my ear sounds;
Sweat runs down in rivers, a tremor seizes
All my limbs, and paler than grass in autumn,
Caught by pains of menacing death, I falter,
Lost in the love-trance.
J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS, 1883.

Compare Lord Tennyson:--

I watch thy grace; and in its place
My heart a charmed slumber keeps,
While I muse upon thy face;
And a languid fire creeps
Through my veins to all my frame,
Dissolvingly and slowly: soon
From thy rose-red lips _my_ name
Floweth; and then, as in a swoon,
With dinning sound my ears are rife,
My tremulous tongue faltereth,
I lose my colour, I lose my breath,
I drink the cup of a costly death
Brimmed with delicious draughts of warmest life.
I die with my delight, before
I hear what I would hear from thee.
_Eleänore_, 1832.

And--

Last night, when some one spoke his name,
From my swift blood that went and came
A thousand little shafts of flame
Were shiver'd in my narrow frame.--_Fatima_.[8]

And with line 14, Swinburne's--

Paler than grass in summer.--_Sapphics_.

and--

Made like white summer-coloured grass.
_Aholibah_.

Longinus, about 250 A.D., uses this, _The Ode to Anactoria_, or _To a beloved Woman_, or _To a Maiden_, as tradition variously names it, to illustrate the perfection of the Sublime in poetry, calling it 'not one passion, but a congress of passions,' and showing how Sappho had here seized upon the signs of love-frenzy and harmonised them into faultless phrase. Plutarch had, about 60 A.D., spoken of this ode as 'mixed with fire,' and quoted Philoxenus as referring to Sappho's 'sweet-voiced songs healing love.'

3

[Greek: Asteres men amphi kalan selannan]
[Greek: aips apykryptoisi phaennon eidos,]
[Greek: oppota plêthoisa malista lampê]
[Greek: gan [epi pasan]]
- v - v [Greek: arguria] - v - v ;

_The stars about the fair moon in their turn hide their bright face when she at about her full lights up all earth with silver._

Planets, that around the beauteous moon
Attendant wait, cast into shade
Their ineffectual lustre, soon
As she, in full-orbed majesty arrayed,
Her silver radiance pours
Upon this world of ours.
J. H. MERIVALE.

The stars around the lovely moon
Their radiant visage hide as soon
As she, full-orbed, appears to sight,
Flooding the earth with her silvery light.
? FELTON.

The stars about the lovely moon
Fade back and vanish very soon,
When, round and full, her silver face
Swims into sight, and lights all space.
EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

Stars that shine around the refulgent full moon
Pale, and hide their glory of lesser lustre
When she pours her silvery plenilunar
Light on the orbed earth.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

'As the stars draw back their shining faces when they surround the fair moon in her silver fulness.' F. T. PALGRAVE.

Quoted by Eustathius of Thessalonica, late in the twelfth century, to illustrate the simile in the _Iliad_, viii. 551:--

As when in heaven the stars about the moon
Look beautiful.
TENNYSON.

Julian, about 350 A.D., says Sappho applied the epithet _silver_ to the moon; wherefore Blomfield suggested its position here.

4

[Greek: Amphi de psychron keladei di' usdôn]
[Greek: malinôn, aithyssomenôn de phyllôn]
[Greek: kôma katarrei]

_And round about the_ [breeze] _murmurs cool through apple-boughs, and slumber streams from quivering leaves._

Through orchard-plots with fragrance crowned
The clear cold fountain murmuring flows;
And forest leaves with rustling sound
Invite to soft repose.
J. H. MERIVALE.

All around through branches of apple-orchards
Cool streams call, while down from the leaves a-tremble
Slumber distilleth.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Professor F. T. Palgrave says:--

'We have three lines on a garden scene full of the heat and sleep of the fortunate South:--

'"Round about the cool water thrills through the apple-branches, and sleep flows down upon us in the rustling leaves."

'If there were any authority,' he adds in a note, 'I should like to translate "through the _troughs_ of apple-wood." That Eastern mode of garden irrigation gives a much more defined, and hence a more Sappho-like, image than "through the boughs."'

From the sound of cool waters heard through the green boughs
Of the fruit-bearing trees,
And the rustling breeze,
Deep sleep, as a trance, down over me flows.
FREDERICK TENNYSON, 1890.

Cited by Hermogenes, about 170 A.D., as an example of simple style, and to show the pleasure given by description. The fragment describes the gardens of the nymphs, which Demetrius, about 150 A.D., says were sung by Sappho. Cf. Theocritus, _Idyl_ vii. 135: 'High above our heads waved many a poplar, many an elm-tree, while close at hand the sacred water from the Nymph's own cave welled forth with murmurs musical' (A. Lang). And Ovid, _Heroïd._, xv. 157--

A spring there is whose silver waters show, etc.--

(cf. Pope's translation, _infra_, p. 194) probably refers to it.

5

- v - v - v v [Greek: Elthe Kypri]
[Greek: chrysiaisin en kylikessin abrôs]
[Greek: symmemigmenon thaliaisi nektar]
[Greek: oinochoeusa.]

_Come, goddess of Cyprus, and in golden cups serve nectar delicately mixed with delights._

Come, Venus, come
Hither with thy golden cup,
Where nectar-floated flowerets swim.
Fill, fill the goblet up;
These laughing lips shall kiss the brim,--
Come, Venus, come!
ANON. (_Edin. Rev._, 1832).

Kupris, hither
Come, and pour from goblets of gold the nectar
Mixed for love's and pleasure's delight with dainty
Joys of the banquet.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Athenaeus, a native of Naucratis, who flourished about 230 A.D., quotes these verses as an example of the poets' custom of invoking Aphrodite in their pledges. Applying them to himself and his fellow-guests, he adds the words [Greek: toutoisi tois hetairois emois ge kai sois]. Some scholars believe that Sappho actually wrote--

[Greek: taisde tais emais etaraisi kai sais],

_For these my companions and thine._

Aphrodite was called Cypris, 'the Cyprian,' because it was mythologically believed that when she rose from the sea she was first received as a goddess on the shore of Cyprus (_Homeric Hymns_, vi.). Sappho seems to be here figuratively referring to the nectar of love.

6

[Greek: Ê se Kypros kai Paphos ê Panormos.]

_Or Cyprus and Paphos, or Panormus_ [holds] _thee._

If thee Cyprus, or Paphos, or Panormos.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

From Strabo, about 19 A.D. Panormus (Palermo) in Sicily was not founded till after Sappho's time, but it was a common name, and all seaports were under the special protection of Aphrodite.

7, 8

[Greek: Soi d' egô leukas epi bômon aigos]
- v - v - v v - v - v
[Greek: kapileipsô toi] v v - v - v ;

_But for thee will I_ [lead] _to the altar_ [the offspring] _of a white goat ... and add a libation for thee._

Adduced by Apollonius of Alexandria, about 140 A.D., to illustrate similarities in dialects. The fragment is probably part of an ode describing a sacrifice offered to Aphrodite.

9

[Greek: Aith' egô, chrysostephan' Aphrodita,]
[Greek: tonde ton palon lachoên.]

_This lot may I win, golden-crowned Aphrodite._

From Apollonius, to show how adverbs give an idea of prayer.

10

[Greek: Ai me timian epoêsan erga]
[Greek: ta spha doisai.]

_Who gave me their gifts and made me honoured._

From Apollonius, to illustrate the Aeolic dialect. Bergk thinks this fragment had some connection with fr. 68, and perhaps with fr. 32. It seems to refer to the Muses.

11

- v - v - [Greek: Tade nyn etairais]
[Greek: tais emaisi terpna kalôs aeisô.]

_This will I now sing deftly to please my girl-friends._

Quoted by Athenaeus to prove that freeborn women and maidens often called their girl associates and friends [Greek: etairai] (_Hetaerae_), without any idea of reproach.

12

- v - v - v v [Greek: Ottinas gar]
[Greek: eu theô, kênoi me malista sinnon-]
[Greek: tai.] v v - v ;

_For they whom I benefit injure me most._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, a dictionary which was compiled about the tenth century A.D.

13

- v - v - v [Greek: Egô de kên' ot-]
[Greek: tô tis eratai.]

_But that which one desires I ..._

From Apollonius, to illustrate the use of the verb [Greek: eraô]. Bergk now reads [Greek: eratai] instead of [Greek: eratai] as formerly, on the analogy of [Greek: diakêtai] and [Greek: dynamai] in the Fayum fragments.

14

[Greek: Tais kalais ymmin [to] noêma tômon]
[Greek: oi diameipton.]

_To you, fair maids, my mind changes not._

From Apollonius, to show the Aeolic use of [Greek: ymmin] for [Greek: hymin], 'to you.'

15

- v - v - v [Greek: Egôn d' imauta]
[Greek: touto synoida.]

_And this I feel in myself._

From Apollonius, to show Aeolic accentuation.

16

[Greek: Taisi [de] psychros men egento thymos,]
[Greek: par d' ieisi ta ptera.] - v - v

_But their heart turned cold and they dropt their wings._

In Pindar, _Pyth._ i. 10, the eagle of Zeus, delighted by music, drops his wings, and the Scholiast quotes this fragment to show that Sappho says the same of doves.

17

- v - v - v [Greek: kat' emon stalagmon;]
[Greek: Ton d' epiplazontes amoi pheroien]
[Greek: kai meledônais.]

_According to my weeping: it and all care let buffeting winds bear away._

Him the wanderer o'er the world
Far away the winds will bear,
And restless care.
FREDERICK TENNYSON.

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, to show that the Aeolians used [Greek: z] in the place of [Greek: ss]. [Greek: Amoi] is a guess of Bergk's for [Greek: anemoi], 'winds.'

18

[Greek: Artiôs m' a chrysopedillos Auôs.]

_Me just now the golden-sandalled Dawn ..._

Me but now Aurora the golden-sandalled.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Quoted by Ammonius of Alexandria, at the close of the fourth century A.D., to show Sappho's use of [Greek: artiôs].

19

- v - v - v v [Greek: Podas de]
[Greek: poikilos maslês ekalypte, Lydi-]
[Greek: on kalon ergon.]

_A broidered strap of fair Lydian work covered her feet._

Quoted by the Scholiast on Aristophanes' _Peace_, 1174; and also by Pollux, about 180 A.D. Blass thinks the lines may have referred to an apparition of Aphrodite.

20

- v - v [Greek: Pantodapais memigme-]
[Greek: na chroiaisin.]

_Shot with a thousand hues._

Quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, i. 727, in speaking of Jason's double-folded mantle having been reddish instead of flame-coloured. Some think, however, that Sappho here refers to Iris, _i.e._ the rainbow.

21

... [Greek: Emethen d' echeistha lathan]

_Me thou forgettest_.

From Apollonius, as is also the following, to show the Aeolic use of [Greek: emethen] for [Greek: emou], 'of me.'

22

- v - v - v v [Greek: Ê tin' allon]
[Greek: [mallon] anthrôpôn emethen philêstha.]

_Or lovest another more than me._

23

[Greek: Ou ti moi ymmes.]

_Ye are nought to me._

Quoted by Apollonius, as is also the following fragment, to show that [Greek: hymeis] was in Aeolic [Greek: ymmes] 'you.'

24

[Greek: As thelet' ymmes.]

_While ye will._

25

[Greek: Kai pothêô kai maomai] v - v

_I yearn and seek ..._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, to show that the Aeolians used [Greek: pothêô] for [Greek: potheô], 'I yearn.'

26

[Greek: Keinon, ô chrysothrone Mous', enispes]
[Greek: hymnon, ek tas kalligynaikos esthlas]
[Greek: Têios chôras hon aeide terpnôs]
[Greek: presbys agauos.]

_O Muse of the golden throne, raise that strain which the reverend elder of Teos, from the goodly land of fair women, used to sing so sweetly._

O Muse, who sitt'st on golden throne,
Full many a hymn of dulcet tone
The Teian sage is taught by thee;
But, goddess, from thy throne of gold,
The sweetest hymn thou'st ever told
He lately learned and sang for me.
T. MOORE.

Athenaeus says 'Hermesianax was mistaken when he represented Sappho and Anacreon as contemporaries, for Anacreon lived in the time of Cyrus and Polycrates [probably 563-478 B.C.], but Sappho lived in the reign of Alyattes the father of Croesus. But Chamaeleon, in his treatise on Sappho, asserts that according to some these verses were made upon her by Anacreon:--

"Spirit of Love, whose tresses shine
Along the breeze in golden twine,
Come, within a fragrant cloud
Blushing with light, thy votary shroud,
And on those wings that sparkling play
Waft, oh waft me hence away!
Love, my soul is full of thee,
Alive to all thy luxury.
But she, the nymph for whom I glow,
The pretty Lesbian, mocks my woe,
Smiles at the hoar and silvery hues
Which Time upon my forehead strews.
Alas, I fear she keeps her charms
In store for younger, happier arms."'
T. MOORE.

Then follows Sappho's reply, the present fragment. 'I myself think,' Athenaeus goes on to say, 'that Hermesianax is joking concerning the love of Anacreon and Sappho, for Diphilus the comic poet, in his play called _Sappho_, has represented Archilochus and Hipponax as the lovers of Sappho.'

Probably the whole is spurious, for certainly Sappho never saw Anacreon: she must have died before he was born. Even Athenaeus says that it is clear to every one that the verses are not Sappho's.

II

IN DACTYLIC METRE

27

[Greek: Skidnamenas en stêthesin orgas]
[Greek: mapsylakan glôssan pephylachthai.]

_When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy tongue from barking idly._

When through thy breast wild wrath doth spread
And work thy inmost being harm,
Leave thou the fiery word unsaid,
Guard thee; be calm.
MICHAEL FIELD, 1889.

Quoted by Plutarch, in his treatise _On restraining anger_, to show that in wrath nothing is more noble than quietness. Blass thinks that Bergk is wrong in his restoration of the verses; he considers their metre choriambic (like fr. 64, ff.), and reads them thus:

= = [Greek: skidnamenas stêthesin orgas pephylagmena] (?)
[Greek: glôssan mapsylakan] - v v - - v v - v -

He compares fr. 72 with them.

III

IN ALCAIC METRE

28

[Greek: Ai d' êches eslôn imeron ê kalôn,]
[Greek: kai mê ti weipên glôss' ekyka kakon,]
[Greek: aidôs ke s' ou kichanen oppat',]
[Greek: all' eleges peri tô dikaiôs.]

_Hadst thou felt desire for things good or noble, and had not thy tongue framed some evil speech, shame had not filled thine eyes, but thou hadst spoken honestly about it._

THE LOVES OF SAPPHO AND ALCAEUS.

_Alcaeus_.--I fain would speak, I fain would tell,
But shame and fear my utterance quell.

_Sappho_.--If aught of good, if aught of fair
Thy tongue were labouring to declare,
Nor shame should dash thy glance, nor fear
Forbid thy suit to reach my ear.
ANON. (_Edin. Rev._, 1832, p. 190).

Aristotle, in his _Rhetoric_, i. 9, about 330 B.C., says 'base things dishonour those who do or wish them, as Sappho showed when Alcaeus said--

[Greek: ioplok' agna mellichomeide Sapphoi,]
[Greek: thelô ti weipên, alla me kôluei aidôs.]

"_Violet-weaving, pure, softly-smiling Sappho, I would say something, but shame restrains me_"' (cf. _supra_, p. 8), and she answered him in the words of the present fragment.

Blass (_Rhein. Mus._ 1879, xxix. p. 150) believes that these verses also are Sappho's, not Alcaeus'. Certainly they were quoted as Sappho's by Anna Comnena, about 1110 A.D., as well as by another writer whom Blass refers to. Blass would read the last line [Greek: peri ô dikaiôs] ([Greek: 'dikaiôs]) = [Greek: peri hou edikaious], _about that which thou didst pretend_.

IV

IN MIXED GLYCONIC AND ALCAIC METRE

29

[Greek: Stathi kanta philos ...]
[Greek: kai tan ep' ossois ampetason charin.]

_Stand face to face, friend ... and unveil the grace in thine eyes._

Athenaeus, speaking of the charm of lovers' eyes, says Sappho addressed this to a man who was admired above all others for his beauty. Bergk thinks it may have formed part of an ode to Phaon (cf. fr. 140), or of a bridal song; and A. Schoene suspects that it was possibly addressed to Sappho's brother. The metre is quite uncertain.

V

IN CHORIAMBIC METRE

[This is a very unsatisfactory category. Some of the fragments, _e.g_. 30-43, are in Aeolian dactyls, wherein the second foot is always a dactyl; 44-49 are Glyconics; 50-54 are in the Ionic _a majore_ metre; some others are Asclepiads, etc. But where so much is uncertain, it seems to be the simplest way to group them thus.]

30

[Greek: Chryseoi d' erebinthoi ep' aionôn ephuonto.]

_And golden pulse grew on the shores._

Quoted by Athenaeus, when he is speaking of vetches.

31

[Greek: Latô kai Nioba mala men philai êsan etaipai.]

_Leto and Niobe were friends full dear._

Quoted by Athenaeus for the same reason as fr. 11. Compare also fr. 143.

32

[Greek: Mnasesthai tina phami kai ysteron ammeôn.]

_Men I think will remember us even hereafter._

Compare Swinburne's--

Thou art more than I,
Though my voice die not till the whole world die.

and--

Memories shall mix and metaphors of me.

and--

I Sappho shall be one with all these things,
With all high things for ever.
_Anactoria_.

Dio Chrysostom, the celebrated Greek rhetorician, writing about 100 A.D., observes that Sappho says this 'with perfect beauty.'

To illustrate this use of [Greek: phami], Bergk quotes a fragment preserved by Plutarch, which may have been written by Sappho:

. . . . . [Greek: egô phami ioplokôn]
[Greek: Moisan eu lachemen.]

_I think I have a goodly portion in the violet weaving Muses._

33

[Greek: Êraman men egô sethen, Atthi, palai pota.]

_I loved thee once, Atthis, long ago._

_I loved thee_,--hark, one tenderer note than all--
_Atthis, of old time, once_--one low long fall,
Sighing--one long low lovely loveless call,
Dying--one pause in song so flamelike fast--
_Atthis, long since in old time overpast--_
One soft first pause and last.
One,--then the old rage of rapture's fieriest rain
Storms all the music-maddened night again.
SWINBURNE, _Songs of the Springtides_, p. 57.

Quoted by Hephaestion, about 150 A.D., as an example of metre. The verse stood at the beginning of the first ode of the second book of Sappho's poems, which Hephaestion says was composed entirely of odes in this metre: thus,

= = - v v - v v - v v - v = ;

34

[Greek: Smikra moi pais emmen ephaineo kacharis.]

_A slight and ill-favoured child didst thou seem to me._

Quoted by Plutarch; and by others also.

Bergk thinks it is certain that this fragment belongs to the same poem as does the preceding, judging from references to it by Terentianus Mauris, about 100 A.D., and by Marius Victorinus, about 350 A.D.

35

[Greek: Alla, mê megalyneo daktyliô peri.]

_Foolish woman, pride not thyself on a ring._

Preserved by Herodian the grammarian, who lived about 160 A.D.

36

[Greek: Ouk oid' otti theô; duo moi ta noêmata.]

_I know not what to do; my mind is divided._

Quoted by the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus, about 220 B.C.

37

[Greek: Psauên d' ou dokimoim' oranô dysi pachesin.]

_I do not think to touch the sky with my two arms._

Quoted by Herodian. Cf. Horace, _Carm._ I. i. 36, _Sublimi feriam sidera vertice_,--

My head, exalted so, will touch the stars,

which some think a direct translation of this line of Sappho's.

Old Horace? 'I will strike,' said he,
'The stars with head sublime.'
TENNYSON, _Tiresias_, 1885.

38

[Greek: Ôs de pais peda matera pepterygômai.]

_And I flutter like a child after her mother._

Like a child whose mother's lost,
I am fluttering, terror-tost.
M. J. WALHOUSE.

After my mother I flew like a bird.
FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Quoted in the _Etymologicum Magnum_ as an example of Aeolic. It may have related to a sparrow, and been imitated by Catullus, 3, 6 ff.:

Sweet, all honey: a bird that ever hailed her
Lady mistress, as hails the maid a mother.
Nor would move from her arms away: but only
Hopping round her, about her, hence or hither
Piped his colloquy, piped to none beside her.
ROBINSON ELLIS.

39

[Greek: Êros angelos imerophônos aêdôn.]

_Spring's messenger, the sweet-voiced nightingale._

The dear good angel of the spring,
The nightingale.
BEN JONSON, _The Sad Shepherd_, Act ii.

The tawny sweetwinged thing
Whose cry was but of Spring.
SWINBURNE, _Songs of the Springtides_, p. 52.

Quoted by the Scholiast on Sophocles, _Electra_, 149, 'the nightingale is the messenger of Zeus, because it is the sign of Spring.'

40

[Greek: Eros daute m' o lysimelês donei,]
[Greek: glykypikron amachanon orpeton.]

_Now Love masters my limbs and shakes me, fatal creature, bitter-sweet._

Lo, Love once more, the limb-dissolving King,
The bitter-sweet impracticable thing,
Wild-beast-like rends me with fierce quivering.
J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS, 1883.

Compare--

O Love, Love, Love! O withering might!
TENNYSON, _Fatima_.

O bitterness of things too sweet!
SWINBURNE, _Fragoletta_.

Sweet Love, that art so bitter.
SWINBURNE, _Tristram of Lyonesse_.

and the song in _Bothwel_, act i. sc. 1:--

Surely most bitter of all sweet things thou art,
And sweetest thou of all things bitter, love.

Quoted by Hephaestion. Cf. fr. 125.

41

[Greek: Atthi, soi d' emethen men apêchtheto]
[Greek: phrontisdên, epi d' Andromedan potê.]

_But to thee, Atthis, the thought of me is hateful; thou flittest to Andromeda._

Quoted by Hephaestion together with fr. 40, but it seems to be the beginning of a different ode.

42

[Greek: Eros daut' etinaxen emoi phrenas,]
[Greek: anemos kat' oros drysin empesôn].

_Now Eros shakes my soul, a wind on the mountain falling on the oaks._

Love shook me like the mountain breeze
Rushing down on the forest trees.
FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Lo, Love once more my soul within me rends,
Like wind that on the mountain oak descends.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Quoted by Maximus Tyrius, about 150 B.C., in speaking of Socrates exciting Phaedrus to Bacchic frenzy when he talked of love.

43

[Greek: Ota pannychos asphi katagrei].

_When all night long_ [sleep] _holds their_ [eyes].

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic form of [Greek: sphi]. Bergk thinks that Sappho may have written--

[Greek: oppat' [aôros],]
[Greek: ota pannychos asphi katagrei],

therefore I translate it so.

44

[Greek: Cheiromaktra de kangonôn]
[Greek: porphyra ...]
[Greek: kai tauta men atimaseis,]
[Greek: epemps' apy Phôkaas]
[Greek: dôra timia kangonôn.]

_And purple napkins for thy lap ... (even these wilt thou despise) I sent from Phocaea, precious gifts for thy lap._

Quoted by Athenaeus out of the fifth book of Sappho's _Songs to Aphrodite_, to show that [Greek: cheiromaktra] were cloths, handkerchiefs, for covering the head. But the whole passage is hopelessly corrupt.

45

[Greek: Age dê chely dia moi]
[Greek: phônaessa genoio.]

_Come now, divine shell, become vocal for me._

Quoted by Hermogenes and Eustathius, of Sappho apostrophising her lyre.

46

[Greek: Kapalais hypothymidas]
[Greek: plektais amp' apala dera.]

_And tender woven garlands round tender neck_

From Athenaeus.

47

[Greek: Gellôs paidophilôtera.]

_Fonder of maids than Gello._

Quoted as a proverb by Zenobius, about 130 A.D.; said of those who die an untimely death, or of those whose indulgence brings ruin on their children. Gello was a maiden who died in youth, whose ghost, the Lesbians said, pursued children and carried them off.

48

[Greek: Mala dê kekorêmenas]
[Greek: Gorgôs.]

_Of Gorgo full weary._

I am weary of all thy words and soft strange ways.
SWINBURNE, _Anactoria_.

Quoted by Choeroboscus, about the end of the sixth century A.D., to show that the Aeolic genitive ended in [Greek: -ôs]. Maximus Tyrius mentions this girl Gorgo along with Andromeda (cf. fr. 41) as beloved by Sappho.

49

[Greek: Brentheiô basilêiô.]

_Of a proud_ (or _perfumed_, or _flowery_) _palace._

Athenaeus says Sappho here mentions the 'royal' and the 'brentheian' unguent together, as if they were one and the same thing; but the reading is very uncertain.

50

[Greek: Egô d' epi malthakan]
[Greek: tylan spoleô melea.]

_But I upon a soft cushion dispose my limbs._

From Herodian.

51

[Greek: Kê d' ambrosias men kratêr ekekrato,]
[Greek: Ermas d' elen olpin theois oinochoêsai.]
[Greek: kênoi d' ara pantes karchêsia t' êchon]
[Greek: kaleibon, arasanto de pampan esla]
[Greek: tô gambrô.]

_And there the bowl of ambrosia was mixed, and Hermes took the ladle to pour out for the gods; and then they all held goblets, and made libation, and wished the bridegroom all good luck._

The first two lines are quoted by Athenaeus to show that in Sappho Hermes was cupbearer to the gods; and in another place he quotes the rest to illustrate her mention of _carch[=e]sia,_ cups narrow in the middle, with handles reaching from the top to the bottom. Lachmann first joined the two fragments. The verses appear to belong to the _Epithalamia._

52

[Greek: Dedyke men a selanna]
[Greek: kai Plêiades, mesai de]
[Greek: nyktes, para d' erchet' ôra,]
[Greek: egô de mona kateudô].

_The moon has set, and the Pleiades; it is midnight, the time is going by, and I sleep alone._

The silver moon is set;
The Pleiades are gone;
Half the long night is spent, and yet
I lie alone.
J. H. MERIVALE.

The moon hath left the sky;
Lost is the Pleiads' light;
It is midnight
And time slips by;
But on my couch alone I lie.
J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre.

53

[Greek: Plêrês men ephainet' a selanna,]
[Greek: ai d' hôs peri bômon estathêsan.]

_The moon rose full, and the women stood as though around an altar._

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of Praxilleian verses, _i.e._ such as the Sicyonian poetess Praxilla (about B.C. 450) wrote in the metre known as the Ionic a majore trimeter brachycatalectic. Blass thinks that the lines are part of the same poem as that to which the succeeding fragment belongs.

54

[Greek: Krêssai ny pot' ôd' emmeleôs podessin]
[Greek: ôrcheunt' apalois amph' eroenta bômon]
[Greek: poas teren anthos malakon mateisai.]

_Thus at times with tender feet the Cretan women dance in measure round the fair altar, trampling the fine soft bloom of the grass._

Mr. Moreton J. Walhouse thus combines the previous fragment with this:--

Then, as the broad moon rose on high,
The maidens stood the altar nigh;
And some in graceful measure
The well-loved spot danced round,
With lightsome footsteps treading
The soft and grassy ground.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of metre, vv. 1 and 2 in one place and v. 3 in another; Bergk says Santen first joined them.

55

[Greek: Abra dêute pachêa spola alloman.]

_Then delicately in thick robe I sprang._

From Herodian, as an illustration of the Aeolic dialect. Bergk attributes this to Sappho, but Cramer and others think that Alcaeus wrote the line.

56

[Greek: Phaisi dê pota Lêdan yakinthinôn]
[Greek: [yp' antheôn] pepykadmenon]
[Greek: eurên ôion.]

_Leda they say once found an egg hidden under hyacinth-blossoms._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, Athenaeus, and others. Bergk thinks fr. 112 may be continuous with this, thus--

[Greek: eurên ôion ôiô]
[Greek: poly leukoteron] - v v - v -

since Athenaeus quotes fr. 112 after fr. 56. It is uncertain what flower the Greeks meant by 'hyacinth'; it probably had nothing in common with our hyacinth, and it seems to have comprised several flowers, especially the iris, gladiolus, and larkspur.

57

[Greek: Ophthalmois de melais nyktos aôros.]

_And dark-eyed Sleep, child of Night._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, to show that the first letter of [Greek: aôros] = [Greek: ôros], 'sleep,' was redundant.

57A

[Greek: Chrysophaê therapainan Aphroditas.]

_Aphrodite's handmaid bright as gold._

Philodemus, about 60 B.C., in a MS. discovered at Herculaneum, says that Sappho thus addresses [Greek: Peithô], _Persuasion_. The MS. is, however, defective, and Gomperz, the editor, thinks from the context that Hecate is here referred to. Cf. frr. 132, 125. (Bergk formerly numbered this fr. 141.)

58

[Greek: Echei men Andromeda kalan amoiban.]

_Andromeda has a fair requital._

Quoted by Hephaestion together with the following, although the lines are obviously out of different odes. Probably each fragment is the first line of separate poems.

59

[Greek: Psapphoi, ti tan polyolbon Aphroditan?]

_Sappho, why_ [celebrate] _blissful Aphrodite?_

60

[Greek: Deute nyn, abrai Charites, kallikomoi te Moisai.]

_Come now, delicate Graces and fair-haired Muses._

Come hither, fair-haired Muses, tender Graces,
Come hither to our home.
FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Quoted by Hephaestion, Attilius Fortunatianus (about the fifth century A.D.), and Servius, as an example of Sappho's choriambic tetrameters.

61

[Greek: Parthenon adyphônon].

_A sweet-voiced maiden._

From Attilius Fortunatianus.

62

[Greek: Katthnaskei, Kytherê', abros Adônis, ti ke theimen;]
[Greek: Kattyptesthe korai kai katereikesthe chitônas.]

_Delicate Adonis is dying, Cytherea; what shall we do? Beat your breasts, maidens, and rend your tunics._