{"id":85,"date":"2010-11-19T18:28:21","date_gmt":"2010-11-19T23:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/?p=85"},"modified":"2010-11-19T21:58:46","modified_gmt":"2010-11-20T02:58:46","slug":"sappho-a-quintet-of-interpretations-of-a-new-poem-fragment-58","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/2010\/85\/poems\/sappho-a-quintet-of-interpretations-of-a-new-poem-fragment-58\/","title":{"rendered":"Sappho: A quintet of interpretations of a \u201cnew\u201d poem (Fragment 58)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are five different translations of a poem by Sappho. New discoveries have resulted in a nearly complete poem from fragment 58 and these poems are based on this new text.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Beat Goes On<\/strong><\/p>\n

You, children, be zealous for the
\n beautiful gifts of the
\n violetlapped Muses
\nand for the clear songloving lyre.<\/p>\n

But my skin once soft is now
\n taken by old age,
\nmy hair turns white from black.<\/p>\n

And my heart is weighed down
\n and my knees do not lift,
\nthat once were light to dance as
\n fawns.<\/p>\n

I groan for this. But what can I do?
\nA human being without old age is
\n not a possibility.<\/p>\n

There is the story of Tithonos,
\n loved by Dawn with her arms of roses
\nand she carried him off to the
\n ends of the earth<\/p>\n

when he was beautiful and young.
\n Even so was he gripped
\nby white old age. He still has his
\n deathless wife.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Translation by Anne Carson. Published in NYRB, October 20, 2005.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

[You for] the fragrant-blossomed Muses\u2019 lovely gifts
\n[be zealous,] girls, [and the] clear melodious lyre:<\/p>\n

[but my once tender] body old age now
\n[has seized;] my hair\u2019s turned [white] instead of dark;<\/p>\n

my heart\u2019s grown heavy, my knees will not support me,
\nthat once on a time were fleet for the dance as fawns.<\/p>\n

This state I oft bemoan; but what\u2019s to do?
\nNot to grow old, being human, there\u2019s no way.<\/p>\n

Tithonus once, the tale was, rose-armed Dawn,
\nlove-smitten, carried off to the world\u2019s end,<\/p>\n

handsome and young then, yet in time grey age
\no\u2019ertook him, husband of immortal wife.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Translation by Martin West<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Those violet-wearing Muses’ lovely gifts
\nand tuneful lyres enjoy, O maidens dear!<\/p>\n

My own once tender body’s hard with age;
\nthis hair once ebony is changed to white.<\/p>\n

A heavy heart \u2013 and slow, these faltering knees
\nthat once would whirl me, dancing, like some fawn.<\/p>\n

But why complain, when nothing can be done?
\nNecessity decrees we all grow old.<\/p>\n

Tithonus, loved by rose-armed Dawn, we’re told,
\nwas carried by his love beyond the world:<\/p>\n

comely, young \u2013 but Age still found him there
\nin time, despite his deathless wife’s intent.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Translation by Noetica, 2005<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Sappho to Her Pupils<\/strong><\/p>\n

Live for the gifts the fragrant-breasted Muses
\nsend, for the clear, the singing, lyre, my children.
\nOld age freezes my body, once so lithe,
\nrinses the darkness from my hair, now white.
\nMy heart\u2019s heavy, my knees no longer keep me
\nup through the dance they used to prance like fawns in.
\nOh, I grumble about it, but for what?
\nNothing can stop a person\u2019s growing old.
\nThey say that Tithonus was swept away
\nin Dawn\u2019s passionate, rose-flushed arms to live
\nforever, but he lost his looks, his youth,
\nfailing husband of an immortal bride.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Translation by Lachlan Mackinnon<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Sappho and the Weight of Years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Girls, be good to these spirits of music and poetry
\nthat breast your threshold with their scented gifts.
\nLift the lyre, clear and sweet, they leave with you.<\/p>\n

As for me, this body is now so arthritic
\nI cannot play, hardly even hold the instrument.
\nCan you believe my white hair was once black?<\/p>\n

And oh, the soul grows heavy with the body.
\nComplaining knee-joints creak at every move.
\nTo think I danced as delicate as a deer!<\/p>\n

Some gloomy poems came from these thoughts:
\nuseless: we are all born to lose life,
\nand what is worse, girls, to lose youth.<\/p>\n

The legend of the goddess of the dawn
\nI\u2019m sure you know: how rosy Eos
\nmadly in love with gorgeous young Tithonus<\/p>\n

swept him like booty to her hiding-place
\nbut then forgot he would grow old and grey
\nwhile she in despair pursued her immortal way.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Translation by Edwin Morgan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five different translations of a poem by Sappho. New discoveries have resulted in a nearly complete poem from fragment 58 and these poems are based on this new text. The Beat Goes On You, children, be zealous for the beautiful gifts of the violetlapped Muses and for the clear songloving lyre. But my […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15,16],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","tag-classics","tag-greek","category-4-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kuny.ca\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}