Postcards from the Imagination

Ginger, fascinating what you've done with the original Greek of Sappho.

And I *loved* listening to Paula Saffire's performance of the poem in Greek.

I've seen the term "translitic" used to describe this (i.e. writing a "translation" based entirely on the sounds of poem). I've heard that Louis Zukofsky did something like this with some poems of Catullus, though I've never seen any of the specimens.

As it happens, the poem of Sappho you chose is the one instance where I once made a (feeble, halting and stumbling) attempt at translating from ancient Greek. Aside from not particularly knowing the language, most of the easily available dictionaries of ancient Greek are based forms/dialects other than the one Sappho wrote in. This among other things hampered me somewhat.

Ulimately I came up with a half-baked version of the second stanza of the poem, which I don't have in front of me and wouldn't wish upon the world. Maybe someday in another catlife.

The Sappho translations I've liked best, on the whole, are those by Diane Rayor in "Sappho's Lyre," an anthology of ancient Greek lyric poets (and including several other women besides Sappho) published by U. of California Press sometime in the 1990's. I also very much like the three or four Sappho translations Rexroth did (very short fragments -- they're in his "Poems from the Greek Anthology).

Thanks for posting this.

Lyle, thanks for your note! And I'm sorry I took so long to respond.