Part 7

Here, fairest Rhodope, recline, And 'mid thy bright locks intertwine, With fingers soft as softest down, The ever verdant parsley crown. The Gods are pleased with flowers that bloom And leaves that shed divine perfume, But, if ungarlanded, despise The richest offered sacrifice. J. H. MERIVALE.

But place those garlands on thy lovely hair, Twining the tender sprouts of anise green With skilful hand; for offerings and flowers Are pleasing to the Gods, who hate all those Who come before them with uncrowned heads. C. D. YONGE.

Of foliage and flowers love-laden Twine wreaths for thy flowing hair, With thine own soft fingers, maiden. Weave garlands of parsley fair;

For flowers are sweet, and the Graces On suppliants wreathed with may Look down from their heavenly places, But turn from the crownless away. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Mr. J. A. Symonds has also thus expanded the lines into a sonnet (1883):--

Bring summer flowers, bring pansy, violet, Moss-rose and sweet-briar and blue columbine; Bring loveliest leaves, rathe privet, eglantine, Brown myrtles with the dews of morning wet: Twine thou a wreath upon thy brows to set; With thy soft hands the wayward tendrils twine; Then place them, maiden, on those curls of thine, Those curls too fair for gems or coronet.

Sweet is the breath of blossoms, and the Graces, When suppliants through Love's temple wend their way, Look down with smiles from their celestial places On maidens wreathed with chaplets of the may; But from the crownless choir they hide their faces, Nor heed them when they sing nor when they pray.

Athenaeus, quoting this fragment, says:--'Sappho gives a more simple reason for our wearing garlands, speaking as follows ... in which lines she enjoins all who offer sacrifice to wear garlands on their heads, as they are beautiful things and acceptable to the Gods.'

79

[Greek: Egô de philêm' abrosynan, kai moi to lampron] [Greek: eros] v [Greek: aeliô kai to kalon lelonchen.]

_I love delicacy, and for me Love has the sun's splendour and beauty._

In speaking of perfumes, Athenaeus, quoting Clearchus, says:--'Sappho, being a thorough woman and a poetess besides, was ashamed to separate honour from elegance, and speaks thus ... making it evident to everybody that the desire of life that she confessed had brilliancy and honour in it; and these things especially belong to virtue.'

80

[Greek: Kam men te tylan kaspoleô.]

_And down I set the cushion._

Quoted by Herodian, along with fr. 50.

81

[Greek: Ô ploutos aneu seu g' areta 'st' ouk asinês paroikos] [Greek: [ê d' ex amphoteron krasis eudaimonias echei to akron].]

_Wealth without thee, Worth, is no safe neighbour_ [_but the mixture of both is the height of happiness_].

Wealth without virtue is a dangerous guest; Who holds them mingled is supremely blest. J. H. MERIVALE.

From the Scholiast on Pindar. The second line appears to be the gloss of the commentator, though Blass believes it is Sappho's.

VI

IN VARIOUS METRES

82

[Greek: Auta de sy Kalliopa.]

_And thou thyself, Calliope._

Quoted by Hephaestion when he is analysing a metre invented by Archilochus.

83

[Greek: Dauois apalas etaras] [Greek: en stêthesin] - v v - .

_Sleep thou in the bosom of thy tender girlfriend._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_. Blass thinks that the proper place for this fragment is among the _Epithalamia._

84

[Greek: Deuro dêute Moisai, chrysion lipoisai.]

_Hither now, Muses, leaving golden_ ...

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of a verse made of two Ithyphallics.

85

[Greek: Esti moi kala pais, chrysioisin anthemoisin] [Greek: empherên echoisa morphan, Klêis' agapata,] [Greek: anti tas egô oude Lydian paisan oud' erannan.]

_I have a fair daughter with a form like a golden flower, Cleïs the beloved, above whom I_ [prize] _nor all Lydia nor lovely_ [Lesbos]....

I have a child, a lovely one, In beauty like the golden sun, Or like sweet flowers of earliest bloom; And Claïs is her name, for whom I Lydia's treasures, were they mine, Would glad resign. J. H. MERIVALE.

A lovely little girl is ours, Kleïs the beloved, Kleïs is her name, Whose beauty is as the golden flowers. FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Quoted and elaborately scanned by Hephaestion, although Bergk regards the lines as merely trochaic.

86

[Greek: Polla moi tan] [Greek: Pôlyanaktida paida chairên.]

_All joy to thee, daughter of Polyanax._

From Maximus Tyrius. It seems to be addressed to either Gorgo or Andromeda.

VII

IN THE IONIC _A MINORE_ METRE

87

[Greek: Za d' elexaman onar Kyprogenêa.]

_In a dream I spake with the daughter of Cyprus._

_I.e._ Aphrodite. From Hephaestion.

88

[Greek: Ti me Pandionis ô ranna chelidôn?]

_Why, lovely swallow, daughter of Pand[=i]on,_ [weary] _me?_

From Hephaestion, who says Sappho wrote whole songs in this metre. [Greek: Ô ranna] is Is. Vossius' emendation; [Greek: ôrana] is the ordinary reading, which Hesychius explains as perhaps an epithet of the swallow 'dwelling under the roof.'

Ah, Procne, wherefore dost thou weary me? Thus flitting out and flitting in ... Tease not the air with this tumultuous wing. MICHAEL FIELD, 1889.

89

[Greek: ... Amphi d' abrois lasiois eu we pykassen.]

_She wrapped herself well in delicate hairy ..._

From Pollux, who says the line refers to fine closely-woven linen.

90

[Greek: Glykeia mater, outoi dynamai krekên ton iston,] [Greek: pothô dameisa paidos bradinan di' Aphroditan.]

_Sweet Mother, I cannot weave my web, broken as I am by longing for a boy, at soft Aphrodite's will._

[As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid In love-sick languor hung her head, Unknowing where her fingers strayed She weeping turned away and said--]

'Oh, my sweet mother, 'tis in vain, I cannot weave as once I wove, So wildered is my heart and brain With thinking of that youth I love.' T. MOORE, _Evenings in_ _Greece_, p. 18.

Mother, I cannot mind my wheel; My fingers ache, my lips are dry: Oh, if you felt the pain I feel! But oh, who ever felt as I? W. S. LANDOR, _Simonidea_, 1807.

Sweet mother, I can spin no more, Nor ply the loom as heretofore, For love of him. FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Sweet mother, I the web Can weave no more; Keen yearning for my love Subdues me sore, And tender Aphrodite Thrills my heart's core. M. J. WALHOUSE.

Cf. Mrs. John Hunter's 'My mother bids me bind my hair,' etc.

From Hephaestion, as an example of metre.

VIII

EPITHALAMIA, BRIDAL SONGS

91

[Greek: Ipsoi dê to melathron] [Greek: Ymênaon] [Greek: aerrete tektontes andres;] [Greek: Ymênaon] [Greek: gambros erchetai isos Areui,] [Greek: [Ymênaon]] [Greek: andros megalô poly meizôn;] [Greek: [Ymênaon]]

_Raise high the roof-beam, carpenters. (Hymenaeus!) Like Ares comes the bridegroom, (Hymenaeus!) taller far than a tall man. (Hymenaeus!)_

Artists, raise the rafters high! Ample scope and stately plan-- Mars-like comes the bridegroom nigh, Loftier than a lofty man. ANON., _Edinb. Rev._, 1832, p. 109.

High lift the beams of the chamber, Workmen, on high; Like Arés in step comes the Bridegroom; Like him of the song of Terpander, Like him in majesty. F. T. PALGRAVE, 1854.

Quoted by Hephaestion as an example of a _mes-hymnic_ poem, where the refrain follows each line. The hymenaeus or wedding-song was sung by the bride's attendants as they led her to the bridegroom's house, addressing Hymen the god of marriage. The metre seems, says Professor Mahaffy (_Hist. of Class. Greek Lit._, i., p. 20, 1880), to be the same as that of the Linus song; cf. fr. 62.

92

[Greek: Perrochos, ôs ot' aoidos o Lesbios allodapoisin.]

_Towering, as the Lesbian singer towers among men of other lands._

Quoted by Demetrius, about 150 A.D. It is uncertain what 'Lesbian singer' is here referred to; probably Terpander, but Neue thinks it may mean the whole Lesbian race, from their pre-eminence in poetry.

93

[Greek: Oion to glykymalon ereuthetai akrô ep' ysdô] [Greek: akron ep' akrotatô; lelathonto de malodropêes,] [Greek: ou man eklelathont', all' ouk edynant' epikesthai.]

_As the sweet-apple blushes on the end of the bough, the very end of the bough, which the gatherers overlooked, nay overlooked not but could not reach._

--O fair--O sweet! As the sweet apple blooms high on the bough, High as the highest, forgot of the gatherers: So thou:-- Yet not so: nor forgot of the gatherers; High o'er their reach in the golden air, --O sweet--O fair! F. T. PALGRAVE, 1854.

Quoted by the Scholiast on Hermogenes, and by others, to explain the word [Greek: glykymalon], 'sweet-apple,' an apple grafted on a quince; it is used as a term of endearment by Theocritus (_Idyl_ xi. 39), 'Of thee, my love, my sweet-apple, I sing.' Himerius, writing about 360 A.D., says: 'Aphrodite's orgies we leave to Sappho of Lesbos, to sing to the lyre and make the bride-chamber her theme. She enters the chamber after the games, makes the room, spreads Homer's bed, assembles the maidens, leads them into the apartment with Aphrodite in the Graces' car and a band of Loves for playmates. Binding her tresses with hyacinth, except what is parted to fringe her forehead, she lets the rest wave to the wind if it chance to strike them. Their wings and curls she decks with gold, and drives them in procession before the car as they shake the torch on high.' And particularly this: 'It was for Sappho to liken the maiden to an apple, allowing to those who would pluck before the time to touch not even with the finger-tip, but to him who was to gather the apple in season to watch its ripe beauty; to compare the bridegroom with Achilles, to match the youth's deeds with the hero's.' Further on he says: 'Come then, we will lead him into the bride-chamber and persuade him to meet the beauty of the bride. O fair and lovely, the Lesbian's praises appertain to thee: thy play-mates are rosy-ankled Graces and golden Aphrodite, and the Seasons make the meadows bloom.' These last words especially--

[Greek: Ô kala, ô chariessa.]

_O fair, O lovely ..._

seem taken out of one of Sappho's hymeneal odes, although they also occur in Theocritus, _Idyl_ xviii. 38.

94

[Greek: Oian tan yakinthon en ouresi poimenes andres] [Greek: possi katasteiboisi, chamai d' epiporphyrei anthos.]

_As on the hills the shepherds trample the hyacinth under foot, and the flower darkens on the ground._

Compare Catullus, xi. 21-24:--

Think not henceforth, thou, to recall Catullus' Love; thy own sin slew it, as on the meadow's Verge declines, un-gently beneath the ploughshare Stricken, a flower. (ROBINSON ELLIS.)

And Vergil, _Aeneid_, ix. 435, of Euryalus dying:--

And like the purple flower the plough cuts down He droops and dies.

Pines she like to the hyacinth out on the path by the hill top; Shepherds tread it aside, and its purples lie lost on the herbage. EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

ONE GIRL.

(_A combination from Sappho._)

I.

Like the sweet apple which reddens upon the topmost bough, A-top on the topmost twig,--which the pluckers forgot, somehow,-- Forgot it not, nay, but got it not, for none could get it till now.

II.

Like the wild hyacinth flower which on the hills is found, Which the passing feet of the shepherds for ever tear and wound, Until the purple blossom is trodden into the ground. D. G. ROSSETTI, 1870;

in 1881 he altered the title to _Beauty_. (_A combination from Sappho._)

Quoted by Demetrius, as an example of the ornament and beauty proper to a concluding sentence. Bergk first attributed the lines to Sappho.

95

[Greek: Wespere, panta pherôn, osa phainolis eskedas' auôs,] [Greek: phereis oin, pheres aiga, phereis apy materi paida.]

_Evening, thou that bringest all that bright morning scattered; thou bringest the sheep, the goat, the child back to her mother._

Thus imitated by Byron:--

O Hesperus, thou bringest all good things-- Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer, To the young bird the parent's brooding wings, The welcome stall to the o'erlaboured steer; Whate'er of peace about our hearthstone clings, Whate'er our household gods protect of dear, Are gathered round us by thy look of rest; Thou bring'st the child too to its mother's breast. _Don Juan_, iii. 107.

And by Tennyson:--

The ancient poetess singeth, that Hesperus all things bringeth, Smoothing the wearied mind: bring me my love, Rosalind. Thou comest morning or even; she cometh not morning or evening. False-eyed Hesper, unkind, where is my sweet Rosalind? _Leonine Elegiacs_, 1830-1884.

Hesperus brings all things back Which the daylight made us lack, Brings the sheep and goats to rest, Brings the baby to the breast. EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

Hesper, thou bringest back again All that the gaudy daybeams part, The sheep, the goat, back to their pen, The child home to his mother's heart. FREDERICK TENNYSON, 1890.

Evening, all things thou bringest Which dawn spread apart from each other; The lamb and the kid thou bringest, Thou bringest the boy to his mother. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Hesper, whom the poet call'd the Bringer home of all good things. TENNYSON, _Locksley Hall Sixty Years After_, 1886.

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, where it is adduced to show the meaning of [Greek: auôs], 'dawn.' The fragment occurs also in Demetrius, as an example of Sappho's grace. One cannot but believe that Catullus had in his mind some such hymeneal ode of Sappho's as that in which this fragment must have occurred when he wrote his _Vesper adest, juvenes, consurgite: Vesper Olympo_, etc. (lxii.), part of which was imitated in the colloquy between Opinion and Truth in Ben Jonson's _The Barriers_.

96

[Greek: Aiparthenos essomai.]

_I shall be ever maiden._

From a Parisian MS. edited by Cramer, adduced to show the Aeolic form of [Greek: aei], 'ever.'

97

[Greek: Dôsomen, êsi patêr.]

_We will give, says the father ..._

From a Parisian MS. edited by Cramer.

98

[Greek: Thyrôrô podes eptoroguioi,] [Greek: ta de sambala pempeboêa,] [Greek: pisyngoi de dek' exeponasan.]

_To the doorkeeper feet seven fathoms long, and sandals of five bulls' hides, the work of ten cobblers._

From Hephaestion, as an example of metre. Demetrius says: 'And elsewhere Sappho girds at the rustic bridegroom and the doorkeeper ready for the wedding, in prosaic rather than poetic phrase, as if she were reasoning rather than singing, using words out of harmony with dance and song.'

99

[Greek: Olbie gambre, soi men dê gamos, ôs arao,] [Greek: ektetelest', echês de parthenon, an arao.]

_Happy bridegroom, now is thy wedding come to thy desire, and thou hast the maiden of thy desire._

Happy bridegroom, thou art blest With blisses far beyond the rest, For thou hast won The chosen one, The girl thou lovest best. FREDERICK TENNYSON.

Quoted by Hephaestion, along with the following, to exemplify metres; both fragments seem to belong to the same ode.

100

[Greek: Mellichios d' ep' imertô kechytai prosôpô.]

_And a soft_ [paleness] _is spread over the lovely face._

In the National Library of Madrid there is a MS. of an epithalamium by Choricius, a rhetorician of Gaza, who flourished about 520 A.D., in which the lamented Ch. Graux (_Revue de Philologie_, 1880, p. 81) found a quotation from Sappho which is partly identical with this fragment preserved by Hephaestion. H. Weil thus attempts to restore the passage:--

[Greek: Soi charien men eidos, oppata d'] - v - = [Greek: mellichr', eros d' ep' imertô] [Greek: kechytai prosôpô;] - v [Greek: tetimak' exocha s' Aphrodita.]

_Well favoured is thy form, and thine eyes ... honeyed, and love is spread over thy fair face ... Aphrodite has honoured thee above all._

Two apparent imitations by Catullus are quoted by Weil to confirm his restoration of Sappho's verses; viz., _mellitos oculos_, honeyed eyes (48, 1), and _pulcher es, neque te Venus negligit_, fair thou art, nor does Venus neglect thee (61, 194).

101

[Greek: O men gar kalos, osson idên, peletai [agathos],] [Greek: o de kagathos autika kai kalos essetai.]

_He who is fair to look upon is_ [good], _and he who is good will soon be fair also._

Beauty, fair flower, upon the surface lies; But worth with beauty e'en in aspect vies. ? FELTON.

Galen, the physician, writing about 160 A.D., says: 'It is better therefore, knowing that the beauty of youth is like Spring flowers, its pleasure lasting but a little while, to approve of what the Lesbian [here] says, and to believe Solon when he points out the same.'

102

[Greek: Êr' eti parthenias epiballomai?]

_Do I still long for maidenhood?_

Quoted by Apollonius, and by the Scholiast on Dionysius of Thrace, to illustrate the interrogative particle [Greek: ara], Aeolic [Greek: êra], and as an example of the catalectic iambic.

103

[Greek: Chairoisa nympha, chairetô d' o gambros.]

_The bride_ [comes] _rejoicing; let the bridegroom rejoice._

From Hephaestion, as a catalectic iambic.

104

[Greek: Tiô s', ô phile gambre, kalôs eikasdô?] [Greek: orpaki bradinô se kalist' eikasdô.]

_Whereunto may I well liken thee, dear bridegroom? To a soft shoot may I best liken thee._

From Hephaestion, as an example of metre.

105

[Greek: ... Chaire, nympha,] [Greek: chaire, timie gambre, polla.]

_Hail, bride! noble bridegroom, all hail!_

Quoted by Servius, about 390 A.D., on Vergil, _Georg._ i. 31; also referred to by Pollux and Julian.

106

[Greek: Ou gar ên atera pais, ô gambre, toiauta.]

_For there was no other girl, O bridegroom, like her._

From Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

107, 108

[Greek: Espet' Ymênaon.] [Greek: Ô ton Adônion.]

_Sing Hymenaeus!_ _Ah for Adonis!_

From Plotius, about the fifth or sixth century A.D., to show the metre of Sappho's hymeneal odes. The text is corrupt; the first verse is thus emended by Bergk, the second by Scaliger. Cf. fr. 63.

109

A. [Greek: Parthenia, parthenia, poi me lipois' apoichê?] B. [Greek: Ouketi hêxô pros se, ouketi hêxô.]

A. _Maidenhood, maidenhood, whither art thou gone away from me?_ B. _Never again will I come to thee, never again._

'Sweet Rose of May, sweet Rose of May, Whither, ah whither fled away?' 'What's gone no time can e'er restore-- I come no more, I come no more.' J. H. MERIVALE.

From Demetrius, who quoted the fragment to show the grace of Sappho's style and the beauty of repetition.

110

[Greek: Allan mê kamesteran phrena.]

_Fool, faint not thou in thy strong heart._

From a very corrupt passage in Herodian. The translation is from Bergk's former emendation--

[Greek: Alla mê kame ty sterean phrena.]

111

[Greek: Phainetai woi kênos.]

_To himself he seems ..._

From Apollonius, to show that the Aeolians used the digamma, [Greek: w]. Bergk says this fragment does not belong to fr. 2.

112

[Greek: Ôiô poly leukoteron.]

_Much whiter than an egg._

From Athenaeus; cf. frs. 56 and 122.

113

[Greek: Mêt' emoi meli mête melissa]

_Neither honey nor bee for me._

A proverb quoted by many late authors, referring to those who wish for good unmixed with evil. They seem to be the words of the bride. This, and the second line of fr. 62, and many other verses, show Sappho's fondness for alliteration; frs. 4 and 5, among several others, show that she did not ignore the charm of assonance.

114

[Greek: Mê kinê cheradas.]

_Stir not the shingle._

Quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius to show that [Greek: cherades] were 'little heaps of stones.'

115

[Greek: Optais amme.]

_Thou burnest us._

Compare Swinburne's--

My life is bitter with thy love; thine eyes Blind me, thy tresses burn me, thy sharp sighs Divide my flesh and spirit with soft sound, _etc._ _Anactoria_.

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic form of [Greek: hêmas], 'us.'

116

[Greek: Êmitybion stalasson.]

_A napkin dripping._

From the Scholiast on Aristophanes' _Plutus_, quoted to show the meaning of [Greek: hêmitybion], 'a half worn out shred of linen with which to wipe the hands.'

117

[Greek: Ton won paida kalei.]

_She called him her son._

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic use of the digamma.

IX

EPIGRAMS

All three are preserved only in the _Greek Anthology_. The authenticity of the last, fr. 120, is doubtful. To none of them does Bergk restore the form of the Aeolic dialect.

118

[Greek: Paides, aphônos eoisa tod' ennepô, ai tis erêtai,] [Greek: phônan akamatan katthemena pro podôn;] [Greek: Aithopia me kora Latous anethêken Arista] [Greek: Hermokleidaia tô Saonaiada,] [Greek: sa propolos, despoina gunaikôn; ha sy chareisa] [Greek: prophrôn hameteran eukleison genean.]

_Maidens, dumb as I am, I speak thus, if any ask, and set before your feet a tireless voice: To Leto's daughter Aethopia was I dedicated by Arista daughter of Hermocleides son of Saonaïades, thy servant, O queen of women; whom bless thou, and deign to glorify our house._

ON A PRIESTESS OF DIANA.

Does any ask? I answer from the dead; A voice that lives is graven o'er my head: To dark-eyed Dian, ere my days begun, Aristo vowed me, wife of Saon's son: Then hear thy priestess, hear, O virgin Power, And thy best gifts on Saon's lineage shower. R.

The goddess here invoked as the 'queen of women' appears to have been Art[)e]mis, the Diana of the Romans.

119

[Greek: Timados hade konis, tan dê pro gamoio thanousan] [Greek: dexato Phersephonas kyaneos thalamos,] [Greek: has kai apophthimenas pasai neothagi sidarô] [Greek: alikes himertan kratos ethento koman.]

_This is the dust of Timas, whom Persephone's dark chamber received, dead before her wedding; when she perished, all her fellows dressed with sharpened steel the lovely tresses of their heads._

This dust was Timas'; ere her bridal hour She lies in Proserpina's gloomy bower; Her virgin playmates from each lovely head Cut with sharp steel their locks, their strewments for the dead. SIR CHARLES A. ELTON.

This is the dust of Timas, whom unwed Persephone locked in her darksome bed: For her the maids who were her fellows shore Their curls, and to her tomb this tribute bore. J. A. SYMONDS.

120

[Greek: Tô gripei Pelagôni patêr epethêke Meniskos] [Greek: kyrton kai kôpan, mnama kakozoias.]

_Over the fisherman Pelagon his father Meniscus set weel and oar, memorial of a luckless life._

ON A FISHERMAN.

This oar and net and fisher's wickered snare Meniscus placed above his buried son-- Memorials of the lot in life he bare, The hard and needy life of Pelagon. SIR CHARLES A. ELTON.

Here, to the fisher Pelagon, his sire Meniscus laid A wicker-net and oar, to show his weary life and trade. LORD NEAVES.

Above a fisher's tomb Were set his withy-basket and his oar, The tokens of his doom, Of how in life his labour had been sore: A father put them up above his son, Meniscus over luckless Pelagon. MICHAEL FIELD, 1889.