The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sappho: A New Rendering

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Sappho: A New Rendering

Author: Sappho

Translator: H. De Vere Stacpoole

Release date: April 15, 2013 [eBook #42543]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Heather Strickland & Marc D'Hooghe (Images generously made available by the Internet Archive - University of Toronto-Robarts)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAPPHO: A NEW RENDERING ***

SAPPHO

A New Rendering

BY

H. DE VERE STACPOOLE

LONDON

HUTCHINSON AND CO.

PATERNOSTER ROW

SAPPHO

I

Sappho lies remote from us, beyond the fashions and the ages, beyond sight, almost beyond the wing of Thought, in the world's extremest youth.

To thrill the imagination with the vast measure of time between the world of Sappho and the world of the Great War, it is quite useless to express it in years, one must express it in æons, just as astronomers, dealing with sidereal distances, think, not in miles, but in light years.

Between us and Sappho lie the Roman Empire and the age of Christ, and beyond the cross the age of Athenian culture, culminating in the white flower of the Acropolis.

Had she travelled she might have visited Nineveh before its destruction by Cyaxares, or watched the Phœnicians set sail on their African voyage at the command of Nechos. She might have spoken with Draco and Jeremiah the Prophet and the father of Gautama the founder of Buddhism. For her the Historical Past, which is the background of all thought, held little but echoes, voices, and the forms of gods, and the immediate present little but Lesbos and the Ægean Sea, whose waters had been broken by the first trireme only a hundred and fifty years before her birth.

II

Men call her the greatest lyric poet that the world has known, basing their judgment on the few perfect fragments that remain of her song. But her voice is more than the voice of a lyric poet, it is the voice of a world that has been, of a freshness and beauty that will never be again, and to give that voice a last touch of charm remains the fact that it comes to us as an echo.

For of Sappho's poetry not a single vestige remains that does not come to us reflected in the form of a quotation from the works of some admirer, some one captured by her beauty or her wisdom or the splendour of her verse, or some one, like Herodian or Apollonius the sophist of Alexandria, who takes it to exhibit the æolic use of words or accentuation, or Hephæstion, to give an example of her choriambic tetrameters.

Only one complete poem comes to us, the Hymn to Aphrodite quoted by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and one almost complete, the Ode to Anactoria, quoted by Longinus; all other quotations are fragments: a few lines, a few words, a word, the merest traces.

What fate gave us the shipping lists of Homer, yet denied us Sappho; preserved the Lexicon Græcum Iliadis et Odysseæ of Apollonius, yet cut the song to Anactoria short, and reduced the song of the orchard to three lines? or decided that Sophists and Grammarians, exhibiting dry-as-dust truths, should be a medium between her and us?

Some say that her works were burned at Constantinople, or at Rome, by the Christians, and what we know of the early Christians lends colour to the statement. Some that they were burned by the Byzantine emperors and the poems of Gregory Nazianzen circulated in their place.

But whatever the fate it failed in its evil intention. Sappho remains, eternal as Sirius, and it is doubtful if her charm and her hold upon the world would have been strengthened by the full preservation of her work.

As it is, added to the longing which all great art inspires, we have the longing inspired by suggestion. That lovely figure belonging to the feet she shows us "crossed by a broidered strap of Lydian work," would it have been as beautiful unveiled as imagined? Did she long for maidenhood? Why did the swallow trouble her, and what did the daughter of Cyprus say to her in a dream?

There is not a fragment of Sappho that is not surrounded in the mind of the reader by the rainbow of suggestion. Just as the gods draped the human form to give desire imagination, so, perhaps, some god and no fate has all but hidden the mind of Sappho.

III

Looking at it in another way one might fancy that all the demons of malignity and destruction had conspired to destroy and traduce: to destroy the works and traduce the character of the poet.

The game of defamation was begun in Athens in the age of corruption by lepers, and carried on through the succeeding ages by their kind, till Welcker came with his torch and showed these gibbering ghosts standing on nothing and with nothing in their hands.

Colonel Mure tried to put Welcker's torch out, and only burned his fingers. Comparetti snuffed it, only to make it burn the brighter. But bright or dim, the torch was only intended to show the lepers. Sappho shines by her own light in the minutest fragments of her that remain—Fragments whose deathless energy, like the energy of radium, has vivified literature in all ages and times.

IV

The mind of Sappho runs through all literature like a spangled thread.

THE HYMN TO APHRODITE AND FIFTY-TWO FRAGMENTS,

TOGETHER WITH SAPPHO TO PHAON,

OVID'S HEROIC EPISTLE XV

FOREWORD

Tear the red rose to pieces if you will,

The soul that is the rose you may not kill;

Destroy the page, you may, but not the words

That share eternal life with flowers and birds.

And the least words of Sappho—let them fall,

Cast where you will, some bird will rise and call,

Some flower unfold in some forsaken spot.

Hill hyacinth, or blue forget-me-not.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

FOREWORD

I.

HYMN TO APHRODITE

II.

ODE TO ANACTORIA

III.

WHERE BLOOMS THE MYRTLE

IV.

I LOVED THEE

V.

INVOCATION

VI.

CLAÏS

VII.

TO A SWALLOW

VIII.

LOVE

IX.

WEDDING SONG

X.

EVENING

XI.

MAIDENHOOD

XII.

MOONLIGHT

XIII.

ORCHARD SONG

XIV.

DICA

XV.

GRACE

XVI.

AS ON THE HILLS

XVII.

TO ATTHIS

XVIII.

AS WIND UPON THE MOUNTAIN OAKS

XIX.

GOODNESS

XX.

THE FISHERMAN'S TOMB

XXI.

TIMAS

XXII.

DEAD SHALT THOU LIE

XXIII.

DEATH

XXIV.

ALCÆUS AND SAPPHO

XXV.

THE ALTAR

XXVI.

THE ALTAR

XXVII.

LOVE

XXVIII.

LIKE THE SWEET APPLE

XXIX.

PROPHESY

XXX.

FOR THEE

XXXI.

FRIEND

XXXII.

THE MOON HAS SET

XXXIII.

THE SKY

XXXIV.

TO HER LYRE

XXXV.

NEVER ON ANY MAIDEN

XXXVI.

*  *  *

XXXVII.

ANGER

XXXVIII.

ADONIS

XXXIX.

LEDA

XL.

THE CAPTIVE

XLI.

INVOCATION

XLII.

YOUTH AND AGE

XLIII.

FRAGMENT

XLIV.

THE LESBIAN SINGER

XLV.

ON THE TOMB OF A PRIESTES OF ARTEMIS

XLVI.

TO A BRIDE

XLVII.

HERMES

XLVIII.

ADONIS

XLIX.

SLEEP

L.

THY FORM IS LOVELY

LI.

THE BRIDEGROOM

LII.

REGRET

LIII.

FRAGMENT

LIV.

SAPPHO TO PHAON

I

HYMN TO APHRODITE

Daughter of Zeus and Immortal,

Aphrodite, serene

Weaver of spells, at thy portal

Hear me and slay not, O Queen!

As in the past, hither to me

From thy far palace of gold,

Drawn by the doves that o'erflew me,

Come, as thou earnest of old.

Swiftly thy flock bore thee hither,

Smiling, as turned I to thee,

Spoke thou across the blue weather,

"Sappho, why callest thou me?"

"Sappho, what Beauty disdains thee,

Sappho, who wrongest thine heart,

Sappho, what evil now pains thee,

Whence sped the dart?

"Flies from thee, soon she shall follow,

Turns from thee, soon she shall love,

Seeking thee swift as the swallow,

Ingrate though now she may prove."

Come, once again to release me,

Join with my fire thy fire,

Freed from the torments that seize me,

Give me, O Queen! my desire!

II

ODE TO ANACTORIA

That man, whoever he may be,

Who sits awhile to gaze on thee,

Hearing thy lovely laugh, thy speech,

Throned with the gods he seems to me;

For when a moment to mine eyes

Thy form discloses, silently

I stand consumed with fires that rise

Like flames around a sacrifice.

Sight have I none, bells out of tune

Ring in mine ears, my tongue lies dumb;

Paler than grass in later June,

Yet daring all

(To thee I come).

III

WHERE BLOOMS THE MYRTLE

O Muse, upon thy golden throne,

Far in the azure, fair, alone.

Sing what the Teian sweetly sang,—

The Teian sage whose lineage sprang

Where blooms the myrtle in the gay

Land of fair women far away.

IV

I LOVED THEE

I loved thee, Atthis, once,

once long ago.

V

INVOCATION

Goddess of Cyprus come (where beauty lights

The way) and serve in cups of gold these lips

With nectar, mixed by love with all delights

Of golden days, and dusk of amorous nights.

VI

CLAÏS

I have a daughter,

Claïs fair,

Poised like a golden flower in air,

Lydian treasures her limbs outshine

(Claïs, beloved one,

Claïs mine!)

VII

TO A SWALLOW

Pandion's daughter—O fair swallow,

Why dost thou weary me—

(Where should I follow?)

VIII

LOVE

Sweet mother, at the idle loom I lean,

Weary with longing for the boy that still

Remains a dream of loveliness—to fill

My soul, my life, at Aphrodite's will.

IX

WEDDING SONG

Workmen lift high

The beams of the roof,

Hymenæus!

Like Ares from sky

Comes the groom to the bride.

Hymenæus!

Than men who must die

Stands he taller in pride,

Hymenæus!

X

EVENING

Children astray to their mothers, and goats to the herd,

Sheep to the shepherd, through twilight the wings of the bird,

All things that morning has scattered with fingers of gold,

All things thou bringest, O Evening! at last to the fold.

XI

MAIDENHOOD

Maidenhood! Maidenhood! where hast thou gone from me.

Whither, O Slain!

I shall return to thee, I who have gone from thee, never again.

XII

MOONLIGHT

The stars around the fair moon fade

Against the night,

When gazing full she fills the glade

And spreads the seas with silvery light.

XIII

ORCHARD SONG

Cool murmur of water through apple-wood

Troughs without number

The whole orchard fills, whilst the leaves

Lend their music to slumber.

XIV

DICA

With flowers fair adorn thy lustrous hair,

Dica, amidst thy locks sweet blossoms twine,

With thy soft hands, for so a maiden stands

Accepted of the gods, whose eyes divine

Are turned away from her—though fair as May

She waits, but round whose locks no flowers shine.

XV

GRACE

What country maiden charms thy heart,

However fair, however sweet,

Who has not learned by gracious Art

To draw her dress around her feet?

XVI

AS ON THE HILLS

As on the hills the shepherds trample the hyacinth down,

Staining the earth with darkness, there where a flower has blown.

XVII

TO ATTHIS

Hateful my face is to thee,

Hateful to thee beyond speaking,

Atthis, who fliest from me

Like a white bird Andromeda seeking.

XVIII

AS WIND UPON THE MOUNTAIN OAKS

As wind upon the mountain oaks in storm,

So Eros shakes my soul, my life, my form.

XIX

GOODNESS

He who is fair is good to look upon;

He who is good is fair, though youth be gone.

XX

THE FISHERMAN'S TOMB

Over the fisher Pelagon Meniscus his father set

The oar worn by the wave, the trap, and the fishing net;—

For all men, and for ever, memorials there to be

Of the luckless life of the fisher, the labourer of the sea.

XXI

TIMAS

This is the dust of Tunas, who, unwed,

Passed hence to Proserpina's house of gloom.

In mourning all her sorrowing playmates shed

Their curls and cast the tribute on her tomb.

XXII

DEAD SHALT THOU LIE

Dead shalt thou lie for ever, and forgotten,

For whom the flowers of song have never bloomed;

A wanderer amidst the unbegotten,

In Hades' house a shadow ay entombed.

XXIII

DEATH

Death is an evil, for the gods choose breath;

Had Death been good the gods had chosen Death.

XXIV

ALCÆUS AND SAPPHO

ALCÆUS

Seet violet-weaving Sappho, whose soft smile

My tongue should free,

Lo, I would speak, but shame holds me the while

I gaze on thee.

SAPPHO

Hadst thou but felt desire of noble things,

Hadst not thy tongue proposed to speak no good,

Thy words had not been destitute of wings,

Nor shame thine eyes subdued.

XXV

THE ALTAR

Then the full globed moon arose, and there

The women stood as round an altar fair.

XXVI

THE ALTAR

And thus at times, in Crete, the women there

Circle in dance around the altar fair;

In measured movement, treading as they pass

With tender feet the soft bloom of the grass.

XXVII

LOVE

All delicacy unto me is lovely, and for me,

O Love!

Thy wings are as the midday fire,

Thy splendour as the sun above.

XXVIII

LIKE THE SWEET APPLE

Like the sweet apple that reddens

At end of the bough—

Far end of the bough—

Left by the gatherer's swaying,

Forgotten, so thou.

Nay, not forgotten, ungotten,

Ungathered (till now).

XXIX

PROPHESY

Methinks hereafter in some later spring

Echo will bear to men the songs we sing.

XXX

FOR THEE

For thee, unto the altar will I lead

A white goat—

To the altar by the sea;

And there, where waves advance and waves recede,

A full libation will I pour for thee.

XXXI

FRIEND

Friend, face me so and raise

Unto my face thy face,

Unto mine eyes thy gaze,

Unto my soul its grace.

XXXII

THE MOON HAS SET

The moon has set beyond the seas,

And vanished are the Pleiades;

Half the long weary night has gone,

Time passes—yet I lie alone.

XXXIII

THE SKY

I think not with these two

White arms to touch the blue.

XXXIV

TO HER LYRE

Singing, O shell, divine!

Let now thy voice be mine.

XXXV

NEVER ON ANY MAIDEN

Never on any maiden, the golden sun shall shine,

Never on any maiden whose wisdom matches thine.

XXXVI

*  *  *

I spoke with Aphrodite in a dream.

XXXVII

ANGER

When anger stirs thy breast,

Speak not at all

(For words, once spoken, rest

Beyond recall).

XXXVIII

ADONIS

Ah for Adonis!

(Where the willows sigh

The call still comes

Through spring's sweet mystery.)

XXXIX

LEDA

They say, 'neath leaf and blossom

Leda found in the gloom

An egg, white as her bosom,

Under an iris bloom.

XL

THE CAPTIVE

Now Love has bound me, trembling, hands and feet,

O Love so fatal, Love so bitter-sweet.

XLI

INVOCATION

Come to me, O ye graces,

Delicate, tender, fair;

Come from your heavenly places,

Muses with golden hair.

XLII

YOUTH AND AGE

If love thou hast for me, not hate,

Arise and find a younger mate;

For I no longer will abide

Where youth and age lie side by side.

XLIII

FRAGMENT

From heaven returning;

Red of hue, his chlamys burning

Against the blue.

XLIV

THE LESBIAN SINGER

Upstanding, as the Lesbian singer stands

Above the singers of all other lands.

XLV

ON THE TOMB OF A PRIESTESS OF ARTEMIS

Voiceless I speak, and from the tomb reply

Unto Æthopia, Leto's child, was I

Vowed by the daughter of Hermocleides,

Who was the son of Saonaiades.

O virgin queen, unto my prayer incline,

Bless him and cast thy blessing on our line.

XLVI

TO A BRIDE

Bride, around whom the rosy loves are flying,

Sweet image of the Cyprian undying,

The bed awaits thee; go, and with him lying,

Give to the groom thy sweetness, softly sighing.

May Hesperus in gladness pass before thee,

And Hera of the silver throne bend o'er thee.

XLVII

HERMES

Ambrosia there was mixed, and from his station

Hermes the bowl for waiting gods outpoured;

Then raised they all their cups and made oblation,

Blessing the bridegroom (by the bride adored).

XLVIII

ADONIS

Tender Adonis stricken is lying.

What, Cytherea, now can we do?

Beat your breasts, maidens, Adonis is dying,

Rending your garments (the white fragments strew).

XLIX

SLEEP

With eyes of darkness,

The sleep of night.

L

THY FORM IS LOVELY

Thy form is lovely and thine eyes are honeyed,

O'er thy face the pale

Clear light of love lies like a veil.

Bidding thee rise,

With outstretched hands,

Before thee Aphrodite stands.

LI

THE BRIDEGROOM

Joy born of marriage thou provest,

Bridegroom thrice blest,

Holding the maiden thou lovest

Clasped to thy breast.

LII

REGRET

Those unto whom I have given,

These have my heart most riven.

LIII

FRAGMENT

Upon thy girl friend's white and tender breast,

Sleep thou, and on her bosom find thy rest.

LIV

SAPPHO TO PHAON

A NEW RENDERING OF OVID'S HEROIC EPISTLE, XV.

I

Phaon, most lovely, closest to my heart,

Can your dear eyes forget, or must I stand

Confessed in name, beloved that thou art,

Lost to my touch and in another land.

Sappho now calls thee, lyre and Lyric Muse

Forgotten, and the tears born of her wrongs

Blinding her eyes, upturned but to refuse

Phœbus, the fountain of all joyous songs.

I burn, as when in swiftness, past the byres,

Flame takes the corn, borne by the winds that blow;

For what are Ætna's flames to my desires,

Thou, who by Ætna wanderest, O Thou!

The Lyric Muse has turned, as I from her,

Peace, Peace alone can join us once again,

The blue sea in its solitude lies fair,

But, desolate, I turn from it in pain.

No more the girls of Lesbos move my heart,

My blameless love for them is now no more,

Before my love for thee all loves depart,

Cold wanderer thou upon a distant shore.

O thou art lovely! wert thou garbed like him,

Apollo by thy side a shade would be.

Garland thy tresses with the ivy dim

And Bacchus would be less himself, by thee.

Apollo, yet, who bent, as Bacchus fell,

One to the Cretan, one to Daphne's fire,

Beside me, what are they? I cast my spell

O'er seas and lands, the music of my lyre

Echoes across the world where mortals dwell,

Renders the earth in tune with my desire.

Alcæus strikes Olympus with his song,

Boldly and wild his music finds its star.

Unto the human does my voice belong

And Aphrodite smiles on me from far.

Have I no charms? has genius lost her touch

To turn simplicity to beauty's zone?

Am I so small, whose towering height is such

That in the world of men I stand alone?

Yea, I am brown—an Æthiopian's face

Turned Perseus from his path, a flame of fire.

White doves or dark, which hath the finer grace?

Are they not equal, netted by desire?

If by no charm except thine own sweet charm

Thou can'st be moved, ah then, alas, for me!

Fires of the earth thy coldness will not warm,

And Phaon's self must Phaon's lover be.

Yet once, ah once! forgetful of the world,

You lay engirdled by this world of mine,

Those nights remain, be earth to darkness hurled,

Deathless, as passion's ecstasy divine.

My songs around you were the only birds,

My voice the only music, in your fire

With kisses, burning yet, you killed my words

And found my kisses sweeter than desire.

I filled you with delight, when close embraced;

In the last act of love I gave you heaven,

And yet again, delirious as we faced,

And yet again, till in exhaustion, even

Love's self half died and nothing more remained,

But earth and life half lost, and heaven gained.

And now, Sicilian girls—O heart of mine,

Why was I born so far from Sicily?—

Sicilian girls, unto my words incline,

Beware of smiles, of insincerity,

Beware the words that once belonged to me,

The fruits of passion and the seeds of grief;

O Cyprian by the fair Sicilian sea,

Sappho now calls thee, turn to her relief!

Shall Fortune still pursue me, luckless one,

With hounds of woe pursue me down the years?

Sorrow was mine since first I saw the sun,

The ashes of my parents knew my tears.

My brother cast the gifts of life away

For one unworthy of all gifts but gold,

Grief follows grief and on this woeful day

An infant daughter in my arms I hold.

Fates! What more can ye do, what more essay?

Phaon! ah yes, he is the last, I know.

The first, the all, the grave that once was gay,

The dark veil o'er my purple robe ye throw,

My curls no more are curls, nor scent the air

With perfume from the flowers Egyptians grow,

The gold that bound these locks of mine so fair

Has parted for the wind these locks to blow.

All arts of love were mine when he was by,

Whose sun is now the sun of Sicily.

Phaon! when I was born, the mystic three

Called Aphrodite on my birth to gaze,

And then the Cyprian, turning, called on thee

To be my fate and fill my dreams and days.

Thou for whose sake Aurora's eyes might turn

From Cephalus, or Cynthia give thee sleep,

Pouring oblivion from night's marble urn,

Bidding Endymion to watch thy sheep!

—Lo! as I write I weep, and nought appears

But Love, half veiled by broken words and tears.

You! you! who left me without kiss or tear

Or word, to murmur softly like a child

Begotten of thy voice, deception were

Less cruel far than silence, you who smiled

Falsely so often, had you no false phrase—

You who so often had false tales to tell—

No voice there, at the parting of our ways,

To say "Farewell, O Love!" or just "Farewell"!

I had no gift to give you when you passed,

And wrongs were all the gifts received from thee,

I had no words to tell you at the last

But these: "Forgo not life, forget not me."

And when I heard, told by some casual tongue,

That thou wert gone, Grief turned me then to stone,

Voiceless I stood as though I ne'er had sung,

Pulseless and lost, for ever more alone.

Without a sigh, without a tear to shed,

Grief held me, Grief who has no word to say.

Then, rising as one rises from the dead,

My soul broke forth as one breaks forth to slay.

Rending and wounding all this frame of mine,

Cursing the Gods, the moments and the years,

Now like the clouds of storm, where lightnings shine,

Uplifted, then resolving into tears.

Debased, when turns my brother in his scorn

My grief to laughter, pointing to my child;

Till madness takes me as the fire the corn

And, in reviling thee, I stand reviled.

Ah! but at night, At night I turn to thee.

In dreams our limbs are joined, as flame with flame,

In dreams again your arms are girdling me,

I taste your soul in joys I blush to name.

Ah! but the day that follows on the night,

The emptiness that drives me to the plain

To seek those spots that knew my lost delight,

The grotto that shall shield us not again.

Here lies the grass we pressed in deeds of love,

Lips, limbs entwined—I kiss the ground to-day.

The herbs lie withered, and the birds that move

Are songless, and the very trees are grey.

Night takes the day and falls upon the groves,

The nightingale alone is left to cry,

Lamenting, in the song that sorrow loves,

To Tereus she calls, to Phaon, I.

II

There is a spring, through whose cool water shows

The sand like silver, clear as seen through air.

There is a spring, above whose mirror grows

A lotus like a grove in flower fair.

Here, as I lay in tears, a spirit stood

Born of the water, then she called to me,

Sappho, pursuing Love, by Grief pursued,

Sappho, beside the blue Leucadian sea

There stands a rock, and there above the caves,

Whose wandering echoes reach Apollo's fane,

Down leaping to the blue and breaking waves,

Lovers find sleep, nor dream of love again.

Deucalion here found ease from Pyrrah's scorn,

Sappho arise, and where the sharp cliffs fall,

Thy body, that had better not been born,

Cast to the waves, the blue, blue waves that call.

I rise, and weeping silently, I go.

My fear is great, my love is greater still.

Better oblivion than the love I know,

Kinder than Phaon's is the blue wave's will.

Ye favouring breezes, guard me on this day,

Love, lend your pinions, waft me o'er the sea

Where, lovely Phœbus, on thy shrine I'll lay

My lyre, with this inscription unto thee:

"Sappho to Phœbus consecrates her lyre,

Unto the God the gift, the fire to fire."

III

Alas! and woe is me.

But must I go?

O Phaon, Phœbus' self to me is less

Than Phaon—will you cast me down below

All broken, for the cruel rocks to press

This breast, that loved thee, ruined?—Ah! the song

Born of the Muses leaves me and the lyre

Is voiceless—they no more to me belong,

And in this darkness dies the heavenly fire.

Farewell, ye girls of Lesbos, fare ye well;

No more the groves shall answer to my song,

No more these hands shall wake the lyre to tell

Of Love, of Life—to Phaon they belong,

And he has fled.

O Loveliness, return,

Make once again my soul to sing in joy,

Feed once again this heart with fires that burn,

Gods! can no prayers avail but to destroy,

No songs bring back the lost, no sighs recall

The lost that was my love, my life, my all?

Return! Return! Raise to the wind thy sail,

Across the sea bring back to me the years,

Eros shall lend to thee the favouring gale,

The track is sure where Aphrodite steers.

Let thy white sail be lifted on the rim

Of sky that marks the dark dividing seas.

Failing that far-off sail, remain the dim

Blue depths where once Deucalion found release.

Failing that far-off sail, the waves shall give

Death, or Forgetfulness, whilst still I live.

THE END

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SAPPHO: A NEW RENDERING ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

SAPPHO

A New Rendering BY

H. DE VERE STACPOOLE

SAPPHO

THE HYMN TO APHRODITE AND FIFTY-TWO FRAGMENTS, TOGETHER WITH SAPPHO TO PHAON, OVID'S HEROIC EPISTLE XV

FOREWORD

CONTENTS

THE END

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE