Poetry 4: Sappho fragments

Today's poem is by Sappho, a sixth-century BCE Greek poet. Unfortunately I was unable to find the Greek text for this; three fragments placed together by the translator.

Sappho, ‘That impossible predator’

That impossible predator,
Eros the Limb-Loosener,
Bitter-sweetly and afresh
Savages my flesh.

Like a gale smiting an oak
On mountainous terrain,
Eros, with a stroke,
Shattered my brain.

But a strange longing to pass on
Seizes me, and I need to see
Lotuses on the dewy banks of Acheron.

Trans. by Aaron Poochigian

Poetry 4: Sappho fragments

Today's poem is by Sappho, a sixth-century BCE Greek poet. Unfortunately I was unable to find the Greek text for this; three fragments placed together by the translator.

Sappho, ‘That impossible predator’

That impossible predator,
Eros the Limb-Loosener,
Bitter-sweetly and afresh
Savages my flesh.

Like a gale smiting an oak
On mountainous terrain,
Eros, with a stroke,
Shattered my brain.

But a strange longing to pass on
Seizes me, and I need to see
Lotuses on the dewy banks of Acheron.

Trans. by Aaron Poochigian