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Sappho Translations by VI Michael R. Burch

Sappho, fragment 121
translation by Michael R. Burch

1.
As a friend you're great,
but you need a much younger bedmate.

2.
Although you're very dear to me,
please don't be silly!
You need a much younger filly.


Sappho, fragment 105c 
translation by Michael R. Burch

Shepherds trample the larkspur
whose petals empurple the heath,
foreshadowing shepherds' grief.


Sappho, fragment 30
translation by Michael R. Burch

Virgins, keeping vigil all night long,
go, make a lovely song,
sing of the love you abide
for the violet-robed bride.


Sappho, fragment 125
translation by Michael R. Burch

Love, bittersweet Dispenser of pain,
Weaver of implausible fictions:
     flourishes in prosperity,
     weeps for life's perversity,
     quails before adversity,
dies haggard, believing she's pretty.


Sappho, fragment 43
translation by Michael R. Burch

Come, dear ones,
let us cease our singing:
morning dawns.


Sappho, fragment 14
translation by Michael R. Burch

Today
may
buffeting winds bear
all my distress and care
away.


Sappho, fragment 29
translation by Michael R. Burch

Since my paps are dry and my barren womb rests,
let me praise lively girls with violet-scented breasts.


Sappho, fragment 1
translation by Michael R. Burch

Beautiful swift sparrows
rising on whirring wings
flee the dark earth for the sun-bright air …


Sappho, fragment 94 & 98
translation by Michael R. Burch

Listen, my dear;
by the Goddess I swear
that I, too,
(like you)
had to renounce my false frigidity
and surrender my virginity.
My wedding night was not so bad;
you too have nothing to fear, so be glad!
(But then why do I sometimes still think with dread
of my lost maidenhead?)


Sappho, fragment 2
translation by Michael R. Burch

I sip the cup of costly death;
I lose my color, catch my breath
whenever I contemplate your presence,
or absence.


Sappho, fragment 3
translation by Michael R. Burch

Stars ringing the lovely moon
pale to insignificance
when she illuminates the earth
with her magnificence.


Sappho, fragment 49
translation by Michael R. Burch

You have returned!
You did well to not depart
because I pined for you.
Now you have re-lit the torch
I bear for you in my heart,
this flare of Love.
I bless you and bless you and bless you
because we're no longer apart.

Keywords/Tags: Sappho, wedding, bride, women, love, song, dear, friend, silly, night, pain, morning, dawn, death, moon, best friend
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