Sing, Lyre: Sappho Translation

Sappho, fragment 118 loose translation by Michael R. Burch Sing, my sacred tortoiseshell lyre; come, let my words accompany your voice. "Quoted by Hermogenes and Eustathius. Sappho is apparently addressing her lyre. The legend is that Hermes made the first lyre." The following are Sappho's poems for Attis or Atthis... Sappho, fragment 49 (Lobel-Page 49 / Voigt 49) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 1. I loved you, Attis, long ago... even when you seemed a graceless child. 2. I fell in love with you, Attis, long ago... You seemed immature to me then, and not all that graceful. (Source: Hephaestion, Plutarch and others.) Sappho, fragment 131 (Lobel-Page 131 / Voigt 130) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch You reject me, Attis, as if you find me distasteful, flitting off to Andrómeda... Sappho, fragment 96 (Lobel-Page 96.1-22 / Voigt 96 / Diehl 98) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Attis, our beloved, dwells in distant Sardis, but her thoughts often return here, to our island, and how we honored her like a goddess, and how she loved to hear us singing her praises. Now she surpasses all Sardinian women, as, after sunset the rosy-fingered moon outshines the surrounding stars, illuminating salt seas and meadows alike. Thus the dew sparkles, the rose revives, and the tender chervil and sweetclover blossom. Now oftentimes when our beloved goes wandering abroad, she is reminded of our gentle Attis; then her heart assaults her tender breast with its painful pangs and she cries aloud for us to console her. Truly, we understand all too well the distress she feels, because Night, the many-eared, calls to us from across the dividing sea. But to go there is not easy, nor to rival a goddess in her loveliness. The following poems by Sappho may have been addressed to Attis or Anactoria, or written with them in mind… Sappho, fragment 22 (Lobel-Page 22 / Diehl 33,36) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch That enticing girl's clinging dresses leave me trembling, overcome by happiness, as once, when I saw the Goddess in my prayers eclipsing Cyprus. Sappho, fragment 34 (Lobel-Page 34 / Voigt 34) loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch Awed by the Moon's splendor, the stars covered their undistinguished faces. Even so, we. Sappho, fragment 39 loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch We're merely mortal women, it's true; the Goddesses have no rivals but You.