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Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
83 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1904
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197 people want to read
About the author
Bliss Carman
446 books11 followersBliss Carman, FRSC, was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
December 17, 2019
Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics is a book of poems written by the Canadian poet Bliss Carman, first published in 1904. In the introduction to the 1907 edition, Charles G. D. Roberts says that the most plausible theory for the disappearance of Sappho's poems was that they were burnt in Byzantium in 380 AD by Gregory Nazianzen, the Archbishop of Constantinople, who wanted his poems to be studied instead because they were more moral. Roberts praises Carman's initiative to reconstruct Sappho's poems with the help of the remaining fragments, saying that his task is based more on imagination and interpretation than on translation and paraphrasing. “Mr Carman's method apparently has been to imagine each last lyric discovered, and then to translate it (...) accompanied by the fluidity and freedom of purely original work”. (Loc. 52)
The themes of these 100 poems are usually concerned with love, beauty, death, nature, divinity and time. The gods most invoked and praised in these poetic works are Aphrodite, Pan, Hermes and sometimes Poseidon. However, the persona doesn't speak only to divinity, but most of the time to a lover. It's a bit confusing to figure out who is the voice behind the persona because Carman reconstructed the poems trying to get under Sappho's skin. Most of the time, Sappho loves or longs for the love of another woman, whether it is something platonic or passionate. My favourite poems were those about Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love.
I'm sure that Sappho's original poems were much naughtier than those of Carman because the Greeks were not ashamed of anything physiologic or natural. On the other hand, Carman’s poems are beautiful and very profound; they are like a balm for your heart. For me, these reconstructed poems of Sappho are like strolling through an oleander garden on a starry night.
The themes of these 100 poems are usually concerned with love, beauty, death, nature, divinity and time. The gods most invoked and praised in these poetic works are Aphrodite, Pan, Hermes and sometimes Poseidon. However, the persona doesn't speak only to divinity, but most of the time to a lover. It's a bit confusing to figure out who is the voice behind the persona because Carman reconstructed the poems trying to get under Sappho's skin. Most of the time, Sappho loves or longs for the love of another woman, whether it is something platonic or passionate. My favourite poems were those about Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love.
I'm sure that Sappho's original poems were much naughtier than those of Carman because the Greeks were not ashamed of anything physiologic or natural. On the other hand, Carman’s poems are beautiful and very profound; they are like a balm for your heart. For me, these reconstructed poems of Sappho are like strolling through an oleander garden on a starry night.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2018
I knew that of Sappho’s poetry there remained only a few fragments. As I read this book I thought, this is not as little as I thought... and I was pretty bored. Only after I finished did I realize that this was Bliss Carmen’s attempt to fill in what a full collection of Sappho’s poetry might have been like. So then I googled the original fragments and sure enough, there’s almost nothing. While some of the poems were lovely, I feel like I wasted a little bit of my life. A male poet in 1907 is probably quite a bit substantively different than the original woman poet in 600 BC, but I guess it was a serious attempt at applying his knowledge of the era and contemporary accounts of her poetry.
September 23, 2019
"Some strange magic of thy beauty,
Some sweet pathos of thy tears,"
Perhaps this best captures my thoughts on the melancholy of Sappho's lyrics.
Some sweet pathos of thy tears,"
Perhaps this best captures my thoughts on the melancholy of Sappho's lyrics.
August 29, 2019
This was a light and breezy read, but you should know that there's no definitive way to tell which parts are originally by Sappho and which by Carman. Not that I'm finding fault because the two voices speak in harmony.
July 12, 2013
This one is a little more complicated for me, because as I realized partway through the book, this isn't actually a straight compilation of the works of a poet I only recently heard about, but rather an imagination of what a book of her poems might be by a later writer, based on what scraps of her poetry that he had available to him at the time.
I really enjoyed a lot of the poems in this book, the image of the places she lived, the people she loved and the things that moved her deeply, but I would have loved some indication within the text itself of which words were hers and which words were added later, so I could get a clearer glimpse of what was authenticate and what was imagined.
Maybe I'll undertake a more extensive study of Sappho and return to this book later to get a better idea of what her poetic legacy really is, but for now, I can just enjoy what, no matter the circumstances that brought it to me, was really powerful poetry.
I really enjoyed a lot of the poems in this book, the image of the places she lived, the people she loved and the things that moved her deeply, but I would have loved some indication within the text itself of which words were hers and which words were added later, so I could get a clearer glimpse of what was authenticate and what was imagined.
Maybe I'll undertake a more extensive study of Sappho and return to this book later to get a better idea of what her poetic legacy really is, but for now, I can just enjoy what, no matter the circumstances that brought it to me, was really powerful poetry.
June 18, 2013
In 1909 Wallace Stevens wrote to a friend: “You remember the fragments of Sappho. Carman has taken fragments and imagined the whole of the poem of which each was a part. The result, in some instances, is immensely pleasant — although distinctly not Sapphic. Sappho’s passion came from her heart. Carman’s from a sense of warm beauty.”
I'm not sure this is uniformly true, but it's close enough, and fun to think about. There are some wonderful poems amidst a fair amount of repetition and some slack lines. The failing poems describe a stone and pretend it is the whole foundation; the successes poke at the fissures between stones, focus tight on the textures and dampnesses to either side.
I'm not sure this is uniformly true, but it's close enough, and fun to think about. There are some wonderful poems amidst a fair amount of repetition and some slack lines. The failing poems describe a stone and pretend it is the whole foundation; the successes poke at the fissures between stones, focus tight on the textures and dampnesses to either side.
January 22, 2021
*3.5
I feel as if there was not enough of Sappho in this. Of course, regardless of how you approach the remains of her work there will never be enough of Sappho, but I did find it difficult to discern which parts were translations and which parts were Carman's own creations.
I feel as if there was not enough of Sappho in this. Of course, regardless of how you approach the remains of her work there will never be enough of Sappho, but I did find it difficult to discern which parts were translations and which parts were Carman's own creations.
November 8, 2021
Maybe these could be translated
into more fluid and evocative English than here (perhaps other translations which I will read will confirm me in this, or no). Anyhow, this was my first introduction to these 100 poems and/or fragments, and I’m happy about it.
into more fluid and evocative English than here (perhaps other translations which I will read will confirm me in this, or no). Anyhow, this was my first introduction to these 100 poems and/or fragments, and I’m happy about it.
October 14, 2022
I would sell my first born child to own a copy of this.
July 6, 2024
Sappho's voice is still echoing, vividly, through every confessional writer in history and the modern world. The original act.
March 22, 2021
“My name is Sappho. My song surpasses the song of women as Homer's the song of men.”
― Antipatros of Thessaloniki
- - > 3. 5 💛💛💛
Emotional und rein, anders kann ich diese Sammlung nicht bezeichnen. Wunderschöne und mystische Poesie und ein harmonisches Zusammenspiel zwei unterschiedlicher Dichter, die aus anderen Jahrhunderten stammen. Sappho, die als antike griechische Dichterin um 7 Jh. vor Christus geboren wurde, ist einfach eine klassische Dichterin, die ihr Zeitalter auf träumerische Weise darstellt, während Carman versucht die Fragmente mit seiner eigenen Dichtung aufzufüllen.
Letztendlich sind es nur Fragmente, die von Sapphos Dichtung übrig geblieben sind, doch die pure Art ihrer dichterischen Kunst hat Carman versucht aufleben zu lassen. Ob es funktioniert, muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden - ich habe es genossen, doch es hat nicht meine Welt bewegt oder mir den Atem geraubt. Trotzdem bleibt es ein schönes und reines Zusammenspiel, und man lernt die altertümliche Welt durch einen anderen Schleier zu betrachten..
― Antipatros of Thessaloniki
- - > 3. 5 💛💛💛
Emotional und rein, anders kann ich diese Sammlung nicht bezeichnen. Wunderschöne und mystische Poesie und ein harmonisches Zusammenspiel zwei unterschiedlicher Dichter, die aus anderen Jahrhunderten stammen. Sappho, die als antike griechische Dichterin um 7 Jh. vor Christus geboren wurde, ist einfach eine klassische Dichterin, die ihr Zeitalter auf träumerische Weise darstellt, während Carman versucht die Fragmente mit seiner eigenen Dichtung aufzufüllen.
Letztendlich sind es nur Fragmente, die von Sapphos Dichtung übrig geblieben sind, doch die pure Art ihrer dichterischen Kunst hat Carman versucht aufleben zu lassen. Ob es funktioniert, muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden - ich habe es genossen, doch es hat nicht meine Welt bewegt oder mir den Atem geraubt. Trotzdem bleibt es ein schönes und reines Zusammenspiel, und man lernt die altertümliche Welt durch einen anderen Schleier zu betrachten..
August 17, 2020
“I seek and desire,
Even as the wind
That travels the plain
And stirs in the bloom
Of the apple-tree.
I wander through life,
With the searching mind
That is never at rest,
Till I reach the shade
Of my lover's door.”
Este libro es una colección de cien poemas (o “lyrics”) de la poeta Safo de Lesbos, quien vivió en la antigua Grecia y la cual fue considerada por Platón como la Décima Musa.
“If death be good,
Why do the gods not die?
If life be ill,
Why do the gods still live?
If love be naught,
Why do the gods still love?
If love be all,
What should men do but love?”
Sus poemas me parecieron bellísimos y ligeros, y me transportaron a tardes de primavera bajo el sol del Mediterráneo entre amantes. Se nota que fueron escritos en la Antigüedad, porque hace mención a dioses y deidades de la época constantemente. A pesar de que todos los poemas son prácticamente iguales, igualmente me parecieron muy bellos, sensibles y delicados.
“For I am eager, and the flame of life
Burns quickly in the fragile lamp of clay.
Passion and love and longing and hot tears
Consume this mortal Sappho, and too soon
A great wind from the dark will blow upon me,
And I be no more found in the fair world,
For all the search of the revolving moon
And patient shine of everlasting stars.”
Even as the wind
That travels the plain
And stirs in the bloom
Of the apple-tree.
I wander through life,
With the searching mind
That is never at rest,
Till I reach the shade
Of my lover's door.”
Este libro es una colección de cien poemas (o “lyrics”) de la poeta Safo de Lesbos, quien vivió en la antigua Grecia y la cual fue considerada por Platón como la Décima Musa.
“If death be good,
Why do the gods not die?
If life be ill,
Why do the gods still live?
If love be naught,
Why do the gods still love?
If love be all,
What should men do but love?”
Sus poemas me parecieron bellísimos y ligeros, y me transportaron a tardes de primavera bajo el sol del Mediterráneo entre amantes. Se nota que fueron escritos en la Antigüedad, porque hace mención a dioses y deidades de la época constantemente. A pesar de que todos los poemas son prácticamente iguales, igualmente me parecieron muy bellos, sensibles y delicados.
“For I am eager, and the flame of life
Burns quickly in the fragile lamp of clay.
Passion and love and longing and hot tears
Consume this mortal Sappho, and too soon
A great wind from the dark will blow upon me,
And I be no more found in the fair world,
For all the search of the revolving moon
And patient shine of everlasting stars.”
March 29, 2012
In this collection of poetry, Bliss Carman imagines the words of the Greek poet Sappho, whose work has mostly been lost. The book is structured as a series of poems (one hundred), as if written by Sappho, using fragments of her surviving work. Carman seems to do well in capturing her voice and perspective. The result if a lovely, imaginative set of poems, mostly focused on love and the beauty of nature.
September 13, 2014
*smacks forehead* I read these thinking that they were Sappho's. Moral: don't buy books from the iTunes iBook store because their descriptions aren't adequate.
October 5, 2019
i mean... i'm a queer girl, so how could i not love sappho?
August 4, 2020
This collection consists of one hundred poems crafted to emulate the spirit of Sappho’s work. For those unfamiliar with Sappho, she was a poetess of ancient Greece who was well-regarded and influential, particularly for her lyric poetry. (And this was “lyric poetry” in the original meaning of that term – i.e. meant to be musically accompanied by a lyre – as opposed to the contemporary meaning [short, emotionally evocative poems often metered to produce a musical quality.])
Emulating Sappho is harder than it seems because the vast majority of her poetry has been lost, and only about 650 lines of poems and fragments survive today [out of what was believed to be more than 10,000 lines.] In fact, little is known about Sappho as a person today either, and – like the name of her home island, Lesbos, – her name has largely been reduced to shorthand for female homosexual relationships.
The one hundred poems are all structured verse, though of a wide variety of line, stanza, and poem length. The subjects include: sensuality, love, nature, and Greek Mythology. Much of the poetry is reminiscent of imagism, poetry that heavily emphasizes visual depictions of scenes and events in clear and vivid language. Imagism’s heyday actually came later than this collection, and it’s been suggested that Carman’s work was influential in the movement.
Whether you have an interest in ancient Greek literature or not, this collection is worth reading. The poems are crisp and well-composed, and -- given the centrality of imagery – they aren’t hard to follow. That said, if one knows a little about Greek Mythology some of the references to deities and mythological events will be more deeply understood.
Originally published in 1904, the collection is in the public domain, and is readily available at little or no cost.
Emulating Sappho is harder than it seems because the vast majority of her poetry has been lost, and only about 650 lines of poems and fragments survive today [out of what was believed to be more than 10,000 lines.] In fact, little is known about Sappho as a person today either, and – like the name of her home island, Lesbos, – her name has largely been reduced to shorthand for female homosexual relationships.
The one hundred poems are all structured verse, though of a wide variety of line, stanza, and poem length. The subjects include: sensuality, love, nature, and Greek Mythology. Much of the poetry is reminiscent of imagism, poetry that heavily emphasizes visual depictions of scenes and events in clear and vivid language. Imagism’s heyday actually came later than this collection, and it’s been suggested that Carman’s work was influential in the movement.
Whether you have an interest in ancient Greek literature or not, this collection is worth reading. The poems are crisp and well-composed, and -- given the centrality of imagery – they aren’t hard to follow. That said, if one knows a little about Greek Mythology some of the references to deities and mythological events will be more deeply understood.
Originally published in 1904, the collection is in the public domain, and is readily available at little or no cost.
November 27, 2016
This piece of literary scavenging is an amazing look back in time. Ancient Greek literature always has that element of historical fascination to it, being the beginnings of the written word as we now know it, but these reconstructed fragments of poetry have an even rawer, archeological feel to them, like broken pieces of stone rebuilt into models of ancient temples. Without deeper study, it's impossible to get a good idea of what the original words are, where the reconstruction begins and ends.
As fragments and as poetry, Sappho's work is undoubtably lyrical. You can trace centuries of landscape pastorals in some, the form and cant of religious song in others. In the romantic verses you can see two thousand year old pop lyrics in their original form. The imagery is befitting of their whitewashed setting, the Greek island of Lesbos, full of oceans and big skies. Admittedly, however, for the layman one hundred lyrics packed with namedropped Greek Gods and countless odes on the beauty of all things, occasionally balanced with a melancholic, despairing lyric or an expression of loss can get tedious.
But the figurehead of all this lyrics is its most interesting feature - Sappho herself is so present and so unashamedly open with her loves and losses, that she becomes like an ancient Greek tabloid celebrity. There is drama and storytelling in these poems, they tell part of an active, cultural and theatrical society, one in which women had a role to play that was ahead of the times. They are full of questions and exclamations, pleas and prayers to Gods, hyperbolic imagery and a searching, longing voice that is trying with all its might and persuasion to capture beauty in some form, the beginnings of humankinds century long battle with our greatest tool, language, to create something delicate, powerful and perfect. 4
As fragments and as poetry, Sappho's work is undoubtably lyrical. You can trace centuries of landscape pastorals in some, the form and cant of religious song in others. In the romantic verses you can see two thousand year old pop lyrics in their original form. The imagery is befitting of their whitewashed setting, the Greek island of Lesbos, full of oceans and big skies. Admittedly, however, for the layman one hundred lyrics packed with namedropped Greek Gods and countless odes on the beauty of all things, occasionally balanced with a melancholic, despairing lyric or an expression of loss can get tedious.
But the figurehead of all this lyrics is its most interesting feature - Sappho herself is so present and so unashamedly open with her loves and losses, that she becomes like an ancient Greek tabloid celebrity. There is drama and storytelling in these poems, they tell part of an active, cultural and theatrical society, one in which women had a role to play that was ahead of the times. They are full of questions and exclamations, pleas and prayers to Gods, hyperbolic imagery and a searching, longing voice that is trying with all its might and persuasion to capture beauty in some form, the beginnings of humankinds century long battle with our greatest tool, language, to create something delicate, powerful and perfect. 4
May 11, 2024
Some poems felt a bit reminiscent of each other but that's not to say they were bad. Sappho must have been a relatively proficient lesbian given the variety of names dropped into her poetry. The verse in itself was quite interesting as Sappho is so blunt in her verbalisation of desire, dare I say "masculine" so at times her affections read as almost warlike.
Of the 100 lyrics, my favourites were:
3,4,6,9,12,15,16,18,19,21,22,24,26,28,29,31,34,38,39,45,47,53,54,59,64,69,74,80,82,84,86,92,97,100.
Clearly, there were a lot of favourites...b
Of the 100 lyrics, my favourites were:
3,4,6,9,12,15,16,18,19,21,22,24,26,28,29,31,34,38,39,45,47,53,54,59,64,69,74,80,82,84,86,92,97,100.
Clearly, there were a lot of favourites...b
May 23, 2021
Some nice lyric poetry. Good old Pagan beauty. It's a bit sappy though, I've come to accept that without a thought as a result of reading habits but it's a goodread on a lazy afternoon. Add to that this is a text which a combination of being couple of thousand years old and a hundred years old, you are sure not going to regret reading it per se. What you get out of it, is something different entirely.
July 26, 2018
I've rewritten this review after realising this is in fact a poem dedicated to Sappho, not by the Greek poet herself.
Nonetheless, it is still an amazing piece of work, written with a level of romantic language not often seen outside of Classical poetry. I also love the invocation of Aphrodite and other gods, as it gives a weightiness to the verses.
Nonetheless, it is still an amazing piece of work, written with a level of romantic language not often seen outside of Classical poetry. I also love the invocation of Aphrodite and other gods, as it gives a weightiness to the verses.
June 11, 2021
This made me feel despite the fragments the emotions and yerning is so thick I could taste it and it was sweet lol I loved this so much I have no words will read again with a more critical lense but I laughed a bit at how relatable and or absurd (but not really) it was, all in all, would recommend. I will probably purchase a physical copy I loved it so much.
February 8, 2022
3 stars. I should probably look else where for a more authentic experience of Sappho's poetry. Apparently some of these are written by Carman and meh, I didn't really want that. I have an ebook of Sappho's completed works so I'll pick that up but for what it was this wasn't bad at all. Some very good poems in here that feel a lot more modern than they actually are.
April 21, 2022
Sappho.
Lover, art thou of a surety
Not a learner of the wood-god?
Has the madness of his music
Never touched thee?
Ah, thou dear and godlike mortal,
5 If Pan takes thee for his pupil,
Make me but another Syrinx
For that piping.
Lover, art thou of a surety
Not a learner of the wood-god?
Has the madness of his music
Never touched thee?
Ah, thou dear and godlike mortal,
5 If Pan takes thee for his pupil,
Make me but another Syrinx
For that piping.
January 14, 2023
She's definitely bisexual. She speaks of loving men and women in her poems. Just a ton about love and lovers and loneliness. She was lonely despite her many lovers.
I was hoping for a bit more sapphic longing in these. Maybe I'm just bad at reading poetry though.
I was hoping for a bit more sapphic longing in these. Maybe I'm just bad at reading poetry though.
August 3, 2017
love her....
February 5, 2021
4 stars
So beautiful, pearls of moments suspended in time
So beautiful, pearls of moments suspended in time
May 5, 2021
SO BEAUTIFUL. Absolute art. This makes me want to get back into poetry writing. So lovely so lovely. I adored it. So many pretty words about so many pretty things about love.
June 7, 2022
It's really good I enjoyed it❤
This was really nice sometimes I need a. Break or an escape from the real world and this boom did it for me I'm glad I picked it up.
This was really nice sometimes I need a. Break or an escape from the real world and this boom did it for me I'm glad I picked it up.
September 27, 2022
I learned a lot from the introduction but was a bit confused about how much of the fragments cited were fragments or reconstructions. Lovely poetry nevertheless that has been translated well
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews