Sappho Through English Poetry

by Sappho, Peter Jay (Editor)

The poetry of Sappho, who was born around 620 BC and lived on the Greek island of Lesbos, has inspired and fascinated readers and poets for two and a half thousand years. Today, as in antiquity, she is regarded as Greece's supreme lyric poet. Yet apart from a few near-complete poems, her poetry survives largely in tantalizing fragments.

 

This book traces Sappho's reception in English-language poetry through translations and poems about her. From Donne and Pope via Swinburne, Bliss Carman and Pound to contemporary poets such as Michael Longley and Olga Broumas, it both celebrates and illustrates our changing image of Sappho.

 

Peter Jay edited The Greek Anthology for Penguin Classics. He is the author of a collection of poems, Shifting Frontiers , and has translated some modern Romanian and Hungarian poetry.

 

Caroline Lewis is a writer and lecturer specializing in women's writing and history. She has lived and worked in London and Hong Kong and now lives in Edinburgh.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Work of Greek lyric poet Sappho, noted for its passionate and erotic celebration of the beauty of young women and men, after flourit circa 600 BC and survives only in fragments.

Ancient history poetry texts associate Sappho (Σαπφώ or Ψάπφω) sometimes with the city of Mytilene or suppose her birth in Eresos, another city, sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC. She died around 570 BC. People throughout antiquity well knew and greatly admired the bulk, now lost, but her immense reputation endured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sappho

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this anthology is really interesting: adaptations/translations of Sappho's poetry across anglophone literary history and poems inspired by Sappho. There are some really lovely selections in it.

[Taylor M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Intro was super informative and well written. Some of the poems they chose were better than others. A few poems really struck me. I recommend the read if you like, love, or don’t know anything about Sappho!