The Poems of Sappho

     It says much of Sappho’s timeless genius that while only a fraction of her works remain for us to enjoy, she is recognised as the mistress bar none of lyric poetry. And in Henry de Vere Stacpoole’s translation we have a sensitive rendition that does justice to the deep-felt emotions of her songs. 

     Sappho was born into the aristocracy of 7th century B.C. Lesbos. Nine scrolls of her works were recorded in the great library of Alexandria but much of her prolific legacy was burnt by zealous Christian leaders in medieval times. What remains comes to us from the quotes of early commentators who revered her talent: one complete poem (The Hymn to Aphrodite), three incomplete poems and over 170 fragments, many just single words. They are expressions of friendship, rivalry, family, and the exquisite rapture and pain of love. This edition contains the most intact poems and fragments together with Ovid’s Heroic Epistle XV, Sappho to Phaon.

     In Stacpoole’s words, “the spangled thread” of Sappho’s mind echoes down through the ages and continues to delight us today.