EPIGRAMS

For there was no other girl, O bridegroom, like her.

From Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

107, 108

Ἐσπετ' ᾿Υμήναον.Ὦ τὸν Ἀδώνιον.

Ἐσπετ' ᾿Υμήναον.

Ὦ τὸν Ἀδώνιον.

Sing Hymenaeus!Ah for Adonis!

Sing Hymenaeus!

Ah for Adonis!

From Plotius, about the fifth or sixth centuryA.D., to show the metre of Sappho's hymeneal odes. The text is corrupt; the first verse is thus emended by Bergk, the second by Scaliger. Cf. fr.63.

109

A.Παρθενία, παρθενία, ποῖ με λίποισ' ἀποίχῃ;B.Οὐκέτι ἥξω πρὸς σε, οὐκέτι ἥξω.

A.Παρθενία, παρθενία, ποῖ με λίποισ' ἀποίχῃ;

B.Οὐκέτι ἥξω πρὸς σε, οὐκέτι ἥξω.

A.Maidenhood, maidenhood, whither art thou gone away from me?B.Never again will I come to thee, never again.

A.Maidenhood, maidenhood, whither art thou gone away from me?

B.Never again will I come to thee, never again.

'Sweet Rose of May, sweet Rose of May,Whither, ah whither fled away?''What's gone no time can e'er restore—I come no more, I come no more.'J. H. Merivale.

'Sweet Rose of May, sweet Rose of May,

Whither, ah whither fled away?'

'What's gone no time can e'er restore—

I come no more, I come no more.'

J. H. Merivale.

From Demetrius, who quoted the fragment to show the grace of Sappho's style and the beauty of repetition.

110

Ἄλλαν μὴ καμεστέραν φρένα.

Fool, faint not thou in thy strong heart.

From a very corrupt passage in Herodian. The translation is from Bergk's former emendation—

Ἄλλα μὴ κάμε τὺ στερέαν φρένα.

111

Φαίνεταί ϝοι κῆνος.

To himself he seems ...

From Apollonius, to show that the Aeolians used the digamma,ϝ. Bergk says this fragment does not belong to fr.2.

112

Ὠΐω πόλυ λευκότερον.

Much whiter than an egg.

From Athenaeus; cf. frs.56and122.

113

Μήτ' ἔμοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα

Neither honey nor bee for me.

A proverb quoted by many late authors, referring to those who wish for good unmixed with evil. They seem to be the words of the bride. This, and the second line of fr.62, andmany other verses, show Sappho's fondness for alliteration; frs.4and5, among several others, show that she did not ignore the charm of assonance.

114

Μὴ κίνη χέραδας.

Stir not the shingle.

Quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius to show thatχεράδεςwere 'little heaps of stones.'

115

Ὄπταις ἄμμε.

Thou burnest us.

Compare Swinburne's—

My life is bitter with thy love; thine eyesBlind me, thy tresses burn me, thy sharp sighsDivide my flesh and spirit with soft sound,etc.Anactoria.

My life is bitter with thy love; thine eyes

Blind me, thy tresses burn me, thy sharp sighs

Divide my flesh and spirit with soft sound,etc.

Anactoria.

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic form ofἡμᾶς, 'us.'

116

Ἠμιτύβιον σταλάσσον.

A napkin dripping.

From the Scholiast on Aristophanes'Plutus, quoted to show the meaning ofἡμιτύβιον, 'a half worn out shred of linen with which to wipe the hands.'

117

Τὸν ϝὸν παῖδα κάλει.

She called him her son.

Quoted by Apollonius to show the Aeolic use of the digamma.

All three are preserved only in theGreek Anthology. The authenticity of the last, fr.120, is doubtful. To none of them does Bergk restore the form of the Aeolic dialect.

118

Παῖδες, ἄφωνος ἐοῖσα τόδ' ἐννεπω, αἴ τις ἔρηται,φωνὰν ἀκαμάταν κατθεμένα πρὸ ποδῶν·Αἰθοπίᾳ με κόρᾳ Λατοῦς ἀνέθηκεν ἈρίσταἙρμοκλειδαία τῶ Σαοναϊάδα,σὰ πρόπολος, δέσποινα γυναικῶν· ᾇ σὺ χαρεῖσαπρόφρων ἁμετέραν εὐκλέϊσον γενεάν.

Παῖδες, ἄφωνος ἐοῖσα τόδ' ἐννεπω, αἴ τις ἔρηται,

φωνὰν ἀκαμάταν κατθεμένα πρὸ ποδῶν·

Αἰθοπίᾳ με κόρᾳ Λατοῦς ἀνέθηκεν Ἀρίστα

Ἑρμοκλειδαία τῶ Σαοναϊάδα,

σὰ πρόπολος, δέσποινα γυναικῶν· ᾇ σὺ χαρεῖσα

πρόφρων ἁμετέραν εὐκλέϊσον γενεάν.

Maidens, dumb as I am, I speak thus, if any ask, and set before your feet a tireless voice: To Leto's daughter Aethopia was I dedicated by Arista daughter of Hermocleides son of Saonaïades, thy servant, O queen of women; whom bless thou, and deign to glorify our house.

On a Priestess of Diana.

Does any ask? I answer from the dead;A voice that lives is graven o'er my head:To dark-eyed Dian, ere my days begun,Aristo vowed me, wife of Saon's son:Then hear thy priestess, hear, O virgin Power,And thy best gifts on Saon's lineage shower.R.

Does any ask? I answer from the dead;

A voice that lives is graven o'er my head:

To dark-eyed Dian, ere my days begun,

Aristo vowed me, wife of Saon's son:

Then hear thy priestess, hear, O virgin Power,

And thy best gifts on Saon's lineage shower.

The goddess here invoked as the 'queen of women' appears to have been Artĕmis, the Diana of the Romans.

119

Τιμάδος ἅδε κόνις, τὰν δὴ πρὸ γάμοιο θανοῦσανδέξατο Φερσεφόνας κυάνεος θάλαμος,ἇς καὶ ἀποφθιμένας πᾶσαι νεοθᾶγι σιδάρῳἄλικες ἱμερτὰν κρατὸς ἔθεντο κόμαν.

Τιμάδος ἅδε κόνις, τὰν δὴ πρὸ γάμοιο θανοῦσαν

δέξατο Φερσεφόνας κυάνεος θάλαμος,

ἇς καὶ ἀποφθιμένας πᾶσαι νεοθᾶγι σιδάρῳ

ἄλικες ἱμερτὰν κρατὸς ἔθεντο κόμαν.

This is the dust of Timas, whom Persephone's dark chamber received, dead before her wedding; when she perished, all her fellows dressed with sharpened steel the lovely tresses of their heads.

This dust was Timas'; ere her bridal hourShe lies in Proserpina's gloomy bower;Her virgin playmates from each lovely headCut with sharp steel their locks, their strewments for the dead.Sir Charles A. Elton.

This dust was Timas'; ere her bridal hour

She lies in Proserpina's gloomy bower;

Her virgin playmates from each lovely head

Cut with sharp steel their locks, their strewments for the dead.

Sir Charles A. Elton.

This is the dust of Timas, whom unwedPersephone locked in her darksome bed:For her the maids who were her fellows shoreTheir curls, and to her tomb this tribute bore.J. A. Symonds.

This is the dust of Timas, whom unwed

Persephone locked in her darksome bed:

For her the maids who were her fellows shore

Their curls, and to her tomb this tribute bore.

J. A. Symonds.

120

Τῷ γριπεῖ Πελάγωνι πατὴρ ἐπέθηκε Μενίσκοςκύρτον καὶ κώπαν, μνάμα κακοζοΐας.

Τῷ γριπεῖ Πελάγωνι πατὴρ ἐπέθηκε Μενίσκος

κύρτον καὶ κώπαν, μνάμα κακοζοΐας.

Over the fisherman Pelagon his father Meniscus set weel and oar, memorial of a luckless life.

On a Fisherman.

This oar and net and fisher's wickered snareMeniscus placed above his buried son—Memorials of the lot in life he bare,The hard and needy life of Pelagon.Sir Charles A. Elton.

This oar and net and fisher's wickered snare

Meniscus placed above his buried son—

Memorials of the lot in life he bare,

The hard and needy life of Pelagon.

Sir Charles A. Elton.

Here, to the fisher Pelagon, his sire Meniscus laidA wicker-net and oar, to show his weary life and trade.Lord Neaves.

Here, to the fisher Pelagon, his sire Meniscus laid

A wicker-net and oar, to show his weary life and trade.

Lord Neaves.

Above a fisher's tombWere set his withy-basket and his oar,The tokens of his doom,Of how in life his labour had been sore:A father put them up above his son,Meniscus over luckless Pelagon.Michael Field, 1889.

Above a fisher's tomb

Were set his withy-basket and his oar,

The tokens of his doom,

Of how in life his labour had been sore:

A father put them up above his son,

Meniscus over luckless Pelagon.

Michael Field, 1889.

Bergk sees no reason to accept the voice of tradition in attributing this epigram to Sappho.

121

Athenaeus says:—

'It is something natural that people who fancy themselves beautiful and elegant should be fond of flowers; on which account the companions of Persephone are represented as gathering flowers. And Sappho says she saw—

ἄνθε' αμέργουσαν παῖδ' ἄγαν ἁπαλάν,

'A maiden full tender plucking flowers.'

122, 123

Πόλυ πάκτιδος ἀδυμελεστέρα, χρύσω χρυσοτέρα.

Far sweeter of tone than harp, more golden than gold.

Quoted by Demetrius as an example of hyperbolic phrase. A commentator on Hermogenes the rhetorician says: 'These things basely flatter the ear, like the erotic phrases which Anacreon and Sappho use,γάλακτος λευκοτέραwhiter than milk,ὕδατος ἁπαλωτέραfresher than water,πηκτίδων ἐμμελεστέραmore musical than the harp,ἵππου γαυροτέραmore skittish than a horse,ῥόδων ἁβροτέραmore delicate than the rose,ἱματίου ἑανοῦ μαλακωτέραsofter than a fine robe,χρυσοῦ τιμιωτέραmore precious than gold.'

124

Demetrius says:—

'Wherefore also Sappho is eloquent and sweet when she sings of Beauty, and of Love and Spring and the Kingfisher; and every beautiful expression is woven into her poetry, besides what she herself invented.'

125

Maximus Tyrius says:—

'Diotima says that Love flourishes in prosperity, but dies in adversity; a sentiment which Sappho comprehends when she calls Loveγλυκίπικροςbitter-sweet[cf. fr.40] andἀλγεσίδωροςgiver of pain. Socrates calls Love the wizard, Sapphoμυθοπλόκοςthe weaver of fictions.'

126

Τὸ μέλημα τοὐμόν.

My darling.

Quoted by Julian, and by Theodoras Hyrtacenus in the twelfth centuryA.D., as of 'the wise Sappho.' Bergk says Sappho would have writtenτὸ μέλημα ὦμονin her own dialect.

127

Aristides says:—

Το γάνοςthe brightnessstanding over the whole city,οὐ διαφθεῖρον τὰς ὄψειςnot destroying the sight, as Sappho says, but developing at once and crowning and watering with cheerfulness; in no wayὑακινθίνω ἄνθει ὅμοιονlike a hyacinth-flower, but such as earth and sun never yet showed to men.'

128

Pollux writes:—

'Anacreon ... says they are crowned also withdill, as both Sappho [cf. fr.78] and Alcaeus say; though these also sayσελίνοιςwith parsley.'

129

Philostratus says:—

'Thus contend [the maidens]ῥοδοπήχεις καὶ ἑλικώπιδες καὶ καλλιπάρῃοι καὶ μελίφωνοιwith rosy arms and glancing eyes and fair cheeks and honeyed voices—this indeed is Sappho's sweet salutation.'

And Aristaenĕtus:—

'Before the porch the most musical andμειλιχόφωνοιsoft-voicedof the maidens sang the hymeneal song; this indeed is Sappho's sweetest utterance.'

Antipater of Sidon,Anthol. Pal.ix. 66, and others, call Sapphosweet-voiced.

130

Libanius the rhetorician, about the fourth centuryA.D., says:—

'If therefore nought prevented Sappho the Lesbian from prayingνύκτα αὐτῇ γενέσθαι διπλασίανthat the night might be doubled for her, let me also ask for something similar. Time, father ofyear and months, stretch out this very year for us as far as may be, as, when Herakles was born, thou didst prolong the night.'

Bergk thinks that Sappho probably prayed forνύκτα τριπλασίανa night thrice as longas an ordinary night, in reference to the myth of Jupiter and Alcmene, the mother of Hercules.

131

Strabo says:—

'A hundred furlongs further (from Elaea, a city in Aeolis) is Cané, the promontory opposite to Lectum, and forming the Gulf of Adramyttium, of which the Elaïtic Gulf is a part. Canae is a small city of the Locrians of Cynus, over against the most southerly extremity of Lesbos, situated in the Canaean territory, which extends to Arginusae and the overhanging cliff which some callAega, as if "a goat," but the second syllable should be pronounced long, Aegā, likeἀκτάandἀρχά, for this was the name of the whole mountain which at present is called Cané or Canae ... and the promontory itself seems afterwards to have been calledAega, as Sappho says the rest Canē or Canae.'

132

The Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius says:—

'Apollonius calls Love the son of Aphrodite, Sapphoof Earth and Heaven.'

But the Argument prefixed to Theocritus,Idylxiii., says:—

'Sappho calledLove the child of Aphrodite and Heaven.'

And Pausanias, about 180A.D., says:—

'On Love Sappho the Lesbian sang many things which do not agree with one another.' Cf. fr.74.

133

Himerius says:—

'Thou art, I think, an evening-star, of all stars the fairest: this is Sappho's song to Hesperus.' And again: 'Now thou didst appear like that fairest of all stars; for the Athenians call thee Hesperus.'

Bergk thinks Sappho's line ran thus:—

Ἀστέρων πάντων ὁ κάλιστος ...

Of all stars the fairest.

Elsewhere Himerius refers to what seems an imitation of Sappho, and says: 'If an ode had been wanted, I should have given him such an ode as this—

Νύμφα ῥοδέων ἐρώτων βρύουσα, Νύμφα Παφίης ἄγαλμα κάλλιστον, ἴθι πρὸς εὐνήν, ἴθι πρὸς λέχος μείλιχα παίζουσα, γλυκεῖα νυμφίῳ· Ἕσπερος σ' ἑκοῦσαν ἄγοι, ἀργυρόθρονον ζυγίαν Ἥραν θαυμάζουσαν.'

Bride teeming with rosy loves, bride, fairest image of the goddess of Paphos, go to the couch, go to the bed, softly sporting, sweet to the bridegroom. May Hesperus lead thee rejoicing, honouring Hera of the silver throne, goddess of marriage.

Bride, in whose breast haunt rosy loves!Bride, fairest of the Paphian groves!Hence, to thy marriage rise, and go!Hence, to thy bed, where thou shalt showWith honeyed play thy wedded charms,Thy sweetness in the bridegroom's arms!Let Hesper lead thee forth, a wife,Willing and worshipping for life,The silver-throned, the wedlock dame,Queen Hera, wanton without shame!J. A. Symonds, 1883.

Bride, in whose breast haunt rosy loves!

Bride, fairest of the Paphian groves!

Hence, to thy marriage rise, and go!

Hence, to thy bed, where thou shalt show

With honeyed play thy wedded charms,

Thy sweetness in the bridegroom's arms!

Let Hesper lead thee forth, a wife,

Willing and worshipping for life,

The silver-throned, the wedlock dame,

Queen Hera, wanton without shame!

J. A. Symonds, 1883.

134

The Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius says:—

'The story of the love of Selēnē is told by Sappho, and by Nicander in the second book of hisEuropa; and it is said that Selene came to Endymion in the same cave' (on Mount Latmus in Caria).

135

The Scholiast on Hesiod,Op. et D., 74, says:—

'Sappho calls PersuasionἈφροδίτης θυγατέραDaughter of Aphrodite.' Cf. fr.141.

136

Maximus Tyrius says:—

'Socrates blames Xanthippe for lamenting his death, as Sappho blames her daughter—

Οὐ γὰρ θέμις ἐν μουσοπόλων οἰκίᾳ θρήνον εἶναι· οὐκ ἄμμι πρέπει τάδε.

For lamentation may not be in a poet's house: such things befit not us.'

In the home of the Muses 'tis bootless to mourn.Frederick Tennyson.

In the home of the Muses 'tis bootless to mourn.

Frederick Tennyson.

137

Aristotle, in hisRhetoric, ii. 23, writes:—

ἢ ὥσπερ Σαπφώ, ὅτι το ἀποθνήσκειν κακόν· οἱ θεοὶ γὰρ οὕτω κεκρίκασιν· ἀπέθνησκον γὰρ ἄν.

Gregory, commenting on Hermogenes, also quotes the same saying:—

οἷον φησιν ἡ Σαπφώ, ὅτι τὸ ἀποθνήσκειν κακόν· οἱ θεοὶ γὰρ οὕτω κεκρίκασιν· ἀπέθνησκον γὰρ ἄν, εἴπερ ἦν καλὸν τὸ ἀποθνήσκειν.

Several attempts have been made to restore these words to a metrical form, and this of Hartung's appears to be the simplest:—

Τὸ θνάσκειν κακόν· οὕτω κεκρίκασι θεοί·ἔθνασκον γὰρ ἄν εἴπερ κάλον ἦν τόδε.

Τὸ θνάσκειν κακόν· οὕτω κεκρίκασι θεοί·

ἔθνασκον γὰρ ἄν εἴπερ κάλον ἦν τόδε.

Death is evil; the Gods have so judged: had it been good, they would die.

The preceding fragment (136) seems to have formed part of the same ode as the present. Perhaps it was this ode, which Sappho sent to her daughter forbidding her to lament her mother's death, that Solon is said to have so highly praised. The story is quoted from Aelianby Stobaeus thus: 'Solon the Athenian [who died about 558B.C.], son of Execestĭdes, on his nephew's singing an ode of Sappho's over their wine, was pleased with it, and bade the boy teach it him; and when some one asked why he took the trouble, he said,ἵνα μαθὼν αὐτὸ ἄποθανω. 'That I may not die before I have learned it.'

138

Athenaeus says:—

'Naucratis has produced some celebrated courtesans of exceeding beauty; as Dōricha, who was beloved by Charaxus, brother of the beautiful Sappho, when he went to Naucratis on business, and whom she accuses in her poetry of having robbed him of much. Herodotus calls her Rhodōpis, not knowing that Rhodopis was different from the Doricha who dedicated the famous spits at Delphi.'

Herodotus, about 440B.C., said:—

'Rhodopis came to Egypt with Xanthes of Samos; and having come to make money, she was ransomed for a large sum by Charaxus of Mitylene, son of Scamandronymus and brotherof Sappho the poetess. Thus Rhodopis was made free, and continued in Egypt, and being very lovely acquired great riches for a Rhodopis, though no way sufficient to erect such a pyramid [as Mycerīnus'] with. For as any one who wishes may to this day see the tenth of her wealth, there is no need to attribute any great wealth to her. For Rhodopis was desirous of leaving a monument to herself in Greece, and having had such a work made as no one ever yet devised and dedicated in a temple, to offer it at Delphi as a memorial of herself: having therefore made from the tenth of her wealth a great number of iron spits for roasting oxen, as far as the tenth allowed, she sent them to Delphi; and they are still piled up behind the altar which the Chians dedicated, and opposite the temple itself. The courtesans of Naucratis are generally very lovely: for in the first place this one, of whom this account is given, became so famous that all the Greeks became familiar with the name Rhodopis; and in the next place, after her another whose name was Archidĭce became celebrated throughout Greece, though less talked about than the former. As for Charaxus, after ransoming Rhodopis he returned to Mitylene, where Sappho ridiculed him bitterly in an ode.'

And Strabo:—

'It is said that the tomb of the courtesan was erected by her lovers: Sappho the lyric poet calls herDōricha. She was beloved by Sappho's brother Charaxus, who traded to the port of Naucratis with Lesbian wine. Others call her Rhodopis.'

And another writer (Appendix Prov., iv. 51) says:—

'The beautiful courtesan Rhodopis, whom Sappho and Herodotus commemorate, was of Naucratis in Egypt.'

139

Athenaeus says:—

'The beautiful Sappho in several places celebrates her brother, Larĭchus, as cup-bearer to the Mitylenaeans in the town-hall.'

The Scholiast on theIliad, xx. 234, says:—

'It was the custom, as Sappho also says, for well-born and beautiful youths to pour out wine.'

Cf. fr.5.

140

Palaephătus, probably an Alexandrian Greek, says:—

'Phaon gained his livelihood by a boat and the sea; the sea was crossed by a ferry; and no complaint was made by any one, since he was just, and only took from those who had means. He was a wonder among the Lesbians for his character. The goddess—they call Aphrodite "the goddess"—commends the man, and having put on the appearance of a woman now grown old, asks Phaon about sailing; he was swift to wait on her and carry her across and demand nothing. What thereupon does the goddess do? They say she transformed the man and restored him to youth and beauty. This is that Phaon, her love for whom Sappho several times made into a song.'

The story is repeated by many writers. Cf. fr.29.

141

[Fr. 141 now appears as fr.57A,q.v.]

142

Pausanias says:—

'Yet that gold does not contract rust the Lesbian poetess is a witness, and gold itself shows it.'

And the Scholiast on Pindar,Pyth., iv. 407:—

'But gold is indestructible; and so says Sappho,

Διὸς παῖς ὁ χρυσός, κείνον οὐ σης οὐδε κὶς δάπτει,

Gold is son of Zeus, no moth nor worm devours it.'

Sappho's own phrase is lost.

143

Aulus Gellius, about 160A.D., writes:—

'Homer says Niobe had six sons and six daughters, Euripides seven of each, Sapphonine, Bacchylides and Pindar ten.'

Cf. fr.31, the only line extant from the ode here referred to.

144

Servius, commenting on Vergil,Aeneid, vi. 21, says:—

'Some would have it believed that Theseus rescued along with himself seven boys and seven maidens, as Plato says in hisPhaedo, and Sappho in her lyrics, and Bacchylides in his dithyrambics, and Euripides in hisHercules.'

No such passage from Sappho has been preserved.

145

Servius, commenting on Vergil,Eclog., vi. 42, says:—

'Prometheus, son of Iapĕtus and Clymĕne, after he had created man, is said to have ascended to heaven by help of Minerva, and having applied a small torch [or perhaps 'wand'] to the sun's wheel, he stole fire and showed it to men. The Gods being angered hereby sent two evils upon the earth, fevers and disease [the text is here obviously corrupt; it ought to be 'women and disease' or 'fevers and women'], as Sappho and Hesiod tell.'

146

Philostratus says:—

'Sappho loves the Rose, and always crowns it with some praise, likening beautiful maidens to it.'

This remark seems to have led some of the earlier collectors of Sappho's fragments to include the 'pleasing song in commendation of the Rose' quoted by Achilles Tatius in his love-storyClitophon and Leucippe, but there is no reason to attribute it to Sappho. Mrs. E. B. Browning thus translated it:—

Song of the Rose.

If Zeus chose us a king of the flowers in his mirth,He would call to the Rose and would royally crown it,For the Rose, ho, the Rose, is the grace of the earth,Is the light of the plants that are growing upon it.For the Rose, ho, the Rose, is the eye of the flowers,Is the blush of the meadows that feel themselves fair—Is the lightning of beauty that strikes through the bowersOn pale lovers who sit in the glow unaware.Ho, the Rose breathes of love! Ho, the Rose lifts the cupTo the red lips of Cypris invoked for a guest!Ho, the Rose, having curled its sweet leaves for the world,Takes delight in the motion its petals keep up,As they laugh to the wind as it laughs from the west!

If Zeus chose us a king of the flowers in his mirth,

He would call to the Rose and would royally crown it,

For the Rose, ho, the Rose, is the grace of the earth,

Is the light of the plants that are growing upon it.

For the Rose, ho, the Rose, is the eye of the flowers,

Is the blush of the meadows that feel themselves fair—

Is the lightning of beauty that strikes through the bowers

On pale lovers who sit in the glow unaware.

Ho, the Rose breathes of love! Ho, the Rose lifts the cup

To the red lips of Cypris invoked for a guest!

Ho, the Rose, having curled its sweet leaves for the world,

Takes delight in the motion its petals keep up,

As they laugh to the wind as it laughs from the west!

And Mr. J. A. Symonds (1883):—

The Praise of Roses.

If Zeus had willed it soThat o'er the flowers one flower should reign a queen,I know, ah well I knowThe rose, the rose, that royal flower had been!She is of earth the gem,Of flowers the diadem;And with her flushThe meadows blush:Nay, she is beauty's self that brightensIn Summer, when the warm air lightens!Her breath's the breath of Love,Wherewith he lures the doveOf the fair Cyprian queen;Her petals are a screenOf pink and quivering green,For Cupid when he sleeps,Or for mild Zephyrus, who laughs and weeps.

If Zeus had willed it so

That o'er the flowers one flower should reign a queen,

I know, ah well I know

The rose, the rose, that royal flower had been!

She is of earth the gem,

Of flowers the diadem;

And with her flush

The meadows blush:

Nay, she is beauty's self that brightens

In Summer, when the warm air lightens!

Her breath's the breath of Love,

Wherewith he lures the dove

Of the fair Cyprian queen;

Her petals are a screen

Of pink and quivering green,

For Cupid when he sleeps,

Or for mild Zephyrus, who laughs and weeps.

'Sappho loves flowers with a personal sympathy,' writes Professor F. T. Palgrave. "Cretan girls," she says, "with their soft feet dancing lay flat the tender bloom of the grass" [fr.54]: she feels for the hyacinth "which shepherds on the mountain tread under foot, and the purple flower is on the ground" [fr.94]: she pities the wood-doves (apparently) as their "life grows cold and their wings fall" before the archer' [fr.16].

147

Himerius says:—

'These gifts of yours must now be likened to those of the leader of the Muses himself, as Sappho and Pindar, in an ode, adorn him withgolden hair and lyres, and attend him with a team of swans to Helicon while he dances with Muses and Graces; or as poets inspired by the Muses crown the Bacchanal (for thus the lyre calls him, meaning Dionȳsos), when Spring has just flashed out for the first time, with Spring flowers and ivy-clusters, and lead him, now to the topmost heights of Caucasus and vales of Lydia, now to the cliffs of Parnassus and the rock of Delphi, while he leaps and gives his female followers the note for the Evian tune.'

148

Eustathius says:—

'There is, we see, a vagabond friendship, as Sappho would say,καλὸν δημόσιον,a public blessing.'

This appears to have been said against Rhodopis. Cf. fr.138.

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