59 small sappho poems
Peeper Hersey-Powers
For this project, I tried using Sappho fragments to create little poems, sort of like refrigerator magnet poetry I suppose? I color-coded each poem by fragment, so people could see the instances in which I placed some fragments between others. I also put a non-color-coded version at the bottom just in case the colors were distracting/caused eye-strain for anyone!
Also-also, this might be slightly confusing, but I did place some brackets [like this] around words I changed just slightly from the original Sappho to match tense or make things slightly clearer.
Color-coded Version:
]frequently
]for those
I treat well are the ones who most of all
]harm me
but I am not someone who likes to wound
rather I have a quiet mind
mingled with all kinds of colors
like the hyacinth in the mountains that shepherd men
with their feet trample down and on the ground the purple
flower
]in myself I am
aware of this
I would not think to touch the sky with two arms
but may it happen to me [
]
]longing
]
as the sweetapple reddens on a high branch
high on the highest branch and the applepickers forgot—
no, not forgot: were unable to reach
]I want
]to hold
all [
[that] I long and seek after
I conversed with you in a dream
but me you [had] forgotten
or you love[d] some man more than me
my darling one
honeyvoiced
far more sweetsounding than a lyre
golder than gold
of all stars the most beautiful
having come from heaven wrapped in a purple cloak
]
]you will remember
]for we in our youth
did these things
yes many and beautiful things
]
]
]
Eros shook my
mind like a mountain wind falling on oak trees
and I on a soft pillow
[would] lay down my limbs
]
]
] to you
]
and on a soft bed
delicate
you would let loose your longing
] ]and yes I
shall love ]as long as there is in me
] ]will be a care
[and] someone will remember us
I say
even in another time
Non-color-coded Version:
]frequently
]for those
I treat well are the ones who most of all
]harm me
but I am not someone who likes to wound
rather I have a quiet mind
mingled with all kinds of colors
like the hyacinth in the mountains that shepherd men
with their feet trample down and on the ground the purple
flower
]in myself I am
aware of this
I would not think to touch the sky with two arms
but may it happen to me [
]
]longing
]
as the sweetapple reddens on a high branch
high on the highest branch and the applepickers forgot—
no, not forgot: were unable to reach
]I want
]to hold
all [
[that] I long and seek after
I conversed with you in a dream
but me you [had] forgotten
or you love[d] some man more than me
my darling one
honeyvoiced
far more sweetsounding than a lyre
golder than gold
of all stars the most beautiful
having come from heaven wrapped in a purple cloak
]
]you will remember
]for we in our youth
did these things
yes many and beautiful things
]
]
]
Eros shook my
mind like a mountain wind falling on oak trees
and I on a soft pillow
[would] lay down my limbs
]
]
] to you
]
and on a soft bed
delicate
you would let loose your longing
] ]and yes I
shall love ]as long as there is in me
] ]will be a care
[and] someone will remember us
I say
even in another time