Sappho: A New Translation | 
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Product Description
These hundred poems and fragments constitute virtually all of Sappho that survives and effectively bring to life the woman whom the Greeks consider to be their greatest lyric poet. Mary Barnard's translations are lean, incisive, direct--the best ever published. She has rendered the beloved poet's verses, long the bane of translators, more authentically than anyone else in English.
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Customer Reviews:
• "there's So Much Beauty..." 07 March, 2002
Rich Mullins once wrote "there's so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see." And so it is with the poetry of this ancient Greek lady Sappho. Without her extra eyes, I would be robbed of some sights I could not have found without her. For instance, in one of her poems, she writes:"Awed by her splendorStars near the lovely moon cover their own bright faces when she is roundest and lights earth with her silver"Not only is there beauty. There is a straightforwardness and frankness to the poems of Sappho. It is a clear distillation of the poet's vision confronts the readers of these pages. There is also wisdom and humor. As when she writes:"Experience shows usWealth unchaperoned by Virtue is never an innocuous neighbor"Mary Barnard is to be praised for these clear, unvarnished translations. Likewise, the introduction is very useful in dispelling so much of the myth that has sprung up around the legacy of this great poet. I recommend this book highly.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A341BG8RMH8QW
• Lovely, Yet Far Away 08 February, 2008
I hate to say it, but this book made me somewhat regret studying Ancient Greek. I was given a copy by a friend and utterly adored it. It lived in my purse. I found the poems graceful in their simplicity, the imagery beautiful. Then I was asked to translate some Sapphic poetry for class and attempted to use this book as a reference by which to check my work. I unfortunately found that many of the translations had words and lines missing and added (including the title-like fist lines of each translation) and some were so different from the original poems that I had a hard time even finding a correlation between the two. If you want a lovely book of poetry then I highly recommend this book, if you want a brilliant translation of the Greek then I would suggest you do it yourself, as I have, as of yet, been unable to find a competent translation.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1S7HGIWCY9QZ5
• The Lesbian Lesbian 20 July, 2004
Because Sappho was a Lesbian who wrote about lesbian love, her poetry was banned at times throughout the ages, and therefore to this day there are only surviving fragments of her work and almost no complete poems. But of the fragments there is more than enough to ensure her place as one of the great female poets of all time. She wrote mainly love poems about things like passion, jealousy, and hostility towards her enemies. This book includes all of her surviving verse in a very readable and enjoyable translation.
David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3UJJGY799F76I
• Was Sappho A Lesbian ? 12 April, 2005
Sappho takes a special place among the poets of Antiquity. Plato already said that she was the tenth Muse.It's really refreshing to read her poems. They are very vivid and she needs only a few words to describe essential human feelings.
I'm not qualified to judge the translation but it strikes me that the poem known as 'The wedding of Hektor and Andromache'is left out (4 stars instead of 5).This poem is one of the most vivid descriptions in the poetry of Antiquity. It gives an almost journalistic account of the homecoming of Hektor and Andromache.
By many persons Sappho is considered as a lesbian writer. I don't have the answers but we should consider a few things.
To answer the question we should know her better, because too litle is left of her work to say anything with certainty.
Poems, though they reveal a lot of the poet, are seldom strictly autobiographical. In Antiquity no writer reveals his most inner feelings. We have to wait untill 'The Confessions' by St. Augustin in the 4th century to see that happen.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2K38E6J2GX62K
• A Pure Earthy Pleasure 24 August, 2000
Bernard's translation of Sappho is a translation of a poet who is down-to-earth, who pays attention to the detail.Some of the fragments are so brief that you are reminded of haiku: "The nightengale's / The soft-spoken / announcer of / Spring's presence"Other poems speak specifically of feminine concerns - the lost of the maiden-head, the color of ribbon that fits best in her daughter's yellow hair.I read a great deal of poetry in translation. In other translations I have not found Sappho to my liking. This translation appears to me to be truer to the author's earthliness and less concerned with making Sappho fit into preconceptions. In short, I highly recommend this translation.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2UDGZUEYHULS5
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