MORE WOMEN POETS

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SAPPHO

THE IDEALISED PORTRAIT




SAPPHO

THE FRAGMENTED REALITY

Sappho was born on the Greek island of Lesbos and was the first celebrated female poet, possibly even the first poet to write and perform poetry. She was born  in c. 630 –  and died in c. 570 BC. In her own time she was considered to be one of the great lyric poets. Lyric here has a very precise meaning- she sang her poetry accompanying  herself on the lyre. Her poetry only exists now in fragments, except for an Ode to Aphrodite which is complete. Contemporary scholars comment on her elegies and the poems that she wrote in iambic verse but none have survived.

Below is a link to her Wikipedia entry.
The British Library also has some material on Sappho.

Even if perusing Greek fragments  doesn't make your heart sing, I recommend the British Library Blogs as they are illustrated by some beautiful Medieval paintings.

Below is a poem I am very fond of as the mother of a daughter. I salute its tenderness and immediacy. It is almost certainly a "patchwork" of  fragments but they are sown together very skilfully.




CLEIS

Sleep, darling

I have a small

daughter called

Cleis, who is


like a golden

flower

       I wouldn't

take all Croesus'

kingdom with love

thrown in, for her


Don't ask me what to wear

I have no embroidered

headband from Sardis to

give you, Cleis, such as

I wore

       and my mother

always said that in her

day a purple ribbon

looped in the hair was thought

to be high style indeed


but we were dark:

                a girl

whose hair is yellower than

torchlight should wear no

headdress but fresh flowers

 SAPPHO


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