by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation by Bliss Carman (1861 - 1929)
Well I found you in the twilit garden
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
Well I found you in the twilit garden, Laid a lover’s hand upon your shoulder, And we both were made aware of loving Past the reach of reason to unravel, Or the much desiring heart to follow. There we heard the breath among the grasses And the gurgle of soft-running water, Well contented with the spacious starlight, The cool wind’s touch and the deep blue distance, Till the dawn came in with golden sandals.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Bliss Carman, Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics, The Project Gutenberg eBook, 2004.
Text Authorship:
- by Bliss Carman (1861 - 1929), no title, appears in Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics, no. 37 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Aeolic Greek by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter (1856 - 1938), "Well I found you", published 1985 [ medium voice and piano ], from Lyrics from Sappho, no. 2, Huntsville, Tex. : Recital Publications [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-08
Line count: 10
Word count: 74