by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation by Bliss Carman (1861 - 1929)
I grow weary of the foreign cities
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
I grow weary of the foreign cities, The sea travel and the stranger peoples. Even the clear voice of hardy fortune Dares me not as once on brave adventure. For the heart of man must seek and wander, Ask and question and discover knowledge; Yet above all goodly things is wisdom, And love greater than all understanding. So, a mariner, I long for land-fall,— When a darker purple on the sea-rim, O’er the prow uplifted, shall be Lesbos And the gleaming towers of Mitylene.
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. 39 [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), "I grow weary", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], from Lyrics from Sappho, no. 6, 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: 12
Word count: 84