I sip the cup of costly death;
I lose my color; I catch my breath
whenever I contemplate your presence,
or absence.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

• by Michael R. Burch (b. 1958) [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

• a text in Aeolic Greek by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE), no title, appears in Fragments, no. 2
  • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Hana Ajiashvili , no title, 2015 [ 2 sopranos, recorder, viola da gamba, harpsichord and guitar ], from Mere Air, no. 3, Rijswijk : Stichting Donemus Beheer
      Publisher: Donemus [external link]
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by William Bliss Carman (1861 - 1929) , no title, appears in Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics, no. 16 [an adaptation] ; composed by Ivor Gurney, Albert Mallinson.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in English, a translation by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001) , no title, appears in Sappho: A New Translation, no. 37, copyright © ; composed by Sheila Silver.
  • Go to the text.
    

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-27
Line count: 4
Word count: 22