by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation by Michael R. Burch (b. 1958)
Ποικιλόθρον’ ἀθάνατ’, Ἀφρόδιτα
Language: Aeolic Greek
Ποικιλόθρον’ ἀθάνατ’, Ἀφρόδιτα, παῖ Дίος δολόπλοκε, λίσσομαί σε, μή μ’ ἄσαισι μηδ’ ὀνίαισι δάμνα, πότνια, θῦμον· ἀλλὰ τυίδ’ ἔλθ’ , αἴ ποτα κἀτέρωτα τὰς ἔμας αὔδας ἀίοισα πήλοι ἔκλυες, πάτρος δὲ δόμον λίποισα χρύσιον ἦλθες ἄρμ’ ὐπασδεύξαισα· καλοι δέ σ’ ἆγον ὤκεες στροῦθοι περὶ γᾶς μελαίνας πύκνα δίννεντες πτέρ’ ἀπ’ ὠράνωἴθερος διὰ μέσσω. αἶψα δ’ ἐξίκοντο· σὺ δ’, ὦ μάκαιρα, μειδιαίσαισ’ ἀθανάτωι προσώπωι ἤρε’, ὄττι δηὖτε πέπονθα κὤττι δηὖτε κάλημμι κὤττι μοι μάλιστα θέλω γένεσθαι μαινόλαι θύμωι. ῾τίνα δηὖτε Πείθω μαῖσ’ ἄγην ἐς σὰν φιλότατα, τίς σ’, ὦ Ψάπφ’, ἀδικήει; καὶ γὰρ αἰ φεύγει, ταχέως διώξει, αἰ δὲ δῶρα μὴ δέκετ’, ἀλλὰ δώσει, αἰ δὲ μὴ φίλει, ταχέως φιλήσει κωὐκ ἐΘέλοισα. ᾽ ἔλΘε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσον ἐκ μερίμναν, ὄσσα δὲ μοι τέλεσσαι θῦμος ἰμέρρει, τέλεσον, σὺ δ’ αὔτα σύμμαχος ἔσσο.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE), appears in Fragments, no. 1 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Christos Hatzis (b. 1953), "Invocation to Aphrodite", published 1993, first performed 1995 [ soprano, clarinet, viola, cello, and piano ], from Three Songs on Poems by Sappho, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 - 1889), "Sappho's Ode to Aphrodite", subtitle: "barred as for Dorian Rythm", 1886 [ voice ], In: Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Letters Of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Oxford University Press, 1955, p.239
Score: Archive - Digital Library of India [external link] [sung text not yet checked] - by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Poikilothron athanat' Afrodita", 1959/60, first performed 1961 [ soprano and small orchestra ], from Sappho - Fünf griechische Lieder, no. 5, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "An Aphrodite", op. 9, Heft 9 no. 4 (1835), published 1840, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Plant , "Invocation to Aphrodite", first performed 1995 [ voice, flute, violin, cello and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Helen Maude Francesca Bantock, née von Schweitzer (1868 - 1961) [an adaptation] ; composed by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir.
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Margaret Ruthven Lang.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in English, a translation by Michael R. Burch (b. 1958) ; composed by Hana Ajiashvili.
- Also set in English, a translation by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001) , "Tell me", appears in Sappho: A New Translation, no. 58 ; composed by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Walter Jens (1923 - 2013) , copyright © [an adaptation] ; composed by Aribert Reimann.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Carl von Blankensee ; composed by Carl Loewe.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rudolf Bach (1901 - 1957) ; composed by Hermann Reutter.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by N. F. Arbenin ; composed by Anton Yulyevich Simon.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bliss Carman) , no title, appears in Sappho: One Hundred Lyrics, no. 5 [an adaptation]
- ENG English (Henry Thornton Wharton)
- ENG English (John Addington Symonds) , "Ode to Aphrodite", first published 1893
- ENG English (John Plant) , copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Edwin Marion Cox) , first published 1924
- ENG English (Ambrose Philips) , "A Hymn to Venus", written 1711
- FRE French (Français) (Pauline Mary Tarn) , "à l’Aphrodita", first published 1903
- FRE French (Français) (Jocelyne Fleury) , copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-10
Line count: 28
Word count: 133
Beautiful swift sparrows
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
Beautiful swift sparrows rising on whirring wings flee the dark earth for the sun-bright air...
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hana Ajiashvili , no title, 2015, copyright © 2019 [ 2 sopranos, recorder, viola da gamba, harpsichord and guitar ], from Mere Air, no. 4, Rijswijk : Stichting Donemus Beheer; two texts simultaneously)
Score: Donemus [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-03-27
Line count: 3
Word count: 15