by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation Singable translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα
Language: Aeolic Greek
Δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα καὶ Πληίαδες· μέσαι δὲ νύκτες, παρὰ δ’ ἔρχετ’ ὤρα ἔγω δὲ μόνα κατεύδω.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Digital Sappho; Note: this is often referred to as Sappho Fragment 94 D.
Text Authorship:
- by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE), no title, appears in Fragments, no. 168B [author's text checked 1 time 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 Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Dedyke men a salanna", 1993-5, first performed 1995 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sieben Lieder der Sappho, no. 6, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Henry Thornton Wharton (1846 - 1895) , no title ; composed by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir.
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Ned Rorem.
- Also set in English, a translation by Mary Barnard (1909 - 2001) , "Tonight I’ve watched", appears in Sappho: A New Translation, no. 64, copyright © 1986 ; composed by Carol Barnett, Sheila Silver.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Charles Chaynes.
- 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 Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803) , no title, appears in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, in 2. Das zweite Buch. Lieder aus dem Süd, in 5. Fragmente griechischer Lieder. Sappho, no. 2 ; composed by Mathilde Kralik.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rudolf Bach (1901 - 1957) ; composed by Hermann Reutter.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , copyright © ; composed by Olga Neuwirth.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Dorothea Hofmann (b. 1961) , copyright © ; composed by Dorothea Hofmann.
- 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 Italian (Italiano), a translation by Giacomo Leopardi (1798 - 1837) [an adaptation] ; composed by Ildebrando Pizzetti.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Salvatore Quasimodo (1901 - 1968) [an adaptation] ; composed by Goffredo Petrassi.
- Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Andrea Ferrante.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949) , "Ожидание", appears in Сапфо и Алкей (Sapfo i Alkej) ; composed by Arthur Vincent Lourié.
- Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Gustaf Emil Zilliacus (1878 - 1961) ; composed by Staffan Björklund.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Henry Thornton Wharton) , no title
- FRE French (Français) (Ernest Falconnet)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , copyright ©
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Salvatore Quasimodo) [an adaptation]
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , no title, copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SAN Sanskrit (संस्कृतम्) (Holger Christian Teipel-Jahr) , copyright © 2021, (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: 2007-11-29
Line count: 4
Word count: 17
Night
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
The moon The pleiades have set. Past midnight now, and still I lie alone.
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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. 168B
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Night", 1999, published 2000, first performed 2002 [ medium voice and piano ], from Another Sleep, no. 15 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 14