This dust was Timas'

by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)

Translation by Charles Isaac Elton, QC (1839 - 1900)

Τιμάδος ἅδε κόνις

Language: Aeolic Greek

Τιμάδος ἅδε κόνις, 
τὰν δη πρὸ γάμοιο θανοῦσαν
δέξατο Φερσεφόνας 
κυάνεος θάλαμος,

ἇς καὶ ἀποφθιμένας 
πᾶσαι νεοθᾶγι σιδάρῳ
ἅλικες ἱμερτὰν κρατὸς 
ἔθεντο κόμαν.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE) [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 - 1935) , "The dust of Timas", appears in Captain Craig, in Variations of Greek Themes, no. 6, first published 1902 ; composed by Frank Lewin.
- Go to the text.
Also set in English, a translation by Frederick Adam Wright (1869 - 1946) ; composed by Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir.
- Go to the text.
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Prosper Yraven [an adaptation] ; composed by Charles Gounod.
- Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Henry Thornton Wharton)
ENG English (Charles Isaac Elton, QC)
ENG English (John Addington Symonds)
FRE French (Français) (Ernest Falconnet) , "Épitaphe de la jeune Timas"

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 23

This dust was Timas'

Language: English after the Aeolic Greek

This dust was Timas'; 
ere her bridal hour
She lies in Proserpina's 
gloomy bower;

Her virgin playmates 
from each lovely head
Cut with sharp steel their locks, 
their strewments for the dead.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Charles Isaac Elton, QC (1839 - 1900) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Aeolic Greek by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
- 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 ]

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-06-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 32