by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Translation by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid
Language: English after the Aeolic Greek
As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid
In love sick languor hung her head,
Unknowing where her fingers strayed
She weeping turned away and said --
"Oh, my sweet mother, 'tis in vain,
I cannot weave as once I wove,
So wildered is my heart and brain
With thinking of that youth I love."
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Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), no title [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Aeolic Greek by Sappho (flourished c610-c580 BCE)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Henry Théodore Pontet (1833 - 1902), "I cannot weave as once I wove", published 1878 [ voice and piano ], London [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "As o'er her loom", 1884 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Walter Savage Landor (1775 - 1864) , no title, appears in Simonidea, first published 1860 [an adaptation] ; composed by Howard Barlow, Cecil Burleigh, John Edmunds, George Foote, Oskar Morawetz, Alexander Paucker, as Francis Chagrin, Ned Rorem.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Richard Barth.
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- 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. 1 ; composed by Mathilde von Kralik.
- Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Janina Brzostowska (1897 - 1986) , copyright © ; composed by Andrzej Hundziak.
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- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949) , no title, appears in Сапфо и Алкей (Sapfo i Alkej) [an adaptation] ; composed by Arthur Vincent Lourié.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-01-10
Line count: 8
Word count: 53