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
Chosen for Diff
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