Chapter 5 of 11 · 3978 words · ~20 min read

Part 5

Splendour-throned Queen, immortal Aphrodite, Daughter of Jove, Enchantress, I implore thee Vex not my soul with agonies and anguish; Slay me not, Goddess! Come in thy pity--come, if I have prayed thee; Come at the cry of my sorrow; in the old times Oft thou hast heard, and left thy father's heaven, Left the gold houses, Yoking thy chariot. Swiftly did the doves fly, Swiftly they brought thee, waving plumes of wonder-- Waving their dark plumes all across the aether, All down the azure. Very soon they lighted. Then didst thou, Divine one, Laugh a bright laugh from lips and eyes immortal, Ask me, 'What ailed me--wherefore out of heaven 'Thus I had called thee? 'What it was made me madden in my heart so?' Question me, smiling--say to me, 'My Sappho, 'Who is it wrongs thee? Tell me who refuses 'Thee, vainly sighing.' 'Be it who it may be, he that flies shall follow; 'He that rejects gifts, he shall bring thee many; 'He that hates now shall love thee dearly, madly-- 'Aye, though thou wouldst not.' So once again come, Mistress; and, releasing Me from my sadness, give me what I sue for, Grant me my prayer, and be as heretofore now Friend and protectress. EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

Beautiful-throned, immortal Aphrodite, Daughter of Zeus, beguiler, I implore thee, Weigh me not down with weariness and anguish O thou most holy!

Come to me now, if ever thou in kindness Hearkenedst my words,--and often hast thou hearkened-- Heeding, and coming from the mansions golden Of thy great Father,

Yoking thy chariot, borne by the most lovely Consecrated birds, with dusky-tinted pinions, Waving swift wings from utmost heights of heaven Through the mid-ether;

Swiftly they vanished, leaving thee, O goddess, Smiling, with face immortal in its beauty, Asking why I grieved, and why in utter longing I had dared call thee;

Asking what I sought, thus hopeless in desiring, Wildered in brain, and spreading nets of passion-- Alas, for whom? and saidst thou, 'Who has harmed thee? 'O my poor Sappho!

'Though now he flies, ere long he shall pursue thee; 'Fearing thy gifts, he too in turn shall bring them; 'Loveless to-day, to-morrow he shall woo thee, 'Though thou shouldst spurn him.'

Thus seek me now, O holy Aphrodite! Save me from anguish; give me all I ask for, Gifts at thy hand; and thine shall be the glory, Sacred protector! T. W. HIGGINSON, 1871.

O fickle-souled, deathless one, Aphrodite, Daughter of Zeus, weaver of wiles, I pray thee, Lady august, never with pangs and bitter Anguish affray me!

But hither come often, as erst with favour My invocations pitifully heeding, Leaving thy sire's golden abode, thou camest Down to me speeding.

Yoked to thy car, delicate sparrows drew thee Fleetly to earth, fluttering fast their pinions, From heaven's height through middle ether's liquid Sunny dominions.

Soon they arrived; thou, O divine one, smiling Sweetly from that countenance all immortal, Askedst my grief, wherefore I so had called thee From the bright portal?

What my wild soul languished for, frenzy-stricken? 'Who thy love now is it that ill requiteth, Sappho? and who thee and thy tender yearning Wrongfully slighteth?

Though he now fly, quickly he shall pursue thee-- Scorns he thy gifts? Soon he shall freely offer-- Loves he not? Soon, even wert thou unwilling, Love shall he proffer.'

Come to me then, loosen me from my torment, All my heart's wish unto fulfilment guide thou, Grant and fulfil! And an ally most trusty Ever abide thou. MORETON JOHN WALHOUSE, in _The Gentleman's Magazine_, 1877.

Glittering-throned, undying Aphrodite, Wile-weaving daughter of high Zeus, I pray thee, Tame not my soul with heavy woe, dread mistress, Nay, nor with anguish!

But hither come, if ever erst of old time Thou didst incline, and listenedst to my crying, And from thy father's palace down descending, Camest with golden

Chariot yoked: thee fair swift-flying sparrows Over dark earth with multitudinous fluttering, Pinion on pinion, thorough middle ether Down from heaven hurried.

Quickly they came like light, and thou, blest lady, Smiling with clear undying eyes didst ask me What was the woe that troubled me, and wherefore I had cried to thee:

What thing I longed for to appease my frantic Soul: and Whom now must I persuade, thou askedst, Whom must entangle to thy love, and who now, Sappho, hath wronged thee?

Yea, for if now he shun, he soon shall chase thee; Yea, if he take not gifts, he soon shall give them; Yea, if he love not, soon shall he begin to Love thee, unwilling.

Come to me now too, and from tyrannous sorrow Free me, and all things that my soul desires to Have done, do for me, queen, and let thyself too Be my great ally! J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS, 1893.

Besides these complete versions--many others there are, but these are by far the best--compare the following stanza out of Akenside's _Ode on Lyric Poetry_ (about 1745):--

But lo, to Sappho's melting airs Descends the radiant queen of Love: She smiles, and asks what fonder cares Her suppliant's plaintive measures move: Why is my faithful maid distressed? Who, Sappho, wounds thy tender breast? Say, flies he?--Soon he shall pursue. Shuns he thy gifts?--He soon shall give. Slights he thy sorrows?--He shall grieve, And soon to all thy wishes bow.

And Swinburne's paraphrase--

For I beheld in sleep the light that is In her high place in Paphos, heard the kiss Of body and soul that mix with eager tears And laughter stinging through the eyes and ears: Saw Love, as burning flame from crown to feet, Imperishable, upon her storied seat; Clear eyelids lifted toward the north and south, A mind of many colours, and a mouth Of many tunes and kisses; and she bowed, With all her subtle face laughing aloud, Bowed down upon me, saying, 'Who doth thee wrong, Sappho?' but thou--thy body is the song, Thy mouth the music; thou art more than I, Though my voice die not till the whole world die; Though men that hear it madden; though love weep, Though nature change, though shame be charmed to sleep. Ay, wilt thou slay me lest I kiss thee dead? Yet the queen laughed from her sweet heart and said: 'Even she that flies shall follow for thy sake, And she shall give thee gifts that would not take, Shall kiss that would not kiss thee' (yea, kiss me) 'When thou wouldst not'--when I would not kiss thee! _Anactoria_, p. 67 f.

And his--

_O thou of divers-coloured mind,[7] O thou_ _Deathless, God's daughter subtle-souled_--lo now, Now to the song above all songs, in flight Higher than the day-star's height, And sweet as sound the moving wings of night! _Thou of the divers-coloured seat_--behold Her very song of old!-- _O deathless, O Gods daughter subtle-souled!_ * * * * * _Child of God, close craftswoman, I beseech thee;_ _Bid not ache nor agony break nor master,_ _Lady, my spirit._ _Songs of the Spring-tides_: On the Cliffs.

As well as Frederick Tennyson's--

Come to me; what I seek in vain Bring thou; into my spirit send Peace after care, balm after pain; And be my friend.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing at Rome about 25 B.C., quotes this, commonly called _The Ode to Aphrodite_, as a perfect illustration of the elaborately finished style of poetry, showing in detail how its grace and beauty lie in the subtle harmony between the words and the ideas. Certain lines of it, though nowhere else the whole, are preserved by Hephaestion and other authors.

[Greek: Phainetai moi kênos isos theoisin] [Greek: emmen ônêr, ostis enantios toi] [Greek: izanei, kai plasion ady phôneu-] [Greek: sas hypakouei] [Greek: kai gelaisas imeroen, to moi man] [Greek: kardian en stêthesin eptoasen;] [Greek: hôs gar euidon brocheôs se, phônas] [Greek: ouden et' eikei;] [Greek: alla kam men glôssa eage, lepton d'] [Greek: autika chrô pyr ypadedromaken,] [Greek: oppatessi d' ouden orêm', epirrom-] [Greek: beisi d' akouai.] [Greek: a de midrôs kakcheetai, tromos de] [Greek: paisan agrei, chlôrotera de poias] [Greek: emmi, tethnakên d' oligô 'pideuês] [Greek: phainomai [alla].] [Greek: alla pan tolmaton, [epei kai penêta].]

_That man seems to me peer of gods, who sits in thy presence, and hears close to him thy sweet speech and lovely laughter; that indeed makes my heart flutter in my bosom. For when I see thee but a little, I have no utterance left, my tongue is broken down, and straightway a subtle fire has run under my skin, with my eyes I have no sight, my ears ring, sweat pours down, and a trembling seizes all my body; I am paler than grass, and seem in my madness little better than one dead. But I must dare all, since one so poor_ ...

The famous imitation of this ode by Catullus, li., _Ad Lesbiam_--

Ille mi par esse deo videtur, Ille, si fas est, superare divos, Qui sedens adversus identidem te Spectat et audit Dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis Eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te, Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi * * * * * Lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus Flamma demanat, sonitu suopte Tintinant aures, gemina teguntur Lumina nocte--

is thus translated by Mr. W. E. Gladstone:--

Him rival to the gods I place, Him loftier yet, if loftier be, Who, Lesbia, sits before thy face, Who listens and who looks on thee;

Thee smiling soft. Yet this delight Doth all my sense consign to death; For when thou dawnest on my sight, Ah, wretched! flits my labouring breath.

My tongue is palsied. Subtly hid Fire creeps me through from limb to limb: My loud ears tingle all unbid: Twin clouds of night mine eyes bedim.

and recently by the late Sir R. F. Burton:--

Peer of a god meseemeth he, Nay, passing gods (an that can be!), Who all the while sits facing thee, Sees thee and hears Thy low sweet laughs which (ah me!) daze Mine every sense, and as I gaze Upon thee, Lesbia, o'er me strays . . . . . . My tongue is dulled, my limbs adown Flows subtle flame; with sound its own Rings either ear, and o'er are strown Mine eyes with night.

----

Blest as the immortal gods is he, The youth who fondly sits by thee, And hears and sees thee all the while Softly speak and sweetly smile.

'Twas this deprived my soul of rest, And raised such tumults in my breast; For while I gazed, in transport tost, My breath was gone, my voice was lost:

My bosom glowed; the subtle flame Ran quick through all my vital frame; O'er my dim eyes a darkness hung; My ears with hollow murmurs rung.

In dewy damps my limbs were chilled; My blood with gentle horror thrilled; My feeble pulse forgot to play; I fainted, sank, and died away. AMBROSE PHILIPS, 1711.

Thy fatal shafts unerring move, I bow before thine altar, Love I feel thy soft resistless flame Glide swift through all my vital frame.

For while I gaze my bosom glows, My blood in tides impetuous flows; Hope, fear, and joy alternate roll, And floods of transports whelm my soul.

My faltering tongue attempts in vain In soothing murmurs to complain; My tongue some secret magic ties, My murmurs sink in broken sighs.

Condemned to nurse eternal care, And ever drop the silent tear, Unheard I mourn, unknown I sigh, Unfriended live, unpitied die. SMOLLETT, in _Roderick Random_, 1748.

Blest as the immortal gods is he, The youth whose eyes may look on thee, Whose ears thy tongue's sweet melody May still devour. Thou smilest too?--sweet smile, whose charm Has struck my soul with wild alarm, And, when I see thee, bids disarm Each vital power. Speechless I gaze: the flame within Runs swift o'er all my quivering skin; My eyeballs swim; with dizzy din My brain reels round; And cold drops fall; and tremblings frail Seize every limb; and grassy pale I grow; and then--together fail Both sight and sound. JOHN HERMAN MERIVALE, 1833.

Peer of gods he seemeth to me, the blissful Man who sits and gazes at thee before him, Close beside thee sits, and in silence hears thee Silverly speaking, Laughing love's low laughter. Oh this, this only Stirs the troubled heart in my breast to tremble! For should I but see thee a little moment, Straight is my voice hushed; Yea, my tongue is broken, and through and through me 'Neath the flesh impalpable fire runs tingling; Nothing see mine eyes, and a noise of roaring Waves in my ear sounds; Sweat runs down in rivers, a tremor seizes All my limbs, and paler than grass in autumn, Caught by pains of menacing death, I falter, Lost in the love-trance. J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS, 1883.

Compare Lord Tennyson:--

I watch thy grace; and in its place My heart a charmed slumber keeps, While I muse upon thy face; And a languid fire creeps Through my veins to all my frame, Dissolvingly and slowly: soon From thy rose-red lips _my_ name Floweth; and then, as in a swoon, With dinning sound my ears are rife, My tremulous tongue faltereth, I lose my colour, I lose my breath, I drink the cup of a costly death Brimmed with delicious draughts of warmest life. I die with my delight, before I hear what I would hear from thee. _Eleänore_, 1832.

And--

Last night, when some one spoke his name, From my swift blood that went and came A thousand little shafts of flame Were shiver'd in my narrow frame.--_Fatima_.[8]

And with line 14, Swinburne's--

Paler than grass in summer.--_Sapphics_.

and--

Made like white summer-coloured grass. _Aholibah_.

Longinus, about 250 A.D., uses this, _The Ode to Anactoria_, or _To a beloved Woman_, or _To a Maiden_, as tradition variously names it, to illustrate the perfection of the Sublime in poetry, calling it 'not one passion, but a congress of passions,' and showing how Sappho had here seized upon the signs of love-frenzy and harmonised them into faultless phrase. Plutarch had, about 60 A.D., spoken of this ode as 'mixed with fire,' and quoted Philoxenus as referring to Sappho's 'sweet-voiced songs healing love.'

[Greek: Asteres men amphi kalan selannan] [Greek: aips apykryptoisi phaennon eidos,] [Greek: oppota plêthoisa malista lampê] [Greek: gan [epi pasan]] - v - v [Greek: arguria] - v - v ;

_The stars about the fair moon in their turn hide their bright face when she at about her full lights up all earth with silver._

Planets, that around the beauteous moon Attendant wait, cast into shade Their ineffectual lustre, soon As she, in full-orbed majesty arrayed, Her silver radiance pours Upon this world of ours. J. H. MERIVALE.

The stars around the lovely moon Their radiant visage hide as soon As she, full-orbed, appears to sight, Flooding the earth with her silvery light. ? FELTON.

The stars about the lovely moon Fade back and vanish very soon, When, round and full, her silver face Swims into sight, and lights all space. EDWIN ARNOLD, 1869.

Stars that shine around the refulgent full moon Pale, and hide their glory of lesser lustre When she pours her silvery plenilunar Light on the orbed earth. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

'As the stars draw back their shining faces when they surround the fair moon in her silver fulness.' F. T. PALGRAVE.

Quoted by Eustathius of Thessalonica, late in the twelfth century, to illustrate the simile in the _Iliad_, viii. 551:--

As when in heaven the stars about the moon Look beautiful. TENNYSON.

Julian, about 350 A.D., says Sappho applied the epithet _silver_ to the moon; wherefore Blomfield suggested its position here.

[Greek: Amphi de psychron keladei di' usdôn] [Greek: malinôn, aithyssomenôn de phyllôn] [Greek: kôma katarrei]

_And round about the_ [breeze] _murmurs cool through apple-boughs, and slumber streams from quivering leaves._

Through orchard-plots with fragrance crowned The clear cold fountain murmuring flows; And forest leaves with rustling sound Invite to soft repose. J. H. MERIVALE.

All around through branches of apple-orchards Cool streams call, while down from the leaves a-tremble Slumber distilleth. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Professor F. T. Palgrave says:--

'We have three lines on a garden scene full of the heat and sleep of the fortunate South:--

'"Round about the cool water thrills through the apple-branches, and sleep flows down upon us in the rustling leaves."

'If there were any authority,' he adds in a note, 'I should like to translate "through the _troughs_ of apple-wood." That Eastern mode of garden irrigation gives a much more defined, and hence a more Sappho-like, image than "through the boughs."'

From the sound of cool waters heard through the green boughs Of the fruit-bearing trees, And the rustling breeze, Deep sleep, as a trance, down over me flows. FREDERICK TENNYSON, 1890.

Cited by Hermogenes, about 170 A.D., as an example of simple style, and to show the pleasure given by description. The fragment describes the gardens of the nymphs, which Demetrius, about 150 A.D., says were sung by Sappho. Cf. Theocritus, _Idyl_ vii. 135: 'High above our heads waved many a poplar, many an elm-tree, while close at hand the sacred water from the Nymph's own cave welled forth with murmurs musical' (A. Lang). And Ovid, _Heroïd._, xv. 157--

A spring there is whose silver waters show, etc.--

(cf. Pope's translation, _infra_, p. 194) probably refers to it.

- v - v - v v [Greek: Elthe Kypri] [Greek: chrysiaisin en kylikessin abrôs] [Greek: symmemigmenon thaliaisi nektar] [Greek: oinochoeusa.]

_Come, goddess of Cyprus, and in golden cups serve nectar delicately mixed with delights._

Come, Venus, come Hither with thy golden cup, Where nectar-floated flowerets swim. Fill, fill the goblet up; These laughing lips shall kiss the brim,-- Come, Venus, come! ANON. (_Edin. Rev._, 1832).

Kupris, hither Come, and pour from goblets of gold the nectar Mixed for love's and pleasure's delight with dainty Joys of the banquet. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Athenaeus, a native of Naucratis, who flourished about 230 A.D., quotes these verses as an example of the poets' custom of invoking Aphrodite in their pledges. Applying them to himself and his fellow-guests, he adds the words [Greek: toutoisi tois hetairois emois ge kai sois]. Some scholars believe that Sappho actually wrote--

[Greek: taisde tais emais etaraisi kai sais],

_For these my companions and thine._

Aphrodite was called Cypris, 'the Cyprian,' because it was mythologically believed that when she rose from the sea she was first received as a goddess on the shore of Cyprus (_Homeric Hymns_, vi.). Sappho seems to be here figuratively referring to the nectar of love.

[Greek: Ê se Kypros kai Paphos ê Panormos.]

_Or Cyprus and Paphos, or Panormus_ [holds] _thee._

If thee Cyprus, or Paphos, or Panormos. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

From Strabo, about 19 A.D. Panormus (Palermo) in Sicily was not founded till after Sappho's time, but it was a common name, and all seaports were under the special protection of Aphrodite.

7, 8

[Greek: Soi d' egô leukas epi bômon aigos] - v - v - v v - v - v [Greek: kapileipsô toi] v v - v - v ;

_But for thee will I_ [lead] _to the altar_ [the offspring] _of a white goat ... and add a libation for thee._

Adduced by Apollonius of Alexandria, about 140 A.D., to illustrate similarities in dialects. The fragment is probably part of an ode describing a sacrifice offered to Aphrodite.

[Greek: Aith' egô, chrysostephan' Aphrodita,] [Greek: tonde ton palon lachoên.]

_This lot may I win, golden-crowned Aphrodite._

From Apollonius, to show how adverbs give an idea of prayer.

[Greek: Ai me timian epoêsan erga] [Greek: ta spha doisai.]

_Who gave me their gifts and made me honoured._

From Apollonius, to illustrate the Aeolic dialect. Bergk thinks this fragment had some connection with fr. 68, and perhaps with fr. 32. It seems to refer to the Muses.

- v - v - [Greek: Tade nyn etairais] [Greek: tais emaisi terpna kalôs aeisô.]

_This will I now sing deftly to please my girl-friends._

Quoted by Athenaeus to prove that freeborn women and maidens often called their girl associates and friends [Greek: etairai] (_Hetaerae_), without any idea of reproach.

- v - v - v v [Greek: Ottinas gar] [Greek: eu theô, kênoi me malista sinnon-] [Greek: tai.] v v - v ;

_For they whom I benefit injure me most._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, a dictionary which was compiled about the tenth century A.D.

- v - v - v [Greek: Egô de kên' ot-] [Greek: tô tis eratai.]

_But that which one desires I ..._

From Apollonius, to illustrate the use of the verb [Greek: eraô]. Bergk now reads [Greek: eratai] instead of [Greek: eratai] as formerly, on the analogy of [Greek: diakêtai] and [Greek: dynamai] in the Fayum fragments.

[Greek: Tais kalais ymmin [to] noêma tômon] [Greek: oi diameipton.]

_To you, fair maids, my mind changes not._

From Apollonius, to show the Aeolic use of [Greek: ymmin] for [Greek: hymin], 'to you.'

- v - v - v [Greek: Egôn d' imauta] [Greek: touto synoida.]

_And this I feel in myself._

From Apollonius, to show Aeolic accentuation.

[Greek: Taisi [de] psychros men egento thymos,] [Greek: par d' ieisi ta ptera.] - v - v

_But their heart turned cold and they dropt their wings._

In Pindar, _Pyth._ i. 10, the eagle of Zeus, delighted by music, drops his wings, and the Scholiast quotes this fragment to show that Sappho says the same of doves.

- v - v - v [Greek: kat' emon stalagmon;] [Greek: Ton d' epiplazontes amoi pheroien] [Greek: kai meledônais.]

_According to my weeping: it and all care let buffeting winds bear away._

Him the wanderer o'er the world Far away the winds will bear, And restless care. FREDERICK TENNYSON.

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, to show that the Aeolians used [Greek: z] in the place of [Greek: ss]. [Greek: Amoi] is a guess of Bergk's for [Greek: anemoi], 'winds.'

[Greek: Artiôs m' a chrysopedillos Auôs.]

_Me just now the golden-sandalled Dawn ..._

Me but now Aurora the golden-sandalled. J. A. SYMONDS, 1883.

Quoted by Ammonius of Alexandria, at the close of the fourth century A.D., to show Sappho's use of [Greek: artiôs].

- v - v - v v [Greek: Podas de] [Greek: poikilos maslês ekalypte, Lydi-] [Greek: on kalon ergon.]

_A broidered strap of fair Lydian work covered her feet._

Quoted by the Scholiast on Aristophanes' _Peace_, 1174; and also by Pollux, about 180 A.D. Blass thinks the lines may have referred to an apparition of Aphrodite.

- v - v [Greek: Pantodapais memigme-] [Greek: na chroiaisin.]

_Shot with a thousand hues._

Quoted by the Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes, i. 727, in speaking of Jason's double-folded mantle having been reddish instead of flame-coloured. Some think, however, that Sappho here refers to Iris, _i.e._ the rainbow.

... [Greek: Emethen d' echeistha lathan]

_Me thou forgettest_.

From Apollonius, as is also the following, to show the Aeolic use of [Greek: emethen] for [Greek: emou], 'of me.'

- v - v - v v [Greek: Ê tin' allon] [Greek: [mallon] anthrôpôn emethen philêstha.]

_Or lovest another more than me._

[Greek: Ou ti moi ymmes.]

_Ye are nought to me._

Quoted by Apollonius, as is also the following fragment, to show that [Greek: hymeis] was in Aeolic [Greek: ymmes] 'you.'

[Greek: As thelet' ymmes.]

_While ye will._

[Greek: Kai pothêô kai maomai] v - v

_I yearn and seek ..._

From the _Etymologicum Magnum_, to show that the Aeolians used [Greek: pothêô] for [Greek: potheô], 'I yearn.'

[Greek: Keinon, ô chrysothrone Mous', enispes] [Greek: hymnon, ek tas kalligynaikos esthlas] [Greek: Têios chôras hon aeide terpnôs] [Greek: presbys agauos.]