Sapphic Stanza

Greek Learning Greek
1

I’ve just tried my hand for the first time at writing a Sapphic Stanza:

H(merw~n mnh/nas a)po/tas melainw~n
nu~n gra/fw. Nu~ktes de\ pa/lai skotei/nai
h)~san. W~! Plhrei~s de\ te kai\ kapnou~ kai
h)~san oneirw~n.

but I am suddenly overcome with the fear that there may be as many rules attached to a Sapphic Stanza as there are to, say, a elegy. Are there? and if yes, what are they, or where can I read about them?

Thanks in advance!!

2

I believe there is a bridge (no caesura allowed) between the last two positions of the third hendecasyllabic, but I will need to do some digging to verify that.

Apart from a full book Greek meter (Raven, West), I’ve never seen rules presented for writing new Sapphics in Greek (Latin has its own rules, as usual).

3

[W. posted whilst I wrote this. as an addition to what he says about the bridge between the tenth and eleventh syllables of the third line,a quick look at some Sappho in Lobel and Page does not seem to support this.]

very nice! your Sapphic stanza seems fine metrically. in Greek there are no special rules that you seem to have overlooked. the close of lines 1 and 2 can be breuis in longo; the fourth syllable of lines 1-3 can be short, though long is more regular. the third and fourth lines are not really separate at all, however, so hiatus is not allowed between the third and fourth lines.

Your piece in Greek script (with a couple of accentual alterations):
Ἡμερῶν μνήνας ἀπότας μελαινῶν
νῦν γράφω. νύκτες δὲ πάλαι σκοτειναὶ
ἦσαν. ὦ1 πληρεῖς δέ τε καὶ καπνοῦ καὶ
ἦσαν ὀνείρων.

δέ τε seems a bit odd.

very well done overall.
I wrote a 50 line Grk sapphic poem for a competition a couple of months ago.

~D

4

W-s, many thanks!

I thought the de\ te\ kai\ bit was a bit uncomfortable, but well, for a first try it will have to do.

Albe/Leuke, 50 lines? :open_mouth: 12.5 stanzas then? Why not finish the last one? :wink:

5

I noticed this myself, which is why I had to flee to my notes. This has only confused matters, since I have a perfectly clear bridge siglum in my notes from West’s book. I’ll have to dig into this more.

6

I’ve been trying to convince Perseus to tell me if this grouping ever occurs, but the interface has thwarted me again. Perhaps I’ll try later.

Albe/Leuke, 50 lines? > :open_mouth: > 12.5 stanzas then? Why not finish the last one? > :wink:

I wonder when we get to see this.

7

when perseus exact text search fails i just google it:

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&safe=off&q="de%2F+te+kai"&btnG=Search&meta=

this shows hits for de/ te kai (leave out the accent of kai although unlikely to be acute!) in iliad book 21 (hits page 1), odyssey book 4 and book 1 of the republic as a quote (hits page 2) as a starter.

8

yes, 50 was my round-about way of saying 48! the topic that had to be followed was Tyro, and accordingly my poem is a mini biography, and lamentably not in Aeolic dialect (i tried that originally, but i soon hit words that just didn’t occur in the dialect and i was producing an odd looking creature with psilosis and everything!).

ἠνίδ’, ὦ Τυροῖ, φιλία νεᾶνις,
νῦν πέφευκας, εὐπατέρεια μόσχε
καλλίμορφέ τ’ Αἰολίδου τυράννου,
δώματα τραχῆ.

Κρήθευς γάρ σε σχετλίαν φιλόφρων
ἐκ χερῶν σώσας φονίων Σιδηροῦς,
εἰς ταχύρροθ’ ἦχεν Ἐνιπέως σε
χεύματα λάθρη,

ἔνθα χρυσοφεγγὲς ὕδωρ σιωπῇ
ἐν γύαισιν Θεσσαλικοῖς καταρρεῖ.
καὶ σέθεν φαενν’ ἐφιλεῖτον ἁγνὸν
ὄσσε ῥέεθρον·

καὶ κέαρ σὸν ἔπτετ’ ἀπῆμον ἄχθων.
ἔνθ’ ἔρωτος, παῖς, ἐπλανῶ ζαπληθὴς
πολλάκις πτύσσειν ποταμῷ ποθοῦσα
χεῖρας ἐπ’ ὠκεῖ.

ἀλλὰ πόντιος θεὸς ἐνθάδ’ εἴς σε
δύσμορον, Τυροῖ καθαρά, δεδορκὼς
ῥεύματος θύμῳ δολίῳ καλὴν ᾑ–
ρήσατο μορφήν.

φεῦ, τάλαινα· φαυλότατον Ποσειδῶ
ἠσπάσω βραχίονι κἀν νόμοισιν
συγκαθηύδησας ἀμαθῶς ἐνύδροις
δαίμονι δεινῷ.

ἐκκαλύψας δ’ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ Ποσειδῶν
θᾶσσον ὀβρίμης σ’ ἔλιπεν θυέλλης
παῖδε, Σαλμῶνις, δίδυμ’ ἐν ταλαίνῃ
γαστρὶ φέρουσαν.

Νηλέ’ ἄλκιμον Πελίαν τε δριμὺν
ἠθέλησας βλέμματα πάντα κρύψαι,
τῆμος ἐν δένδροις σκοτίοισιν Αἵδῃ
τῶδ’ ἐπέτρεψας.

μητρὶ προσπέπτωκε κακίον’ ἄχθη;
ἢ φρονεῖς εὐδαιμονίσειν γυναῖκα
τέκν’ ἐφεῖσαν; νῦν δὲ θεοί σε δακρύ–
ουσαν ἴδοντες

καὶ στένουσαν ταῦτα πάθη πανοῦργα
σ’ ᾤκτισαν καὶ Κρηθέ’, ἄριστον εἴδει,
θεῖον εὐφιλέστατον, ὤπασάν σοι
δυσθεραπεύτῳ.

νῦν δὲ λείψομαί σε, Τυροῖ, μάκαιραν
σοῦ γὰρ ἄχθη ποικίλα καὶ γοεδνὰ
δωρεᾷ τῶν ἀθανάτων κεκούφιστ–
αι φιλογηθῶν.

εὖ δὲ τοῦτ’ ἴσθ’· ἡδ’ ἔτι δόξα μίμνει
σοί γ’ ἀρίστη καίπερ ἔγωγ’ ἀοιδῇ
τῇδ’ ἀκόμψῳ πάντα μέλη παλαιὰ
κάρτα μιαίνων.

~DJB
Coll.Chr.Cant. Jan. MMV