Scanning Sappho

Greek Learning Greek
1

Hi All,

I have a copy of Anne Carson’s book with the Greek of Sappho. I cannot find poems 141, 137, and 1 scanned. Are these poems even truly Sappho’s? Should I bother with them? (Sapphic verse does not seem to correspond to them at all.)

Thanks,
William

2

#1 is the most famous of Sappho’s poems. The meter is the regular “sapphic” stanza. If you know the metrical scheme you should be able to make it fit and read the poem metrically—hopefully understand it too, though the dialect can be tricky.

Sappho composed in a variety of meters. 137 is in “alcaics” (named after Alcaeus, Sappho’s contemporary), an 11-syllable line very closely related to sapphics. Text and meter of 141 are uncertain. There’s no reason to think these are not by Sappho, but whether you want to “bother” with them is up to you.