Sappho Fragments (1 & 2)
For those who are interested, join us in our reading of Sappho.
” And fine birds brought you,
quick sparrows over the black earth
whipping their wings down the sky
through midair-
they arrived.”
From Fragment 1
“And in it cold water makes a clear sound through
apple branches and with roses the whole place
is shadowed and down from radiant-shaking leaves
sleep comes dropping.
And in it a horse meadow has come into bloom
with spring flowers and breezes
like honey are blowing.”
From Fragment 2
Anne Carson’s If Not Winter: Fragments of Sappho
Tom Simard 
I will be watching and reading Thank You
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Glad to hear.
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Wonderful. You have to feel jealous of the ancients and how close they lived to nature and the turn of the seasons.
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Yes, one can feel that closeness here.
We often think we’ve made such progress but in so many ways we really haven’t.
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Sappho now has a new subscriber. Thanks.
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Wonderful.
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What a depth of expression!
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Exactly.
And there will be more to come.
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Anne Carson is simply wonderful. Her translations give Sappho breath.
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A very good way of putting it.
The fairly complete fragments are truly a pleasure – the very fragmented fragments are a challenge to the mind to wonder what it is she may have wanted to say. I’ve had the idea for fun to try my hand at them – to write a series of poems On Sappho using those that consist of hardly more than a handful words as a launching pad. We’ll see.
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