Anne Carson

Sappho

The poet and classicist offers a new translation of the poetry of Sappho, presenting all the extant fragments in both English and the Greek, as well as furnishing an introduction to Sappho's life and times.

Fragments of Sappho

If Not, Winter

From the critically acclaimed poet and classicist Anne Carson: a brilliant new translation of the work of Sappho, together with the original Greek. During her life on the island of Lesbos, Sappho is said to have composed nine books of lyrics. Only one poem has survived complete. In IF NOT, WINTER, Carson presents all the extant fragments of Sappho's verse, employing brackets and white space to denote missing text - allowing the reader to imagine the poems as they were written. Carson says of her method of translation: 'I like to think that, the more I stand out of the way, the more Sappho shows through.' And certainly her translation illuminates Sappho's reflections on love and desire, her companions and rivals, the goddess Aphrodite, her own daughter, Kleis. IF NOT, WINTER gives us an extraordinary ancient poet brought alive by a brilliantly empathetic contemporary poet. Complete with Carson's introduction and notes, it will become the standard translation of Sappho for our time.

andrea valentina 

Clara Gauthier

and you cooled my mind that burned with longing 

Joub

did i understand it? no. 
will i do anything for her? yes. 

this angel wrote a poem that’s one word long. 
guess what it is! guess! guess! 
it’s “celery”

chloe rae

I didn’t plan to read this all in one sitting but it was so breathtakingly beautiful I simply couldn’t stop.

mina nayeri

Kendall McClain

azliana aziz

Andrew John Kinney

I liked these translations, but I confess to being more impressed by Guy Davenport's translations of Sappho in 7 Greeks. Davenport also provides much context and background, explaining how we have what we do have of Sappho (and how painfully little that is).

enya

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

to think these words were written centuries ago when it's considered felonious for women to be in love with each other is honestly both comforting and depressing. because we now know we've always existed and our struggles have always been carried within us since forever. as a queer woman who lives in a homophobic family and society and country, sappho's fragments are indeed stabbing. her pain about a woman she once loved who left her for a man, her enviousness of the heteronormativity, her yearning to be recognized; she speaks to me like an understanding friend because i, too, live in a world like when she's alive still. but some are also beautiful. i really adore how she expressed about how she was madly in love with this woman into words; a lovely mixture of sad romance and sweet erotica. i just love how real she was. really wish i could read more of her and the lesbian love by her hand.

theo

sophia n

Margaret McFarlane

“you came and I was crazy for you
and you cooled my mind that burned with longing”

Super readable translation, just wish that the end notes were easier to reference while reading the text (but I get that that interrupts the reading experience).

dana

ας θέλετ ύμμες
as long as you want

i love longing and loving and being gay

Kevin Bertolero

“Moon has set / 
and Pleiades: middle / 
night, the hour goes by, / 
alone I lie.”

madina

maybe i'll put out a proper review later but right now my heart is just aching / bursting with warmth at the same time. these fragments... what would i do to recover them in their full form, tbh. also POETS: USE MORE EPITHETS. smush up words. our sapphic icon would smile at you.

Donald

Oh how I long to read all of Sappho's work. The destruction of her poems was a far greater tragedy than the Fall of Rome. And where would we be without Anne Carson? Her short introductory essay is perfect.

The poet and classicist presents a new translation of the poetry of Sappho, presenting all the extant fragments in both English and the Greek, as well as furnishing an introduction to Sappho's life and times.

Cerys

Anne Carson tackled the poetry of Sappho perfectly. Unfortunately, the majority of Sappho's work has been destroyed or not very well preserved due to this most of her poems only survive in fragments. Carson decided, rightfully, that the best way to present Sappho's poetry was by keeping it fragmented. This meant that we didn't have anyone trying to create what they thought Sappho might have written, keeping it pure to Sappho's originality. Sappho is a historical figure that many should know about giving creation to the words 'sapphic' and 'lesbian' from her name and the island that she lived on Lesbos. Her writing was destroyed due to the prejudice surrounding her sexuality and the eroticism of her writing in the 4th century. This book allows us to see the fragments as they were written but unfortunately without the full context of her undestroyed work.

Natalie Hanna

Julia A.

Cinco estrellas porque Safo, pero POR QUÉ TODAS LAS SIGMAS SON FINALES. Shame on the cow de los editores.

Olivera Mitić

Nemam predstavu kako da ocenim ovo, pa stoga trojka. Ne zato što imam neke međusobno suprotstavljene utiske koji se mešaju ili zato što postoji neki kompletan utisak osrednjosti, već zato što su ovde ipak u pitanju fragmenti. 

Dok s jedne strane zbog toga dobijamo pesme koje su interaktivne, izuzetno otvorene interpretaciji i nagađanju, nekih 80% ovoga je prosto skup pojedinačnih reči ili izdeljenih misli. Iako, naravno, nije do toga što Sapfa ne zna da piše, već zbog tragičnog i nepovratnog gubitka njenih pesama kroz istoriju, sam proces čitanja ne mogu nužno da opišem kao prijatan, inspirativan ili dirljiv. Izuzeci su, naravno, oni malobrojni delovi koji nisu tako rasparčani i kojima se smisao može lako ukopčati. Ali takvih je malo, mada se i u njima tolicnima vidi nadarenost pesnikinje i njen smisao za stihotvorstvo. 

Volela bih da mogu da kažem da je ova poezija, čijem sam se čitanju dugo radovala, imala neki fundamentalniji uticaj na mene. To, nažalost, nije slučaj i plašim se da ću uskoro zaboraviti i one retke misli koje su mi se sada urezale u mozak. :(

sara louise

“their hearts grew cold
they let their wings down.”

I will definitely return to this one to read the notes-section in the back and reflect a bit more but this first read-through was a self-indulgent one and so I only read the actual fragments. (some of which I really really loved)

Genny Santellan

A beautiful translation of some beautiful poetic fragments.

If Not, Winter Fragments of Sappho

Reviews

Highlights