It Was You, Atthis, Who Said Poem by Sappho

It Was You, Atthis, Who Said

Rating: 2.9


It was you, Atthis, who said

"Sappho, if you will not get
up and let us look at you
I shall never love you again!

"Get up, unleash your suppleness,
lift off your Chian nightdress
and, like a lily leaning into

"a spring, bathe in the water.
Cleis is bringing your best
pruple frock and the yellow

"tunic down from the clothes chest;
you will have a cloak thrown over
you and flowers crowning your hair...

"Praxinoa, my child, will you please
roast nuts for our breakfast? One
of the gods is being good to us:

"today we are going at last
into Mitylene, our favorite
city, with Sappho, loveliest

"of its women; she will walk
among us like a mother with
all her daughters around her

"when she comes home from exile..."

But you forget everything

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
D.l. Aceves 19 December 2013

I think you mean: purple frock

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Michael Malone 24 June 2010

Yes, the poem is translated by mary barnard

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Karl Swartz 09 September 2022

Thank you! This site, I seem to find a lot of submissions that are not properly attributed.

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Panos Karagiorgos 13 December 2008

Excellent translation! I would like to know the name of the translator. Does anybody know? I'll be grateful if she/he could let me know. Thanks! Pan Kar

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