sappho-madlibs

[sappho-madlibs]

[O paragon] among mortal women, know this:

[With my teeth, I tear you] from every care

[If] you could release me,

[I will pad my paws with moss, and scamper

from cragged peak] to dewy riverbank

[Fetching sticks to feed your flame]

to last all night long.

Sappho fragment 23 // original translation by Anne Carson

[Image ID: a photograph of a dog mosaic, laid with tile, in a Greek or Roman style]

[sappho-madlibs]

failing to sleep she summons her son and holds him for guard, warmth, and home

Sappho fragment 164 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

and on the eyes black sleep of night waits patient for Eos to rise and part them

Sappho fragment 151 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

messenger of spring blithe nightingale with a voice of longing Harken, and flood me as the moon floods the fields

Sappho fragment 136 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

You, dear painter

will ask for your tools

and I on a soft pillow

will lay down my limbs

Sappho fragment 46 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

Quiet [is the plea]

[of the pledger] with an aegis

[Bright Daughter of] Kytherea I pray [for your devotee]

holding the heart [of my own in kindred offering]

[Keen Mother of Eros,] hear my prayer if ever at other times

[I am tempted toward] forsaking [the path]

[Cast your aid] toward my [beloved Daughter]

[Your pillory is] harsh [, but my flesh is hardy.]

Sappho fragment 86 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

may you sleep on the breast of your delicate friend

and may the bud of her skin taste as sweet as the ichor of gods

Sappho fragment 126 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

[wicked candle, hide your duplicitous scent] [your caramel skin, your balmy glow] you burn me

Sappho fragment 38 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

[I bear upon my back] frequently [the buttocks of men] [and I tense not my eyes] for those I treat well are the ones who most of all [know not the softness of my mouth and thus] harm me [with a hard hand and mean heels, until I run] crazy [and my rib stings with smart leather.] [But you, I paw at] you, I want [nothing more than] to suffer [your iron] in myself I am [as much] aware of this [as I know you are not,] [are not,] [are not.]

Sappho fragment 26 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

[Would that I could beseech your loom to] quit [and drop its wefts for me,] luxurious woman [so I can comb where you had combed] [and make silk-cloth with your hair]

Sappho fragment 25 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

in the bleak midwinter you came and I was crazy for you and you cooled my mind that burned with longing ---annealed it, like glass, so it is but a bauble that bloats from the billow of your breath

Sappho fragment 48 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

how can they sing of each others' hair when all night long it pulls them down

Sappho fragment 149 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

the wisterias you remembered but me you have forgotten

.

toiling with your implement, either you see not my skittering limbs or you love some man more than me me, who flushed out your vermin

Sappho fragments 129A and 129B // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

I would not think to touch the sky with two arms I shall feel it with all ten fingers, and all hooves, too, beloved centaur, my back is to the root.

Sappho fragment 52 // original translation by Anne Carson

[image: "The Centaur Playing with her Child", by Otto Soltau.]

[sappho-madlibs]

neither for me honey nor the honey bee shall you sell; I cannot bear to take any sweetness from you.

Sappho fragment 146 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

Lure the fowl from her tree, I did, but I am not someone who likes to wound for sport rather I have a quiet mind that desires only a clutch that I may prowl for.

Sappho fragment 120 // original translation by Anne Carson

[sappho-madlibs]

for no other girl [will I bloom as bright] O bridegroom such as this one now

Sappho fragment 113 // original translation by Anne Carson