Sappho
I know not what to do,my mind is reft:is song’s gift best?is love’s gift loveliest?I know not what to do,now sleep has pressedweight on your eyelids.
Shall I break your rest,devouring, eager?is love’s gift best?nay, song’s the loveliest:yet were you lost,what rapturecould I take from song?what song were left?
I know not what to do:to turn and slakethe rage that burns,with my breath burnand trouble your cool breath?so shall I turn and takesnow in my arms?(is love’s gift best?)yet flake on flakeof snow were comfortless,did you lie wondering,wakened yet unawake.
Is love’s gift best?shall I turn and slakeall the wild longing?O I am eager for you!as the Pleiads shakewhite light in whiter waterso shall I take you?
My mind is quite divided,my minds hesitate,so perfect matched,I know not what to do:each strives with eachas two white wrestlersstanding for a match,ready to turn and clutchyet never shake muscle nor nerve nor tendon;so my mind waitsto grapple with my mind,yet I lie quiet,I would seem at rest.
I know not what to do:strain upon strain,sound surging upon soundmakes my brain blind;as a wave-line may wait to fallyet (waiting for its falling)still the wind may takefrom off its crest,white flake on flake of foam,that rises,seeming to dart and pulseand rend the light,so my mind hesitatesabove the passionquivering yet to break,so my mind hesitatesabove my mind,listening to song’s delight.
I know not what to do:will the sound break,rending the nightwith rift on rift of roseand scattered light?will the sound break at lastas the wave hesitant,or will the whole night passand I lie listening awake?
Words in this poem
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- flake n.
- A paling; a hurdle. [prov. Eng.] [Cf. Icel. flaki, fleki, Dan. flage, D. vlaak.]
- comfortless a.
- Without comfort or comforts; in want or distress; cheerless.
- hesitant a.
- Not prompt in deciding or acting; hesitating. [L. haesitans, p. pr. of haesitare: cf. F. hésitant. See Hesitate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sappho is in the public domain. This text is taken from Heliodora, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #62456; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: H.D., Sappho, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/sappho.html, id L24307.
Form and metre
Sappho is 74 lines in 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-BBAB- doA · reft · bestB · loveliestB · doA · pressedB · eyelids
- 2 A-AAA--- restA · eager · bestA · loveliestA · lostA · rapture · song · left
- 3 -A---A--A--A do · slakeA · burns · burn · breath · takeA · arms · best · flakeA · comfortless · wondering · unawakeA
- 4 -A-BA-B best · slakeA · longing · youB · shakeA · water · youB
- 6 ---A--B----CD-BDAC do · strain · sound · blindA · fall · falling · takeB · crest · foam · rises · pulse · lightC · hesitatesD · passion · breakB · hesitatesD · mindA · delightC
- 7 -AB-BC-CA do · breakA · nightB · rose · lightB · lastC · hesitant · passC · awakeA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I know not what to do, | 6 | ······ |
| my mind is reft: | 4 | ···· |
| is song’s gift best? | 4 | ···· |
| is love’s gift loveliest? | 6 | ······ |
| I know not what to do, | 6 | ······ |
| now sleep has pressed | 4 | ···· |
| weight on your eyelids. | 5 | ···/· |
| Shall I break your rest, | 5 | ····· |
| devouring, eager? | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| is love’s gift best? | 4 | ···· |
| nay, song’s the loveliest: | 6 | ······ |
| yet were you lost, | 4 | ···· |
| what rapture | 3 | ·/˘ |
| could I take from song? | 5 | ····· |
| what song were left? | 4 | ···· |
| I know not what to do: | 6 | ······ |
| to turn and slake | 4 | ···· |
| the rage that burns, | 4 | ···· |
| with my breath burn | 4 | ···· |
| and trouble your cool breath? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| so shall I turn and take | 6 | ······ |
| snow in my arms? | 4 | ···· |
| (is love’s gift best?) | 4 | ···· |
| yet flake on flake | 4 | ···· |
| of snow were comfortless, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| did you lie wondering, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| wakened yet unawake. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Is love’s gift best? | 4 | ···· |
| shall I turn and slake | 5 | ····· |
| all the wild longing? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| O I am eager for you! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| as the Pleiads shake | 5 | ··/˘· |
| white light in whiter water | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| so shall I take you? | 5 | ····· |
| My mind is quite divided, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| my minds hesitate, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| so perfect matched, | 4 | ·˘/· |
| I know not what to do: | 6 | ······ |
| each strives with each | 4 | ···· |
| as two white wrestlers | 5 | ···/˘ |
| standing for a match, | 5 | /˘··· |
| ready to turn and clutch | 6 | /˘···· |
| yet never shake muscle nor nerve nor tendon; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| so my mind waits | 4 | ···· |
| to grapple with my mind, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| yet I lie quiet, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| I would seem at rest. | 5 | ····· |
| I know not what to do: | 6 | ······ |
| strain upon strain, | 4 | ···· |
| sound surging upon sound | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| makes my brain blind; | 4 | ···· |
| as a wave-line may wait to fall | 8 | ········ |
| yet (waiting for its falling) | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| still the wind may take | 5 | ····· |
| from off its crest, | 4 | ···· |
| white flake on flake of foam, | 6 | ······ |
| that rises, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| seeming to dart and pulse | 6 | /˘···· |
| and rend the light, | 4 | ···· |
| so my mind hesitates | 6 | ···/˘· |
| above the passion | 5 | ···/˘ |
| quivering yet to break, | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| so my mind hesitates | 6 | ···/˘· |
| above my mind, | 4 | ···· |
| listening to song’s delight. | 7 | /˘˘··˘/ |
| I know not what to do: | 6 | ······ |
| will the sound break, | 4 | ···· |
| rending the night | 4 | /˘·· |
| with rift on rift of rose | 6 | ······ |
| and scattered light? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| will the sound break at last | 6 | ······ |
| as the wave hesitant, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| or will the whole night pass | 6 | ······ |
| and I lie listening awake? | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.