Fragment 1, tr. Ambrose Philips (1711)
O Venus, beauty of the skies,To whom a thousand temples rise,Gaily false in gentle smiles,Full of love-perplexing wiles;O goddess, from my heart removeThe wasting cares and pains of love.
If ever thou hast kindly heardA song in soft distress preferred,Propitious to my tuneful vow,O gentle goddess, hear me now.Descend, thou bright immortal guest,In all thy radiant charms confessed.
Thou once didst leave almighty JoveAnd all the golden roofs above;The car thy wanton sparrows drew,Hovering in air they lightly flew;As to my bower they winged their wayI saw their quivering pinions play.
The birds dismissed (while you remain)Bore back their empty car again:Then you, with looks divinely mild,In every heavenly feature smiled,And asked what new complaints I made,And why I called you to my aid?
What frenzy in my bosom raged,And by what cure to be assuaged?What gentle youth I would allure,Whom in my artful toils secure?Who does thy tender heart subdue,Tell me, my Sappho, tell me who?
Though now he shuns thy longing arms,He soon shall court thy slighted charms;Though now thy offerings he despise,He soon to thee shall sacrifice;Though now he freeze, he soon shall burn,And be thy victim in his turn.
Celestial visitant, once moreThy needful presence I implore.In pity come, and ease my grief,Bring my distempered soul relief,Favour thy suppliant's hidden fires,And give me all my heart desires.
Words in this poem
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- artful a.
- Performed with, or characterized by, art or skill. [From Art.]
- sappho n.
- Any one of several species of brilliant South American humming birds of the genus Sappho, having very bright-colored and deeply forked tails; -- called also firetail. [See Sapphic.]
- 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,]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- visitant n.
- One who visits; a guest; a visitor. [L. visitans, -antis; p. pr.: cf. F. visitant.]
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fragment 1, tr. Ambrose Philips (1711) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sappho: Memoir, Text, Selected Renderings, and a Literal Translation (ed. Henry Thornton Wharton, John Lane, 1908, fifth edition), Project Gutenberg ebook #57390, the Various (ed. H. T. Wharton) translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sappho, Fragment 1, tr. Ambrose Philips (1711), in Sappho: Selected Renderings (1908), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #57390, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sappho-wharton/fr-1.html, id L29169.
Form and metre
Fragment 1, tr. Ambrose Philips (1711) is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCC skiesA · riseA · smilesB · wilesB · removeC · loveC
- 2 AABBCC heardA · preferredA · vowB · nowB · guestC · confessedC
- 3 AABBCC joveA · aboveA · drewB · flewB · wayC · playC
- 4 AABBCC remainA · againA · mildB · smiledB · madeC · aidC
- 5 AABBCC ragedA · assuagedA · allureB · secureB · subdueC · whoC
- 6 AABBCC armsA · charmsA · despiseB · sacrificeB · burnC · turnC
- 7 AABBCC moreA · imploreA · griefB · reliefB · firesC · desiresC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Venus, beauty of the skies, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To whom a thousand temples rise, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Gaily false in gentle smiles, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Full of love-perplexing wiles; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| O goddess, from my heart remove | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The wasting cares and pains of love. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| If ever thou hast kindly heard | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A song in soft distress preferred, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Propitious to my tuneful vow, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| O gentle goddess, hear me now. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Descend, thou bright immortal guest, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| In all thy radiant charms confessed. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thou once didst leave almighty Jove | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And all the golden roofs above; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The car thy wanton sparrows drew, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Hovering in air they lightly flew; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| As to my bower they winged their way | 8 | ···/···· |
| I saw their quivering pinions play. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The birds dismissed (while you remain) | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Bore back their empty car again: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Then you, with looks divinely mild, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In every heavenly feature smiled, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And asked what new complaints I made, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And why I called you to my aid? | 8 | ········ |
| What frenzy in my bosom raged, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And by what cure to be assuaged? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| What gentle youth I would allure, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Whom in my artful toils secure? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Who does thy tender heart subdue, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Tell me, my Sappho, tell me who? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though now he shuns thy longing arms, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He soon shall court thy slighted charms; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though now thy offerings he despise, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| He soon to thee shall sacrifice; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though now he freeze, he soon shall burn, | 8 | ········ |
| And be thy victim in his turn. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Celestial visitant, once more | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Thy needful presence I implore. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In pity come, and ease my grief, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bring my distempered soul relief, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Favour thy suppliant's hidden fires, | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| And give me all my heart desires. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
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