If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

I keep several translations of Sappho at hand, since each translator brings her (or his) own perspective to the fragments, and my Ancient Greek is not good enough to second-guess a single translator. Amongst these, Carson seems to be the only one with the original Greek en-face, and with a whole page dedicated to each fragment.In terms of the translation itself, Carson's is usually my favorite, with Powell's a close second. Her translations are more direct than others', which can sometimes yield unusual phrasing in English, but Sappho's intensely personal expression comes through all the more clearly this way. See, for example, fragment 138:Carson:stand to face me belovedand open out the grace of your eyesPowell:But stand before me, if you are my friend,and spread the grace that's in your eyes.Barnstone:Stand and face me, my love,and scatter the grace in your eyesRayor & Lardinois:Stand before me as a friendand flaunt the charm in your eyes.In terms of Sappho herself—or what we have left of her, she is an easy poet to fall in love with. Her songs, mostly love songs, ring as true today as 2600 years ago. In a good translation, they sound as fresh as if they were off top-40 radio... except no modern singer-songwriter is this good. She has the intense and insistent sensuality of Cavafy as well as his easy mixing of the mundane with the mythical, the sweet sadness of Joan Baez along with her self-aware wry humor, a sharper blade for her rivals than any rap battle, and expresses the depth of feelings as clearly as Shakespeare's sonnets. It is infuriating that so little of her work has survived.I hope that Carson will publish an updated edition including the recently discovered papyri.

This book transformed me in that Anne Carson's poetic translation of the great Sappho inspired me to write poetry! I received permission to use seven of her translated fragments for seven of my poems in my first book 36 POEMS OF ME.Forever grateful 🙏

I love this book of poetry fragments. But fragments is what they are. Historians have precious little of Sappho's poetry and ONLY ONE IS A COMPLETE POEM. I see a few reviews upset at what they end up getting, but this is simply all there is. There are huge pieces missing, making most of the poems difficult if not impossible to glean much meaning from. I really love how the translator has used brackets to illustrate how much is missing, as well as the choice to present each fragment separately. It really gives me the sense of how much time has passed, lost history, and context that I think is important to enjoying this text. Reading this is like hearing a song being played rooms away, you hear bits and pieces and can kind of make it out and understand the idea, but you cannot hear the whole song. Make sure you understand what this book is before you buy it so you are not disappointed, it is not a book of poetry like we are used to.

Subtle yet excellent, the stars do shine, a sublime limelight on the stage of Sapphic understanding. Anne Carson's book: "If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho," is my introduction to the story of early Greek poetry, I am enjoying it as I continue to read. Working with fragments cannot be easy, but to translate it without being tempted to reinterpret it makes my trust in Ms. Carson's ability important. I trust her very much. As a poet, she has an ear on the lyrical, the music of the original must be influential. I do not speak Greek, so I cannot write from a "full" perspective, only to say I am glad to have her book in my library.2/26/15 Additional commentary: How well written, and the genius of the personal, I read online and at the encyclopedia (Wiki) that Sappho was a master of personal poetry, that she connected to individuals as opposed to groups, like a poet to an individual reader... How important it truly is that one need not be a reader of Greek language to appreciate the subtle genius of Sappho and Ms. Carson in the briefest of fragments. For example, fragment 176, page 349, the fragment reads: "lyre, lyre, lyre". The Greek reads three words, similar, yet spelt subtly different, almost as if "lyre, liar, lier" We don't know, but Ms. Carson understands. A good mystery piques our interest!Allen Hagar

This is a fantastic book. Sappho the name is famous. She talked about with great praise by other classic authors but her poetry is unknown to modern audiences. This book makes the point that the what exists of Sappho's poems/songs are really just fragments. In many cases only a few words exist with little or no context. The broken nature of these fragments is reinforced in the text by the use of blank space on the pages. The only problem is, I can't get over the feeling that I've paid for a full book and gotten a lot of blank pages.

This is the best and most complete translation of Sappho available. A must for anyone interested in her poetry (which everyone ought to be).

Love poems unfinished. . .But with open heartYou leave a spaceFor my unwritten lines

I love the layout of this book that allows me to read the Greek text on one side and the English on the other. And this English rendering is lovely and accurate. Enjoy!