A review by maenad_wordsmith
Sappho by Sappho

5.0

This is my third time reading Sappho. Last year, I read the Barnstone translation, and I don't remember which translation my Greek art and poetry professor included in our course reader way back in the early 2000s. I enjoy comparing different translations; for instance, Barnstone translates one passage as: "Eros loosener of limbs once again trembles me, / a sweetbitter beast irrepressibly creeping in" while Barnard's translation reads: "With his venom / Irresistible and bittersweet / that loosener / of limbs, Love / reptile-like / strikes me down." Both are beautiful--bittersweet and sweetbitter!