Friday, March 4, 2011

Sappho: A Fragment

έσπερε, πάντα φέρων, ὄσα φαίνολισ ἐσκέδασ᾽ αiωσ,
φέρεισ οἴν, φέρεισ αἶγα, φέρεισ ἄπυ ματέρι παῖδα
 
Literal translation:

Evening star, bringing back all that the bright dawn scattered.
You bring back the goat; you bring back the sheep; you bring back the child to its mother.

But perhaps better as hexameter, reducing Sappho's repetition, marred by English 'the':

Evening star, returning all that the bright dawn scattered.
You bring back the goat and the sheep; you bring back the child to its mother.

No comments: