IN THE IONIC A MINORE METRE
Reading edition
87
Ζὰ δ' ἐλεξάμαν ὄναρ Κυπρογενήᾳ.
In a dream I spake with the daughter of Cyprus.
I.e. Aphrodite. From Hephaestion.
88
Τί με Πανδίονις ὦ ῎ραννα χελίδων;
Why, lovely swallow, daughter of Pandīon, [weary] me?
From Hephaestion, who says Sappho wrote whole songs in this metre. Ὦ ῎ραννα is Is. Vossius' emendation; ὠράνα is the ordinary reading, which Hesychius explains as perhaps an epithet of the swallow 'dwelling under the roof.'
Ah, Procne, wherefore dost thou weary me? Thus flitting out and flitting in ... Tease not the air with this tumultuous wing. Michael Field, 1889.
89
... Ἀμφὶ δ' ἄβροις λασίοις εὖ ϝε πύκασσεν.
She wrapped herself well in delicate hairy ...
From Pollux, who says the line refers to fine closely-woven linen.
90
Γλύκεια μᾶτερ, οὔτοι δύναμαι κρέκην τὸν ἴστον, πόθῳ δάμεισα παῖδος βραδίναν δι' Αφρόδιταν.
Sweet Mother, I cannot weave my web, broken as I am by longing for a boy, at soft Aphrodite's will.
[As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid In love-sick languor hung her head, Unknowing where her fingers strayed She weeping turned away and said—] 'Oh, my sweet mother, 'tis in vain, I cannot weave as once I wove, So wildered is my heart and brain With thinking of that youth I love.' T. Moore, Evenings in Greece, p. 18.
Mother, I cannot mind my wheel; My fingers ache, my lips are dry: Oh, if you felt the pain I feel! But oh, who ever felt as I? W. S. Landor, Simonidea, 1807.
Sweet mother, I can spin no more, Nor ply the loom as heretofore, For love of him. Frederick Tennyson.
Sweet mother, I the web Can weave no more; Keen yearning for my love Subdues me sore, And tender Aphrodite Thrills my heart's core. M. J. Walhouse.
Cf. Mrs. John Hunter's 'My mother bids me bind my hair,' etc.
From Hephaestion, as an example of metre.
VIII