Lyrics

SAPPHO of Mytiléne (c.630-550BC)
Fragment 31: He is more than a hero
Translated by Mary Barnard (Last 2 lines by Anne Carson)

Triptych Panel 1
He is more than a hero
Phainetai moi kênos îsos theoisin – (He is a god in my eyes –)
He is a god in my eyes –
kênos îsos theoisin
Emmen’ ônêr ottis enantios toi
Isdanei kai plâsion âdu phoneisâs upakouei (The man who is allowed to sit beside you)
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you – he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast.

Triptych Panel 2
If I meet
you suddenly, I can’t
speak – my tongue is broken;

Triptych Panel 3
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn’t far from me

Alla pan tolmaton epei kai penêta… (But all is to be dared, because even a person of poverty…)

Emmi tethnakên d’oligô ‘pideuês
Phainom’ em’ autai (At such times death isn’t far from me)
At such times death isn’t far from me

Emmi tethnakên d’oligô ‘pideuês
Phainom’ em’ autai (At such times death isn’t far from me)

He is more than a hero
Phainetai moi kênos îsos theoisin. (He is a god in my eyes.)