Sappho

"I don't know. I couldn't write poems without Sappho, and I couldn't write poems without this Sappho. For better or worse this morning wouldn't be the same without your beauty."--Eileen Myles, author of Chelsea Girls"How did modern readers find out that Sappho was wonderful, or that Sappho was (as we say now) Sapphic? Twentieth-century Americans, many of us, found out through Mary Barnard's concisely elegant versions: beautiful in themselves, achingly intimate, carefully informal. Barnard's Sappho does not get lost in antiquity, nor is the fragmentation of the work fetishized. Instead, she created a Sappho who felt--who still feels--real."--Stephanie Burt, editor of Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall"This stark, evocative translation of Sappho reimagines what the fragment is capable of achieving. Shocking, beautiful, and visceral--the bridegroom songs shimmer with longing. With an expert introduction by Melissa Mueller, this generous collection offers something new to scholars and fans alike."--Grace Byron, author of Herculine