The poetry of Sappho, who was born around 620 BC and lived on the Greek island of Lesbos, has inspired and fascinated readers and poets for two and a half thousand years. Today, as in antiquity, she is regarded as Greece's supreme lyric poet. Yet apart from a few near-complete poems, her poetry survives largely in tantalizing fragments.
This book traces Sappho's reception in English-language poetry through translations and poems about her. From Donne and Pope via Swinburne, Bliss Carman and Pound to contemporary poets such as Michael Longley and Olga Broumas, it both celebrates and illustrates our changing image of Sappho.
Peter Jay edited The Greek Anthology' for Penguin Classics. He is the author of a collection of poems, Shifting Frontiers', and has translated some modern Romanian and Hungarian poetry.
Caroline Lewis is a writer and lecturer specializing in women's writing and history. She has lived and worked in London and Hong Kong and now lives in Edinburgh.
