Sappho Through English Poetry: 27 (Poetica, 27) - Softcover

'Sappho Through English Poetry' is a brilliant idea - You find you're following English poetry over four centuries through the prism of two Greek poems, like a CD of Callas, Joan Sutherland, Piaf, Billie Holiday, Bjork and the Spice Girls all singing the same song.' - Ruth Padel, The Observer'What this collection achieves is a commentary on our own literary history, rather than simply a nod to a great classical poet.' - Jane Holland, Poetry Review

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.