63 of the Most Poetic Sappho Quotes

Sappho, or also spelled Psappho, was born in Greece in 610 BC. Not much is known about her life, but it is said she was married to a man named Cercylas, a wealthy man from Andros Island. She lived in Lesbos her whole life, but they say that at some point she was banished or fled to Sicily.

Modern critics say that they believe Sappho lept to certain death in the sea by throwing herself off of a rock for a man named Phaon, a sailor that it is said she loved. Sappho died in 570 BC.

Sappho was a great Greek poet, her writing style was beautiful and had bits of her personality in them. Many of her works were lost, she was only found to be quoted in other author’s works. In 1898, pieces of her works were unearthed, and in Egypt in 1914, they found that some coffins made of paper mache were made with paper with pieces of her works as well.

Sappho’s poems were written in a way that was meant for one person to sing to another, they mostly revolved around difficulties of love.

Sappho Quotes

  1. And when you are gone there will be no memory of you and no regret. For you do not share the Pierian roses, but unseen in the house of Hades you will stray, breathed out, among the ghostly dead.” – Sappho
  2. “Eros, again now, the loosener of limbs troubles me, bittersweet, sly, uncontrollable creature….” – Sappho
  3. “I will let my body flow like water over the gentle cushions.” – Sappho
  4. “You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us” – Sappho
  5. “Their heart grew cold, they let their wings down.” – Sappho
  6. “You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us” – Sappho, The Art of Loving Women
  7. “Be here, by me, Lady Hera, I pray who answered the Atreides, glorious kings.” – Sappho
  8. “You will have memories because of what we did back then when we were new at this, yes, we did many things, then all beautiful…” – Sappho, Come Close
  9. “Dancing up the full moon Round some fair new altar trample the soft blossoms of fine grass.” – Sappho
  10. “When I look on you a moment, then I can speak no more, but my tongue falls silent, and at once a delicate flame courses beneath my skin, and with my eyes I see nothing, and my ears hum, and a wet sweat bathes me and a trembling seizes me all over.” – Sappho
  11. “I do not know what to do, my mind’s in two.” – Sappho
  12. “Someone will remember us I say even in another time” – Sappho, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
  13. “To this holy temple, where your lovely apple grove stands, and your altars that flicker with incense.” – Sappho
  14. “You are, I think, an evening star, the fairest of all the stars.” – Sappho
  15. “Experience shows us wealth unchaperoned by virtue is never an innocuous neighbor.” – Sappho
  16. “May I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone, more resilient than sinew, sensitive than nerve.” – Sappho
  17. “Eros the melter of limbs (now again) stirs me sweetbitter unmanageable creature who steals in.” – Sappho
  18. “Sweet mother, I cannot weave slender Aphrodite has overcome me with longing for a girl.” – Sappho, Sappho
  19. “And below the apple branches, cold clear water sounds, everything shadowed by roses, and sleep that falls from bright shaking leaves.” – Sappho
  20. “I declare that later on, even in an age unlike our own, someone will remember who we are.” – Sappho, Come Close
  21. “Now the Earth with many flowers puts on her spring embroidery.” – Sappho
  22. “Love is a cunning weaver of fantasies and fables.” – Sappho
  23. “Eros harrows my heart: wild gales sweeping desolate mountains, uprooting oaks.” – Sappho
  24. “May I write words more naked than flesh, stronger than bone, more resilient than sinew, sensitive than nerve.” – Sappho
  25. “The stars around the beautiful moon hiding their glittering forms whenever she shines full on earth… Silver…” – Sappho
  26. “I am weary of all your words and soft, strange ways.” – Sappho, Fragments
  27. “The moon has set In a bank of jet that fringes the Western sky, The pleiades seven Have sunk from heaven and the midnight hurries by; My hopes are flown and, alas! Alone On my weary couch I lie.” – Sappho
  28. “Although only breath, words which I command are immortal.” – Sappho
  29. “Eros seizes and shakes my very soul like the wind on the mountain shaking ancient oaks.” – Sappho
  30. “What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful.” – Sappho
  31. “He is dying, Cytherea, your tender Adonis, what should we do? Beat your breasts, girls, tear your tunics…” – Sappho
  32. “Forever shalt thou lie dead, nor shall there be any remembrance of thee now or hereafter, for never has thou had any of the roses of Pieria; but thou shalt wander, eternally unregarded in the houses of Hades, flitting among the insubstantial shades.” – Sappho
  33. “Love, like a mountain-wind upon an oak, falling upon me, shakes me leaf and bough.” – Sappho
  34. “Stand and face me, my love,and scatter the grace in your eyes.” – Sappho
  35. “We shall enjoy it. As for him who finds fault, may silliness and sorrow take him!” – Sappho
  36. “You came and I was longing for you. You cooled a heart that burned with desire.” – Sappho
  37. “It’s easy to make this clear to everyone, since Helen, she who outshone all others in beauty, left a fine husband, and headed for Troy. Without a thought for her daughter, her dear parents… Led astray…” – Sappho
  38. “Wealth without real worthiness is no good for the neighbourhood; But their proper mixture is the summit of beatitude.” – Sappho, Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments
  39. “Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.” – Sappho
  40. “Once again love drives me on, that loosener of limbs, bittersweet creature against which nothing can be done.” – Sappho
  41. “The evening star is the most beautiful of all stars.” – Sappho
  42. “In the crooks of your body, I find my religion.” – Sappho
  43. “He’s equal with the Gods, that man who sits across from you, face to face, close enough, to sip your voice’s sweetness.” – Sappho
  44. “Tonight I’ve watched the moon and then the Pleiades go down the night is now half gone; youth goes; I am in bed alone” – Sappho
  45. “Some say an army of horsemen, or infantry, A fleet of ships is the fairest thing On the face of the black earth, but I say It’s what one loves.” – Sappho
  46. “All the while, believe me, I prayed our night would last twice as long.” – Sappho
  47. “I said: ‘Go with my blessing if you go, always remembering what we did. To me you have meant everything, as you well know.’” – Sappho
  48. “…gracious your form and your eyes as honey : desire is poured upon your lovely face Aphrodite has honored you exceedingly…” – Sappho
  49. “You came, and I was mad for you and you cooled my mind that burned with longing…” – Sappho
  50. “You will flitter invisible among the indistinct dead in H*ll’s palace darting fitfully” – Sappho
  51. “He who is fair to look upon is good, and he who is good will soon be fair also.” – Sappho
  52. “From all the offspring of the earth and heaven love is the most precious.” – Sappho
  53. “There is no place for grief in a house which serves the Muse.” – Sappho
  54. “The gleaming stars all about the shining moon hide their bright faces, when full-orbed and splendid in the sky she floats, flooding the shadowed earth with clear silver light.” – Sappho
  55. “Once long ago I loved you, Atthis, a little graceless child you seemed to me.” – Sappho
  56. “Here under boughs a bracing spring percolates, roses without number umber the earth and, rustling, the leaves drip slumber.” – Sappho
  57. “Beauty endures only for as long as it can be seen; goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow.” – Sappho
  58. “When anger spreads through the breath, guard thy tongue from barking idly.” – Sappho
  59. “With his venom irresistible and bittersweet that loosener of limbs, Love reptile-like strikes me down.” – Sappho
  60. “You will have memories because of what we did back then when we were new at this.” – Sappho, Come Closer
  61. “Like the sweet-apple reddening high on the branch, high on the highest, the apple-pickers forgot, or not forgotten, but one they couldn’t reach…” – Sappho
  62. “Kypris, here in the present blend your nectar with pure festal glee. Fill gilded bowls and pass them round lavishly.” – Sappho
  63. “The Muses have filled my life with delight. And when I die I shall not be forgotten.” – Sappho
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Summary

Sappho was not only just a great poet, she was one of the few woman poets in her time. Her works are enjoyed by people of various ages. Sappho was and remains one of the greatest lyric poets of all time.

Use some of these quotes to sing proclaiming your bittersweet love for another, post them on your social media to spark up conversations, quote her in school projects or send some quotes to friends, family or partners.

 

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