This book is my first exposure to Sappho's poetry, and Barnstone's translation has a euphonious, magical quality that managed to send me into some floating rapture (or frothing seizure, depending on how you look at it) for the rest of the week. The language used is simple enough, but not dumbed down for blind consumption. The gaping holes in her verses, once inconveniences to be endured, turn into tantalising portholes for endless interpretation in Barnstone's hands. The sincerity and honesty, as well as her soaring love underpins most of her poetry, which really endeared me to her work. I would strongly advise new readers to not focus too much on her sexuality and simply appreciate her poetry as it is. ( )

So this is my first time reading Sappho, and I absolutely loved it.

As a queer woman, I really wanted to read her because I wanted to feel her voice and I always want queer women to be represented in work. For me, this book was really special because of how ancient it is, which proves to me that queer people have been around since forever, and always will be.

... unfortunately, though, Sappho's work is fragmentary. Fragmentary because she was a woman, and she loved other women. Many of her poems were burned of destroyed, despite the fact that she was one of Greece's first and most prolific lyrical poets. (She wrote nine books!) If I think about it for too long, I get angry. And then I get angry that years later, after finally acknowledging her importance, academics (most of them white, male and heterosexual) vehemently denied her sexuality at every turn.

If I could say one thing to her, I would apologise, both for how she was treated, and how her work was treated.

MOVING ON, away from my bitter rant. This translation felt a little bit formal for me, so I'd like to read some others and explore more of Sappho's work and how differently her poems can be recommended. I absolutely loved her poems, though, and consumed them - perhaps too quickly. I'd love to reread this book again and just take more time to soak up her work.

I enjoyed the introduction and how many ancient people wrote about her, and what they thought about her, but overall the translator can be quite dry. I'm not sure if this will be my favourite translation, but I am excited to read another edition or translation because it'll be like experiencing the book all over again.

Because of the translation and how formal it was, I will give this book 4 stars. c: ( )