Sappho – A New Translation

“As nearly perfect an English translation as one can find, a great translation, an immensely moving translation, complete, beautiful, deserving of endless praise.”— Hudson Review

“Sappho remains one of the finest renderings of Greek poetry into English.”— American Poetry

"A major translation from the Greek.”— New York Times Book Review

“Expressing the bare, lyrical intensity of Sappho’s poetry without recourse to excessive linguistic ornament or narrative padding, Mary Barnard’s translation is widely regarded as the best in modern idiom.”— Synthesis

"A rival translator called [ Sappho] 'the best Greek translation in American literature.'"— Journal of Modern Literature

“Mary Barnard brought Sappho to the American public.”— Reed Magazine


These hundred poems and fragments constitute virtually all of Sappho that survives and effectively bring to life the woman whom the Greeks consider to be their greatest lyric poet. Mary Barnard's translations are lean, incisive, direct—the best ever published. She has rendered the beloved poet's verses, long the bane of translators, more authentically than anyone else in English.