Sappho of Eressus:
Where Poetry Comes From
“There is a variety of dialects, and this is one reason it
was always considered important to give a poet, almost
as a patronymic, his or her town of origin, and why
Didymus’ pedantries in seeking the actual birthplaces
of poets may have had some editorial and prosodic use.”
~ Michael Schmidt, The First Poets, 15
Her island voice calls out across the seas
With more than Lesbos in the songs. Her loves
Speak loudest like the luridly painted frieze
Above the Parthenon. The passion shoves
The other elements away. Her town’s
Specific dialect is lost to all
But scholars. If it had the subtle sounds
Of seashells in it, if it had a drawl
In it like Scarlett on an afternoon
In Georgia, they are lost on us. The strife
Of politics is missing like a rune
Unknown like details of her daily life.
Her passion, only, matters, matters most.
She cries out fresh and fiery from her coast.