Sappho: When I Think of My Mother

 When I think of my Mother   by Sappho

translated by Moira Redmond 2013

When I think of my mother

I remember her talking with her friends,

Laughing

And saying ‘Dark hair: purple scarf. Always’.

Yes indeed.

But then – if the hair is gold, and glowing, and the colour of a bonfire

Then

A wreath of flowers, you know, like for a wedding

Straight out of the garden.

That’s what we did.

But look at us now, Kleis.

You with your hair

You would look lovely with an embroidered headscarf

The new ones from Sardis are embellished and decorated

But there is no way to get you one

I don’t know what I can do

And I don’t know what my mother would say.

I first published this blogpost in 2013. I am re-posting it today in memory of my own mother, who died recently 

(And thank you so much to everyone who so kindly commented below)

comments: This very free translation from the Ancient Greek has been produced in-house (a first for Clothes in Books). Most of what survives to us of Sappho is in fragments, or at best has bits missing, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what exactly she said and meant, as well as the usual variations that translation brings: this is a version built on the Greek words.

To quote from Wikipedia: 'Little is known about Sappho's life for certain. She was from the island of Lesbos and lived at the end of the seventh and beginning of the sixth centuries BC'

So it seems that there are fashions in head coverings across the generations – I like to think that the embellished ones would come from Marks &Spencer’s Per Una range (Sardis branch) these days. Kleis was Sappho’s daughter (ha – you thought she was her lover didn’t you?), and it may have been the name of her mother too, but very little is certain. Still the fragments tease and entice us, you’d feel there was something lovely in there in the Greek, though we know so little about her, and so much of the poetry is missing.

Another of her fragments is

Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters. 

Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man

from which JD Salinger took the name of one of his Seymour Glass stories. Which meant that for years I thought the line came from ‘Irving Sappho’, to whom it is credited in the story, with the implication that he is a movie writer. Also, from this story the teenage me learned that a Tom Collins was a delicious drink to have on a hot day, whatever American concoction it was, and indeed so it turned out the first time I visited the US, when I ordered one straightaway.

The photos are all from Perry Photography: by my favourite photographer, Denise Perry.  The best way in to her work is via her Instagram feed Denise Perry (@dhellphotography) • Instagram photos and videos. The statues are in Copenhagen’s astonishing Royal Casting Museum.