Hymn to Aphrodite (Bantock, set by G. Bantock) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Daughter of Zeus,
Immortal Aphrodite,
Queen of the broidered throne,
distress'd I pray thee,
Weaver of wiles,
break not my heart with anguish,
O Goddess, hear me!

Now hither come, as once before thou camest,
Hearing my voice afar, and lean to listen;
Camest with golden chariot, leaving swiftly
Thy father's dwelling.

Beautiful, fleet thy sparrows drew thee hither,
Round the dark earth
from heaven's height descending,
Whirled they with wings
through deeps of middle aether,
Fluttering came they.

Then thou, blest once, with lips immortal smiling,
Didst ask -
"Why weepest thou? What is befallen?
Whom wouldst thy heart and beauty
draw to love thee?
Who wrongs thee, Sappho?

"She who spurns gifts shall give;
who flies shall follow;
If she loves not, unwilling soon shall love thee."
Ah, come, from care release, fulfil my yearning;
Help, I beseech thee.

Daughter of Zeus,
Immortal Aphrodite,
Queen of the broidered throne,
distress'd I pray thee,
Weaver of wiles,
break not my heart with anguish,
O Goddess, hear me!

Authorship

Helen Maude Francesca Bantock (von Schweizer) (1868-?)

Based on

text

Henry Thornton Wharton (1846-1895)

GER

Based on

text

Sappho (fl. c610-c580 BCE)

GER

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (1868-1946)

Sappho: Prelude and Nine Fragments

Set in Greek, adapted by Sappho (fl. c610-c580 BCE) GER

Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869)

German

Set in German, a translation of Carl von Blankensee GER

Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869)

Greek

Set in German, a translation of Rudolf Bach GER [text unavailable]

Hermann Reutter (1900-1985)

Fünf antike Oden nach Gedichten von Sappho

Date added to the website: 2003-12-01.

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