Anon, tell me you’ve never read Sappho without saying “I never read Sappho”:
Some say an army of horsemen,
some of footsoldiers, some of ships,
is the fairest thing on the black earth,
but I say it is what one loves.
It’s very easy to make this clear
to everyone, for Helen,
by far surpassing mortals in beauty,
left the best of all husbands
and sailed to Troy,
mindful of neither her child
nor her dear parents, but
with one glimpse she was seduced by
Aphrodite. For easily bent...
and nimbly...[missing text]...
has reminded me now
of Anactoria who is not here;
I would much prefer to see the lovely
way she walks and the radiant glance of her face
than the war-chariots of the Lydians or
their footsoldiers in arms.
This was translated from Ancient Greek. Of course it won’t rhyme; Ancient Greek poetry is based on foot and pitch, not rhymes. And even if it used rhymes the translation would butcher them.
Calling it garbage because it doesn’t rhyme is like looking at a translation of Shakespeare into Japanese, and saying it’s garbage because Shakespeare was a functional illiterate that couldn’t count morae.
Regardless, the poem already shows a woman talking about romantic love around 600 BCE. It’s already enough to tear apart what Anon is saying. Insert mentions of patriarchy here.
Anon, tell me you’ve never read Sappho without saying “I never read Sappho”:
Aww, what a lovely thing to write about your best friend!
/s
That doesn’t even rhyme. Garbage.
In case you are not joking:
This was translated from Ancient Greek. Of course it won’t rhyme; Ancient Greek poetry is based on foot and pitch, not rhymes. And even if it used rhymes the translation would butcher them.
Calling it garbage because it doesn’t rhyme is like looking at a translation of Shakespeare into Japanese, and saying it’s garbage because Shakespeare was a functional illiterate that couldn’t count morae.
Regardless, the poem already shows a woman talking about romantic love around 600 BCE. It’s already enough to tear apart what Anon is saying. Insert mentions of patriarchy here.
If you’re joking: derp.