The Greek Gods ES

I found the starkest difference in translations to be between the Hutchins and Gilbert translations. The Hutchins translation feels and sounds like a poem, it continues to be lyrical, and still maintain an aspect of rhythm and beautiful description. The Gilbert translation, while equally descriptive and full of imagery, feels less poetic. It sounds too plain-spoken to feel like a poem, instead it reads like a narrative story. While this may make it easier to comprehend, the sentence structure is so straightforward that it ceases to be poetic or rythmic. The sentence structure in the Hutchins translation is interesting and varried. In the second fragment, a Hymn to Aphrodite, the translation used interesting verbs, describing the ground as "shadowed by roses". However, in the Gilbert translation, it is much less complex, leading the reading to be lyrical. The translator opted to use the phrase, "all in the shadow of roses". It seems less lyrical. It may be the kind of poem that I prefer, but I found the Gilbert translation to be less elegant and smooth, almost lackluster in comparison to the Hutchins translation. 

Other than the differences in translation, I really enjoyed fragment 31. I thought it was so beautiful. I feel like it perfectly captured the feeling of seeing someone you're attracted to. When you're in love or lust for someone it can be hard to speak or hear. Everything else becomes still. This poem captured that feeling perfectly. Sappho describes seeing a woman by saying, "Now when I look at you for just a second my voice is empty, I can say nothing, my tongue breaks, a thin flame races under my skin." She describes perfectly how it feels to desire someone, and the translation keeps the language beautiful and lyrical. I enjoyed this poem the most out of all of the Sapphic poems I read.