BenjaminS.Beckman
withvioletsinherlap
forviolinandsteelpan
forMatthewWoodard andRussellFisher
c.6.5'
FORPERUSALONLY
anotefromthecomposer:
TheabovepoemisAnnCarson'stranslation,fromhercollectoinIfNot,Winter,ofafragmentofancientGreek lyricpoetrybythefamedpoetSappho,wholivedontheislandofLesbosintheAegeanseaaroundtheseventh centurybeforethecommonera.Sappho'swriting-preservedonlyinbitsandpiecesofdamaged,fragile papyrusscatteredaroundtheMediterranean-isdeeplyintimateandstrikinglymodern.Herpoetrywasdeeply resonantwithme:thispiecewasbornoutofadeepadmirationforthisstrikingbodyofwork,andisameditation onhumanintimacyanditsconstancythroughtime.