Songs of Bilitis XII (Comparisons)
COMPARISONS
Sparrow, bird of Kypris, accompany our first desires with your notes.
The new body of young girls blooms with flowers, just as blooms the earth.
The night of all our dreams arrives and we whisper it together.
At times we match our different beauties,
our long hair, our budding breasts,
our quail-plump deltas,
couched beneath the springing down.
But yesterday I strove this way against Melantho, my elder.
She was proud of her bosom, which sprouted within the month,
and, mocking at my flattened tunic, called me Little c***d.
No man could possibly have seen us,
we showed ourselves nude before the other girls,
and, if she won upon one point, I vanquished her by far upon the others.
Sparrow, bird of the Kyprian, accompany our first desires with your notes
Note:
First published in Paris in 1894, this book purported to be translations of poems by a woman named Bilitis, a contemporary and acquaintance of Sappho. This caused a sensation, not only because finding an intact cache of poems from a completely unknown Greek poet circa 600 B.C. would be a miracle, but because of its open and sensitive exploration of lesbian eroticism. Actually Bilitis never existed. The poems were a clever forgery by Pierre Louÿs--the "translator"; to lend weight, he had even included a bibliography with bogus supporting works. Louÿs actually did have a good command of the classics, and he salted Bilitis with a number of quotations from real poets, including Sappho, to make it even more convincing.
Just because this is a fake does not detract from its literary value. And just because it was written by a man did not prevent it from acquiring cultural significance for lesbians. In fact, one of the earliest organizations of lesbians in the United States was called the Daughters of Bilitis (although this could have been because it was a reference that would elude most people).
Prior to the 1960s, in the US, English translations of Bilitis were considered risqué enough to warrant lavish privately printed limited editions. This was a dodge to circumvent now-defunct censorship laws
Sparrow, bird of Kypris, accompany our first desires with your notes.
The new body of young girls blooms with flowers, just as blooms the earth.
The night of all our dreams arrives and we whisper it together.
At times we match our different beauties,
our long hair, our budding breasts,
our quail-plump deltas,
couched beneath the springing down.
But yesterday I strove this way against Melantho, my elder.
She was proud of her bosom, which sprouted within the month,
and, mocking at my flattened tunic, called me Little c***d.
No man could possibly have seen us,
we showed ourselves nude before the other girls,
and, if she won upon one point, I vanquished her by far upon the others.
Sparrow, bird of the Kyprian, accompany our first desires with your notes
Note:
First published in Paris in 1894, this book purported to be translations of poems by a woman named Bilitis, a contemporary and acquaintance of Sappho. This caused a sensation, not only because finding an intact cache of poems from a completely unknown Greek poet circa 600 B.C. would be a miracle, but because of its open and sensitive exploration of lesbian eroticism. Actually Bilitis never existed. The poems were a clever forgery by Pierre Louÿs--the "translator"; to lend weight, he had even included a bibliography with bogus supporting works. Louÿs actually did have a good command of the classics, and he salted Bilitis with a number of quotations from real poets, including Sappho, to make it even more convincing.
Just because this is a fake does not detract from its literary value. And just because it was written by a man did not prevent it from acquiring cultural significance for lesbians. In fact, one of the earliest organizations of lesbians in the United States was called the Daughters of Bilitis (although this could have been because it was a reference that would elude most people).
Prior to the 1960s, in the US, English translations of Bilitis were considered risqué enough to warrant lavish privately printed limited editions. This was a dodge to circumvent now-defunct censorship laws
2 年 前
