“Sapphic” and “Loose Sapphic” forms
When I was first “taught” the Sapphic form I was probably taught wrongly – both how to construct it and about its origins. Very little of the poetry of Sappho is extant, and the most recently-discovered poem of hers was very definitely not in the form associated with her name. I was led to believe that the form itself was largely 19th century conjecture, and that it consisted of nothing more than three eleven-syllable lines followed by one five-syllable line, all unrhymed. At least that gave me a basis on which to play with that verse-structure, and I shall tell you more about my experiments later on. But for now, back to basics.
The Sapphic form:
(adapted from the web site of the Academy of American Poets)
The sapphic dates back to ancient Greece and is named for the poet Sappho, who left behind many poem fragments written in an unmistakable meter. Sapphics are made up of any number of four-line stanzas, and many Greek and Roman poets, including Catullus, used the form. It was introduced to Roman and European poets by Horace, who frequently used sapphics in his Odes, and later became popular as a verse form for hymns during the Middle Ages (this is not strange, because classical poetry was meant to be sung or declaimed, so there is already a lyrical quality to this form. Mb ). Modern sapphics have been written by Ezra Pound, John Frederick Nims, and Anne Carson.
The original sapphic form was determined by quantitative meter, based on the nature of the ancient Greek language in which syllables were either long or short, depending on vowel length and ending sound. However, modern sapphics are rendered in accentual meter determined instead by the stress and intensity of a syllable. The accentual meter of the sapphic approximates the original form by equating long syllables with stressed ones, and short syllables with unstressed ones.
The main building blocks of the sapphic are trochees and dactyls. The trochee is a metrical foot with one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one (DAH-di), while the dactyl contains a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones(DAH-di-di). The first three lines of the sapphic contain two trochees, a dactyl, and then two more trochees. The shorter fourth, and final, line of the stanza is called an "Adonic" and is composed of one dactyl followed by a trochee. However, there is some flexibility with the form as when two stressed syllables replace both the second and last foot of each line. For example, the following stanzas from Sappho’s "The Anactoria Poem," here translated by Richard Lattimore:
Some there are who say that the fairest thing seen
on the black earth is an array of horsemen;
some, men marching; some would say ships; but I say
she whom one loves best
is the loveliest. Light were the work to make this
plain to all, since she, who surpassed in beauty
all mortality, Helen, once forsaking
her lordly husband,
fled away to Troy--land across the water.
Not the thought of child nor beloved parents
was remembered, after the Queen of Cyprus
won her at first sight.
The strict meter of the sapphic, with its starts and stops, creates a powerful emotion that the language of the poem intensifies. Starting with a stressed syllable, as opposed to the familiar iambic foot that begins on an unstressed syllable, provides a sense of forcefulness and urgency to the sapphic, while the extra unstressed syllable at the core of the first three lines, offers a pause, or caesura, within the driving movement. The short fourth line may offer either a rest or a quick turn to the poem, or even an opportunity for conclusion, as with the final two lines of a Shakespearean sonnet.
The Loose Sapphic form:
This is what I call the style in which I have come to write. I did not set out to create a new poetic form – I find things like that turn out very contrived – but fell into this through a combination of ignorance and experimentation. I have coined the term “Loose Sapphic” mainly because I have not relied upon the combination of trochees and dactyls of the pure form; whenever I am feeling unworthy to be considered the creator of a new form or sub-form I tend simply to call it “eleven-eleven-eleven-five style”!
I found that the structure lent itself to containing a discrete idea within a verse, allowing a theme to develop throughout the poem step by step. I also found that I could abandon punctuation if I wished, allowing each line to contain a discrete grammatical element and to dictate further the structure and development of the whole poem. Usually there is a grammatical link between the third line and the shorter fourth of each verse. I discovered I could do this and achieve a great deal of flow.
What I had stumbled onto lent itself very readily to love poetry – I wrote a whole series of poems, mainly in this form, using a cottage on the Island of Iona as a metaphor for the relationship between two women. Rather than explain any further, I’ll show you some examples, oldest first, some punctuated and some not, several with erotic content.
To Chincoteague http://allpoetry.com/poem/1800537
One day you will come back and it will be spring http://allpoetry.com/poem/1800703
To Celestine http://allpoetry.com/poem/1800713
Outer wolf – inner wolf http://allpoetry.com/poem/1808420
In the Underworld http://allpoetry.com/poem/1808675
On first seeing Titian’s Venus Anadyomene http://allpoetry.com/poem/1817395
The weals of love http://allpoetry.com/poem/1821904
To touch Lady-Sky http://allpoetry.com/poem/1868861
“This is Celestine” http://allpoetry.com/poem/2001696
Questioning http://allpoetry.com/poem/2030625
Summer, summer, summer http://allpoetry.com/poem/show/2094126
Grape-kissing http://allpoetry.com/poem/2099823
The Old Place http://allpoetry.com/poem/3224782
When the lantern of the full moon swings http://allpoetry.com/poem/3916375
cinn alla http://allpoetry.com/poem/5082487
Here's an excellent poem called Fusion by Glirastes II http://allpoetry.com/poem/5174673#
[c] Marie Marshall “Mairi bheag” except where otherwise cited.
Discovering a poetic form both old and new.
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Comments
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Help?
I am so very confused.
I need to write one of these for a challenge and have no idea what this explanation means. I'm no good with forms. 
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If you're talking about the La-La challenge, then I might be able to help you.
The Loose Sapphic form is actually close to free verse in many ways. It is unrhymed, and does not have a regular metre. What it does have is verses of four lines, three of which are 11 syllables long, and the final one of 5.
It is a type of poem which lends itself to being spoken aloud. Think of it as being governed by three deep breaths and one shallow one, and words spoken in the natural rhythm of everyday speech. Think of each line containing a sentence, or a discrete part of a sentence, so that the breath doesn't cut something off in mid flow. Think of the last line in each verse as a gentle afterthought.
I find that this form lends itself to love poetry.
Have a look through the list of poems, and see if you get the idea from reading them.
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Many thanks Mairi. One student saved from insanity.
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Oh good.
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The Sapphic ode as known in Greece
Is rather tough on English ears
So Pope and others gave new lease
Like this for years
Although the count has been reduced
The clever part has been retained
These can be easily produced
And aren't too pained
Although it is a rotten cheek
I call this form the Sapphic ode
And if you aren't in stuffy clique
A lovely mode! -
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Jeff, what a wonderful instant-coining in the mint of Pope. Thank you very, very much. It recalls Dorothy Parker's "One Perfect Rose" (pentameter and... um... diameter
)
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Heres to school
Thanks for the lecture, it goes along way.. -
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You're very welcome. Sorry it took so long to get to your kind comment.
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I could see long description and lamentation on the lines
tied by the short last line -
I bookmarked this as it seems quite something interesting to learn about [unfortunately right now duty calls me away]
thanks
reenie
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I love Sappho!
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Sappho
Sappho, the all-time best! Poetry that strong, spirit that important could not be destroyed by the powers that be. -
I'll admit, my head was spinning a little after reading this. I like to write, but I'm quite the dolt when it comes to understanding the extensive landscape which poetry has inhabited since the beginning of time. I must say, though I could hardly pronounce half these words
, that this article spawns an urge to try the form on for size, and I've never even attempted a form poem in the past. I might have to give it a shot. Thank you for educating all of us.
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This was a very interesting column. I enjoy reading and writing different poetry forms, and I appreciated how clearly you descibed both the regular and loose forms. Peace, Liz
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What a wonderful gift to wake up to this morning. This is something I have never considered nor even heard of. I agree with your evaluation of this style and I love the fact that the flow of the structure will carry the piece without end line punctuation or even capitalization for that matter. I have been doing this with metered rhyming poetry and like you I didn’t know I was doing it. Thank you for this column and sharing your research with us and thanks to AP poet “ea” for directing me here.
Love,
Amera ♥
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Amera, I hope what I am sharing is my own learning process. I'm definitely still learning. Thank you for your comments.
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this page is too long for my screen
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Oh dear. By and large it reads ok on my browser, and on most other people's, it seems. I do notice that I have a problem myself this time I logged on, inasmuch as the column seems to have widened. But I think this happens when "group notes" appear at the top of the screen.
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sorry
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I, as a mainly Free Verse writer, like that this form does not rely on rhyme. I often incorporate form "loosely" in my verse and can see opportunity within this form.
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I started out writing free verse too. I love this form (Loose Sapphic) as a bridge between free and structured verse.
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I love Richard Lattimore's tranlations. His Iliad translation is the best that I've read.
Sappho's poetry is lovely, and very unique for the time because of subject and form. -
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Indeed it is, and she was justly famous for it, if the fragments we have are anything to go by.
I have read a few translations other than Richard Lattimore's, and although I think translating poetry is a difficult job (I have worked in parallel English/Esperanto texts, and someone has recently translated one of my loose saphhics into Gaelic) I am warming to his.
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Oh my. I think I have read a couple of poems lately that emulate this style and I found it fascinating. I didn't know there was this much information. What a great column to read this morning. I will have to try one of these and plan to share this link with a few other writers that may find it interesting. Thank you for this.
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Thank you Pamela. I am glad you found it interesting. It is all information I found out long after I started writing this kind of verse, so I am learning backwards!
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Forward backward it matters not when you are learning.
I did enjoy the column very much.
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This is very interesting, Mb and ea. With the variety and quantity of poetry in the world, it is difficult to learn without help. You have given us enough detail on this form that we can go ahead and try it, and also the basis for further study. Thank you for your work.
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Hi Margaret. Thanks for dropping by, and for the kind comments. I am thinking of running a contest for this form if the column gets enough interest.
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Wow! I love the example you give by Sappho herself, translated by Richard Lattimore, and am happy to see this list of your own Sapphics linked. Thank you, Mairi. Hope you generate a lot of interest.
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Thanks. Yes, that example comes courtesy of the Academy of American Poets.
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