ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλεπᾶν δὲ λῦσον
ἐκ μεριμνᾶν, ὄσσα δέ μοι τέλεσσαι
θῦμος ἰμμέρρει, τέλεσον· σὺ δ’ αὔτα
σύμμαχος ἔσσο.

ταύτης τῆς λέξεως ἡ εὐέπεια καὶ ἡ χάρις ἐν τῇ συνεχείᾳ καὶ 5
λειότητι γέγονε τῶν ἁρμονιῶν· παράκειται γὰρ ἀλλήλοις τὰ
ὀνόματα καὶ συνύφανται κατὰ τινας οἰκειότητας καὶ συζυγίας
φυσικὰς τῶν γραμμάτων· τὰ γὰρ φωνήεντα τοῖς ἀφώνοις τε
καὶ ἡμιφώνοις συνάπτεται μικροῦ διὰ πάσης τῆς ᾠδῆς, ὅσα
προτάττεσθαί τε καὶ ὑποτάττεσθαι πέφυκεν ἀλλήλοις κατὰ 10
μίαν συλλαβὴν συνεκφερόμενα· ἡμιφώνων δὲ πρὸς ἡμίφωνα ἢ
ἄφωνα ‹καὶ ἀφώνων› καὶ φωνηέντων πρὸς ἄλληλα συμπτώσεις
αἱ διασαλεύουσαι τοὺς ἤχους ὀλίγαι πάνυ ἔνεισιν· ἐγὼ
γοῦν ὅλην τὴν ᾠδὴν ἀνασκοπούμενος πέντε ἢ ἓξ ἴσως ἐν τοῖς
τοσούτοις ὀνόμασι καὶ ῥήμασι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις μορίοις ἡμιφώνων 15
τε καὶ ἀφώνων γραμμάτων συμπλοκὰς τῶν μὴ πεφυκότων
ἀλλήλοις κεράννυσθαι καὶ οὐδὲ ταύτας ἐπὶ πολὺ τραχυνούσας
τὴν εὐέπειαν εὑρίσκω, φωνηέντων δὲ παραθέσεις τὰς μὲν ἐν
τοῖς κώλοις αὐτοῖς γινομένας ἔτι ἐλάττους ἢ τοσαύτας, τὰς δὲ
συναπτούσας ἀλλήλοις τὰ κῶλα ὀλίγῳ τινὶ τούτων πλείονας. 20
εἰκότως δὴ γέγονεν εὔρους τις ἡ λέξις καὶ μαλακή, τῆς ἁρμονίας
τῶν ὀνομάτων μηδὲν ἀποκυματιζούσης τὸν ἦχον.
ἔλεγον δ’ ἂν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς συνθέσεως ταύτης ἰδιώματα,
καὶ ἀπεδείκνυον ἐπὶ τῶν παραδειγμάτων τοιαῦτα ὄντα οἷα
ἐγώ φημι, εἰ μὴ μακρὸς ἔμελλεν ὁ λόγος γενήσεσθαι καὶ 25
ταυτολογίας τινὰ παρέξειν δόξαν. ἐξέσται γὰρ σοὶ καὶ παντὶ

[241]

Once again come! Come, and my chains dissever,
Chains of heart-ache! Passionate longings rend me—
Oh fulfil them! Thou in the strife be ever
Near, to defend me.[177]

Here the euphonious effect and the grace of the language arise from the coherence and smoothness of the junctures. The words nestle close to one another and are woven together according to certain affinities and natural attractions of the letters. Almost throughout the entire ode vowels are joined to mutes and semi-vowels, all those in fact which are naturally prefixed or affixed to one another when pronounced together in one syllable. There are very few clashings of semi-vowels with semi-vowels or mutes, and of mutes and vowels with one another, such as cause the sound to oscillate. When I review the entire ode, I find, in all those nouns and verbs and other kinds of words, only five or perhaps six unions of semi-vowels and mutes which do not naturally blend with one another, and even they do not disturb the smoothness of the language to any great extent. As for juxtaposition of vowels, I find that those which occur in the clauses themselves are still fewer, while those which join the clauses to one another are only a little more numerous. As a natural consequence the language has a certain easy flow and softness; the arrangement of the words in no way ruffles the smooth waves of sound.

I would go on to mention the remaining characteristics of this kind of composition, and would show as before by means of appropriate illustrations that they are such as I say, were it not that my treatise would become too long and would create an impression of needless repetition. It will be open to you, as to

3 ϊμαρερερει F: ϊμέρει P 4 ἔσο F: ἔστω compendio F 5 συνεχεία EF: συνεπεία PMV 8 τε καὶ ἡμιφώνους om. EF 9 διὰ πάσης EF: δεῖν δι’ ὅλης PMV 10 πέφυκεν ... συνεκφερόμενα EF: om. PMV 11 συνεκφερόμενα E: συνεκφέρεσθαι F || ἢ ἄφωνα PM: καὶ ἀφώνων FE 13 ἔνεισιν EF: εἰσίν PMV 14 ἐν F: εὗρον ἐν PMV 15 τοσούτοις Sylburgius: τοιούτοις PMV 16 καὶ ἀφώνων F: om. PMV 18 εὑρίσκω MV: εὑρίσκων F: om. P 19 ἔτι] ὅτι F 21 εὔνους τις F 23 δὲ ἂν F 24 ἀπεδείκνυ F 25 ἐιμιμακρ(ῶς) P 26 παρέξειν δόξαν F: δόξαν παρέχειν PMV

5. W. G. Headlam (Book of Greek Verse p. 265) well says that Dionysius’ comments on the smooth style (especially in relation to Sappho) are worth the attention of those who would gather the effect which Sappho’s language made upon a Greek ear practised in the minute study of expression; and he proceeds: “There is always in the verse of Sappho a directness and unlaboured ease of language, as if every lovely sentence came by nature from the mouth at once; as though she spoke in song, and what she sang were the expression of her very soul, the voice of languorous enjoyment and desire of beauty:

My blood was hot wan wine of love,
And my song’s sound the sound thereof,
The sound of the delight of it.”