Anne Carson (2002): If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. Alfred A. Knopf.
xiii, 397pp. 210 frr.
Deathless Aphrodite of the spangled mind,
child of Zeus, who twists lures, I beg you
do not break with hard pains,
O lady, my heart
Anne Carson’s translation of Sappho is widely acclaimed, and for good reason. Her introduction is particularly brief, but the translation itself is first-class. It also includes a parallel Greek text.
Unfortunately, as the translation was first published in 2002 it is now outdated, missing the 2004 and 2014 discoveries. Carson has published translations of at least some of these (her translation of the Brothers Poem was published in the Times Literary Supplement in 2014), but there has been no revised and updated edition of If Not, Winter to incorporate the new material.
Before the 2014 discoveries, this was probably the best widely-available translation of Sappho, and it is still widely recommended. The translation itself still holds up, but with the amount of new Sappho material from 2004 and 2014 not included in this, a more modern translation is probably now better for most readers.