A performative reading of Il-Frammenti ta’ Saffo − a new translation into Maltese of the ancient Greek poet Sappho’s enigmatic fragments − sees these ancient bits and pieces not as a series of unhemmed edges but treats the gaps themselves as works of poetry.

In the moonlit Mosta amphitheatre on August 30 − the final performance of the MCAST KampuSajf arts programme − the gaps in Sappho’s fragments were exalted. Voice, music, dance and the written word were invoked in an interpretative reading based on a recent translation by Warren Bartolo, published by Ede Books.

While spotted with diacritics and ample empty spaces, Sappho’s fragments have unrequited love as their overarching poetic theme (perhaps the empty spaces pay homage to this condition).

The performance begins with an ethereal ambient music trail by Yasmin Kuymizakis, known also by her stage name Joon, which extends and accompanies the audience throughout the piece.

Maria Theuma (left), with Warren Bartolo’s book in hand, reclines beside dancers Zoe Camilleri (centre) and Florinda Camilleri.

Performer Maria Theuma with Bartolo’s book in hand − its pink cover luminescent against her black dress − emerges with statuesque seriousness onto the stage. As she reads, her voice flows and weaves through the electronic soundscape.

“U nixxennaq u nfittex” (and I yearn, and I seek) (fr. 36), she reads and repeats. The tone for the ensuing hour is set. 

“Imma jien inħobb l-iktar eleganza raffinata, u lili / l-imħabba lejn ix-xemx tagħtini d-dawl u l-ġmiel” (fr. 58d).  

Dancers Florinda Camilleri and Zoe Camilleri meander onstage longingly. They enact Sappho’s yearning lyrics, sometimes pacing dangerously close to the edge of the amphitheatre as though on the edge of a precipice. Outward looking, their searching eyes scan and seek. 

“L-istillel madwar is-sabiħ qamar jerġgħu jaħbu / l-forma fiddiena tagħhom / meta fil-milja jleġġeg id-dawl / fuq id-dinja… Fidda” (fr. 34).

The figure of Eros makes an unsurprising appearance along the way: “U Eros regħedli / qlubi, bħal riħ tal-muntanja jaqa’ / fuq il-balluta” (fr. 47).

Sappho’s fragments have unrequited love as their overarching poetic theme

Socrates channels the words of Diotima in Plato’s Symposium (202a-208a) when he says that Love (Eros) is “between a mortal and an immortal” (202e). Fewer things are more ambiguous than Eros. Riddled with gaps, Eros exists in between fullness and emptiness, presence and absence.

As Theuma reads, she fills the gaps with her breath. She reads at one point into a microphone that amplifies and extends her voice, making her words echo. Each word travels amid the silences, between breaths, and soon amid less longing and more agitated music.

“U tassew nixtieq li kont mejta; / nolfoq ħallietni […]” (fr. 94). 

Florinda Camilleri and Zoe Camilleri put on a powerful interpretation. Their movements draw us into the perennial presence of Sappho’s words; our attention does not falter for an instant.

“Jalla torqod fuq sider ħabibtek ratba” (fr. 126).

Yasmin Kuymizakis, also know by her stage name Joon, sings out Sappho’s lyrics.

The singer Joon, Bartolo’s book in hand, comes onto the stage to sing out Sappho’s lyrics.

“U fuq l-irtubija / nerħi riġlejja” (fr. 46), she sings. 

“Għal-darb’ohra Eros iregħedni, idewweb ir-riġlejn […]” (fr. 130).

Bartolo’s translation is a beautiful rendition of Sappho’s original. Spoken in words both familiar and unfamiliar, her words have never been closer.

“Siġra tar-rand meta[ / u kollox oħla[”, sings Joon from fragment 62, gaps and all. “Ruħ maħbuba[ […] Ġejt l-ewwel; sabiħa[”

I left the amphitheatre bathed in moonlight and with fragment 46 churning in my mind. Her words, creatures that ebb and flow across time, float as though within the gaps between mortal and immortal. Perhaps it is Sappho’s fragmentariness that makes her so timeless.

Everything lies between us, after all.