A Sapphic Ode by Thornton Wilder: A Previously Unpublished Playlet

Abstract The manuscript of A Sapphic Ode exists in the Thornton Wilder Papers at the Beinecke Library at Yale University and is published here for the first time. This article contends that the playlet is a response to the discovery of papyrus fragments of Sappho at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, in 1914. The playlet is of interest for two reasons. It shows Wilder engaging with a recent archaeological discovery, and how archaeology can be a part of literary history. It also shows a young Wilder creating a comedy with a contemporary setting, which differs in tone from the short plays he later collected in 1928 in The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays. The main intent of this article is to make this short play available to scholars and readers so that it becomes part of the discussion of how Thornton Wilder developed as an author.