Fragment 6:

Go back in time

So we may see Hera

The majestic but jealous

Lady of vengeance

 

Of gold arms

Who out of love

Created death,

Doom and destruction.

 

Fragment 31 Diagram:

Sappho’s Fragment 31 is a poem describing one person’s love for another. It can be split into two parts. In the first, the speaker is admiring a man who is speaking to the object of her (the speaker’s) affection. The man seems unphased by this woman’s presence, and the ability to do so makes him, according to the speaker, “equal to gods.” In this section we see how highly the speaker thinks of this woman.

The second part describes how the speaker feels when around this woman. The speaker paints her feelings in a negative light: She loses ability to speak “ for when I look at you, even for a moment, no speaking is left in me… tongue breaks and thin…” She cannot see or hear as “Eyes no sight and drumming fills ears..” The speaker even admits “I am dead – or almost I seem to me.” Yet, “all is to be dared.” These deathly feelings are all worthwhile for the sake of love.

The meaning behind any poem is interpreted based on many tone, meter, and language. Deciphering an author’s message normally involves looking at a combination of these things. When only fragments of a poem are known, the task of interpretation becomes that much more challenging. The poems of Sappho, written thousands of years ago, pose exactly this problem. When reading these poems, I had to devise a strategy in order to try and understand Sappho’s message. When poems contain missing pieces, context becomes an important guide. Some of Sappho’s poems contain more complete lines, and those lines are critical to inferring the rest. For example, Sappho writes in her 16th piece, “…Not possible to happen… to pray for a share…toward… out of the unexpected.” Alone, these lines mean nothing. The previous lines, however, convey a solemn tone. Sappho then writes, “…reminded me now of Anaktoria who is gone. I would rather see her lovely step and the motion of light on her face than chariots of Lydians or ranks of the footsoldiers in arms.” Sappho is comparing seeing the face of a lost loved one to a picture of war. The lines that follow should expand on this idea. Sappho may be hoping for a miracle, to see the face of Anaktoria once again. The key is trying to decide whether the poem’s mood is dark or uplifting, tragic or joyful. From there, educated guesses can be made from the fragments that would otherwise be incomprehensible.