Poem 9

[Aphrodite extend her hands and] invites

[worries] all not

[Momus welcome you to the] feast

[the jealousy of] Hera

[the curse of Zeus]

[be happy] as long as

[your destiny allow it]

[when the gods decide]

[the mortals follows]

the diagram is a general idea of Sappho feelings between love and despair (suffering), as well as the connection of those feelings with the influence of gods. The general mode of the poem with the diagram help me understand how the love of Sappho is also the origin of her suffering such as being both sides of the same coin. in the poem 31 the feeling of recklessness is imprinted because it list all the disadvantaged and negative feelings to end in an invitation to do something and and insinuation that even poor people can do something in times of despair. I reach this conclusion based in the mood of the legible parts of the poem were the doubt of the author is noticeable and the bitter feeling of wishing something else. also it seems that the author decide to not give up her destiny in the gods hands, and stop being an amusement for them. instead she proposed to take a risk instead of the bitter feelings she describe in the first half of the poem 31. I took this assumption based on the general diagram were the author emotions seems fighting each other and her despair and hope when the god decide to meddle. in the end anyone will be mad from being toyed and instead to not doing anything will be many times better take the risk and know that at least you did what you believe is correct.

Poem 9 revision

[The noble] invites

[young ladies with fancy headdress] all not

[as gorgeous as you at the] feast

[sits and prays] for Hera

[for her sacredness and glory]

[Oh my love, take a glance at you] as long as

[I smell fragrance from you]

[The light irradiates your face,]

[shining and enchanting]

poem 31 diagram takeaway

Poem 31 can be split into three parts. The first part is the description of a scene that Sappho sees a man sitting with the woman he loves. The second part is how Sappho feels at that moment. The last part is the impact of her view of love.

In the first two paragraphs, Sappho describes a scene when she sees a man, who seems “equal to gods”, is sitting with her beloved. The phrases “listens close” “sweet speaking” “lovely laughing” express Sappho’s deep love, which  makes her feel everything about that woman is flawless and lovely. Even when she looks at her beloved, there “no speaking is left in me”. Sappho thoroughly admires the man who has privilege talking to that woman closely. Instead she is not allowed to do so.

Then Sappho expresses how she feels when she see the scene in the following two paragraphs. Her fear and jealousy can be recognized through phrases “tongue breaks”, “thin fire is racing”, “cold sweat” and “greener than grass”. She is jealousy about the man sitting with her beloved and fear the woman will fall in love with that man.

The lase paragraph is the most profound influence on human’s attitude to love. Since Sappho is a lesbian, her love at that time is unacceptable by most of people in society. For her, “even a person of poverty” shouldn’t be dared to love. Therefore, the extension of this paragraph is people has right to love, even if love between same gender.

[lost days of our love]

[I know] you will remember

[these memories will last] for we in our youth

did these things

yes many and beautiful things

[that I keep in my heart]

[waiting for the moment]

[we meet again]

Making a diagram helped me to better understand the connections between the lines in the verse, distinguish between characters and understand their role in the poem, despite the absence of certain fragments. I believe the poem 31 was about the agony of love and jealousy. Contemporary studies show that when experiencing unrequited love, stress hormones suppress the ability to be yourself. To some extend that is what she is describing when she says that her tongue breaks, fire racing under her skin, cold sweat holds her, and no speaking is left in her.

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.

Poem 24c revision

] O beauty, my soul,

we live

]under the rainbow,

the opposite

]but parallel to other loving minds

daring

] to pursue

] the treasure beyond the rainbow bridge.

Diagram takeaway

The poem 31 can be separated into two parts. The first part is the speaker is watching a man and a woman. The second part is about the internal emotion of the speaker.

In the first stanza of the poem, the poet uses the word “he”,  it refers to a male. The poet does not use any word like “she ” or “her” to refer to who is the man talking to. Instead, she uses the phrase ‘who opposite you’. The word “opposite” can used to describe the position, but it can also use to describe the gender of the other person. Therefore, I can imagine a woman is talking to a man.

The rest of the poem describe the internal emotion of the speaker. The speaker feels jealous first , then he/she is fearful. The phrase ‘no:’ shows the speaker does not want to experience the feeling that he /she feels. Therefore, the speaker is experiencing something negative. The phrases like ‘tongue breaks’, ‘thin fire’, ‘in eyes no sight’ can use to describe jealous. On the other hand, ‘ cold sweat’ , ‘shaking’ and ‘i am and dead’ can be described as speaker is fearful.

Poem 24C Revision

] Oh beauty, my soul

] we live

] under the rainbow

the opposite

] but parallel to other loving minds

daring

] to pursue

] treasure beyond the rainbow bridge

Diagram

After diagraming about the poem 31, I want to separate it into three parts: a scene, Sappho’s emotion and her understanding.

The first two paragraphs pictured a scene showing Sappho is watching her lover talking sweetly and closely to a man. She describes the man is almost equal to gods showing her admiration to the man’s ability to have her lover stayed by his side. Sappho loves her lover and desires to sit along with her. But maybe only a godlike man is able to do this.

Then, the following two paragraphs described Sappho’s broken tongue, skin is on fire, and she can see or hear nothing, and is dying. It’s hard to figure out why there is a “no:” in the beginning. I guessed that this show Sappho is afraid to lose her lover. Because Sappho loves her lover so much, when another man is attracting her lover’s attention, she has a strong fear of losing her. She feels helpless but she can’t help loving the lady.

The last sentence is hard to understand and it’s not complete. It probably means the behaviors and emotions which appeared in the above lines should be allowed. That is to say, the man’ s attractions to her lover, her lover’s willingness to speak and laugh sweetly to the man, and Sappho’s love to the lady and fear of losing her, all of them should be dare to do and should be respected. Because even a poor person has the right to show his love and enjoy his love.

Poem 12 Revision

[As I listen to the waves]

[I can hear the sea speaking]

[It is calling out to me]

[With not much] thought

[I walk] barefoot

[Down the beach]

[Just listening to the waves]

[Wondering]

[What is beyond them]

Poem 31 Diagram Takeaway

Poem 31 to me seemed like a woman in love with a higher power(God or King). I started on the top with the man in which she is speaking about and worked my way down the her and her feelings. This woman is definitely in love with someone who makes her feel amazing on the inside. By the time you get to the end of the poem it seems like she either has been rejected by the man or he hasn’t even noticed her. It could be that he didn’t know of these feeling and she is too scared to reveal them to him.

O I saw ]Doricha’s lover

In my dream, Aphrodite ]gives orders, for not to love her

and stay away from her now]

I can abandon my]top pride

Her appearance cannot be compared to others]like young men

I want to be]beloved

I need her]

Diagram Takeaway

By diagramming 31st page, I could find how Sappho had difficulty and struggled because of the triangular relationship among them. Also, diagramming helped me see more evident how we address from the beginning to the end even though there are many fragments we cannot really read. It connects every missing passage each other. It seems Sappho’s love was not eventually able to be accomplished. Sappho expresses her heartbroken emotion and she accepts her unattainable fate.

Poem 18 Revision  

Pan

to tell [ you the truth my,

tongue [ has been blessed by the gods

to tell tales [ of your epic odyssey

and for a man

greater [ than a god you will be described as.

Diagram Takeaway

I feel that someone she is in love with does not even notice her presence and she is very heartbroken. She has a friend she is talking to possibly trying to get advice on when or will the person notice her. I think this because she states “cold sweat holds me and shaking grips me all” this sounds to me like she melts when thinking of him. I diagrammed it in flow chart  to represent her feelings from beginning to end. After drawing this diagram I was able to better understand her deep emotion for her partner that she expressed.

Poem 3

I yearn to give
To rid you of all yet of the glorious
Taste only the sweet nectar of the beautiful and good, you
forget the wrath of pain and embrace me
Let go of blame
Allow your heart to be tenderly swollen
mirthful as you take your fill. For you begin to oblige my thinking

but it is not thus
no mercy or comfort is arranged
you cannot beam so effortlessly nor
may your dreams dance all night long in the solemn darkness where I am aware
blatant execution of evildoing
piercing my pure visions
let us restore each other
shield the minds
of the blessed ones
from corruption
from pollution

Creating a diagram helped me to divert a purpose to each line of the poem. It also helps bring together the ideas in the poem. I used a diagram for poem 16, which helped me figure out that the first stanza is alluding to the strength and variance of preference. I worked around the fragmented break offs, to connect the second and third stanzas to the central idea. A woman leaves everything behind, something leads her astray, and she wants to seek something. Possibly she chooses to leave her children and husband to seek out another woman, since Sappho’s lover Anaktoria is mentioned in the final lines. However it is not clear whether it worked out well, as the last line says that Anaktoria is now gone.