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.