Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31 Essay

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

Sappho of the island Lesbos’ creative heritage remains a classic example of lyric poetry. She is part of nine canonical lyrics of Ancient Greece, alongside Ibycus, Alcman, Stesichorus, Pindar, Anacreon, Simonides, Bacchylides, and Alcaeus. Her poems’ topics were mostly colorful and variegated and had deep descriptions of her feelings. Its main advantage is intense passion, expressed with extreme simplicity and brightness. She uses comparisons to express her personal feelings about beauty, love, passion, and the aesthetics of the human body, regardless of gender.

My favorite poem from Sappho is Fragment 31 because of the celebration of love as a feeling it demonstrates. I like that she is sensual and delicate in her strong feelings. In the middle of the poem, Sappho focuses on her love experience. This piece of art starts from the man’s equation with gods, but the main character is the woman sitting opposite him. She compares looking at this woman as if her “tongue breaks and thin / fire is racing under the skin” (Sappho, lines 9-10). The narrator is so overwhelmed by the feeling of attraction that she slowly loses her senses. I appreciate the elegant way she describes it because that is how everyone feels when truly falling in love.

Metaphors and similes, with the addition of hyperbole, are the literary elements Sappho uses almost in every line of the poem to express complicated feelings inside of her. It is written in Sapphic stanzas named after her, consisting of two hendecasyllabic lines and another line with five extra syllables. The author applies a melodramatic tone to show her position. Assonance and alliteration are also used in words like “lovely laughing”, “sweet speaking”, and “a person of poverty” (Sappho, 4-5, 17 lines). The Fragment 31 by Sappho is a masterpiece that celebrates being in love and demonstrates the pain of inner feelings because of unrequited love.

Work Cited

Sappho. Poem Today. Web.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2023, June 30). Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sappho-of-creative-heritage-fragment-31/

Work Cited

"Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31." IvyPanda, 30 June 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/sappho-of-creative-heritage-fragment-31/.

References

IvyPanda. (2023) 'Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31'. 30 June.

References

IvyPanda. 2023. "Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31." June 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sappho-of-creative-heritage-fragment-31/.

1. IvyPanda. "Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31." June 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sappho-of-creative-heritage-fragment-31/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Sappho of Creative Heritage: Fragment 31." June 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/sappho-of-creative-heritage-fragment-31/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
1 / 1