Forms of Beauty

In the poem, “To Her You Were Like a Visible Goddess”, Sappho stresses the beauty
of love, in its ability to inspire the extremes of human emotion. The poem reflects
on the relationship of two female lovers, and the immense high and low points
of their relationship. The poem begins with a nostalgic tone, emphasizing the
happiness and beauty in the relationship. The narrator testifies to the
boundless appreciation of the listener expressed by her lover: “To her, you
were like a visible goddess.” The emphasis of the first stanza is on the
reciprocation of love and joy between the two lovers that Sappho describes. In
the next three stanzas, Sappho shifts to describe a much subtler type of beauty
found amidst darkness. The comparison of the listener’s lover to the “rose-tipped
moon/surpass[ing] all the stars after/the sun has set”, helps show the
juxtaposing forms of beauty that exist in the day and night. The description of
the lovers’ former relationship in the first stanza calls to mind joyfulness
and brightness, while the next three stanzas describe a light which shines
amidst darkness. Just as the “singing” of the first stanza suggests the
vivacity and excitement found in their relationship, the metaphor of the moon
helps capture the much quieter, subtler beauty of her sadness. Sappho calls
upon various natural phenomena in order to illustrate the beauty found in
cycles, of generation and regeneration. The sun sets, but the moon rises and
offers a different, but still beautiful light. A “bountiful dew pours down,”
but “roses/ bloom, and tender parsley and/ honey-flowered cover.” The images
presented by the speaker, “light spreads equally over salt sea and flowering
fields, bountiful dew pours down; roses bloom and tender parsley and
honey-clover”. These stanzas indicate the end of the lovers’ relationship that
appeared so strong and joyful in the first stanza, but also identify the beauty
that shines amidst seemingly all-encompassing darkness. In a sense, the
relationship allows each partner to experience the beauty of both immense joy
and sadness. At the end of the poem, Sappho returns to the reality of the poem’s
despairing lover, who longs for the time when her relationship was thriving, as
“her spirit waste[s] with yearning, heart consumed with pain”. Although the
listener’s lover experiences a great sadness and desire to escape the pains of
her broken relationship, her ability to experience the spectrum of human emotion,
seeing and felt boundless joy and sadness exemplifies a form of beauty in
itself.