Todd's close reading

“To Her You Were Like A Visible Goddess”

The poem begins by seemingly speaking to the reader. It starts off by telling the reader that, in the eyes of an unnamed woman, they were like a goddess. Sappho goes on to write that the reader’s singing was this person’s greatest delight. This can be interpreted as saying that everything that the intended reader of this poem does makes the woman happy. It can be assumed that this woman was in love with this goddess figure. I find it interesting that Sappho writes the poem from a third person perspective while also including the reader. I believe that there was an intended subject for this poem, and yet through saying “you were like a goddess” Sappho immediately is engaging all readers. In this way, everyone can feel like they are connected to this poem. After the first three lines, the poem shifts from past to present tense. Sappho uses the metaphor of the night to describe the woman in the poem. Sappho compares the woman to moonbeams illuminating dewy field, which bloom with roses. The scene that is created shows the reader that the woman stands out from others because of her beauty. However, this woman also stands out from the other women for a darker reason. It seems as if she is fated to be trapped in the night. She is a beautiful person who seemingly cannot experience the light of day. This can be seen through the phrase “but she walks there…her spirit wasted with yearning, heart consumed with pain”. This pain and imprisonment in the darkness is supposedly caused by the actions of the intended reader. This woman loved her and is trapped by the idea that that love is not returned to her. This could possibly be because the intended reader simply does not love the woman back or because the intended reader is dead. In either case, the woman is distraught and left to waste her beauty in the darkness.