TO HER YOU WERE LIKE A VISIBLE GODDESS

In the poem “To Her You Were Like a Visible Goddess,” Sapphos utilizes diction and similes to describe what it is like to witness true beauty and to be in love. The poem starts with an unknown woman being described as a “visible goddess.” In using the word “goddess,” Sappho is able to convey beauty and a majestic vibe towards this person that she is trying to describe; she is able to make it seem like this person’s beauty is unrealistic because no one can reach this level. She then goes on to compare the woman to the “rose-tipped moon.” The rose is a flower that is typically used to be symbolic of romance and love. The moon is what brings light to the dark nights, showing that her beauty can shine through the darkness of the night and be visible to all that seek it.

The last two stanzas of the poem describe a new day and moving on after having witnessed and fallen for such beauty. Sappho tries to describe the morning through the use of “dew” that appears early in the mornings and says that it is still beautiful with the “roses bloom, and tender parsley and honey-flowered clover.” It still describes a beautiful scenery. However, by the last stanza, Sappho reveals that in the end, she is still sad that this beauty has past and that she can no longer witness it nor experience this romance. Sappho says at the end that her spirit is “wasted with yearning, heart comsumed with pain,” describing how heartbroken she still is after she is no longer able to be around this love. Though the day still seems fine with a fresh new start, ultimately, she is still sad to some extent about this loss that she is experiencing.