Poetry

[Love4hockey 0]

I am attempting to write a paper analyzing Sappho's poem #39. I'm attempting to break it down line by line. I'm not great at analyzing poems so I thought I'd come here for outside opinions. Sappho Poem #39His is more than a HeroHe is a god in my eyes-the man who is allowedto sit beside you-hewho listens intimatelyto the sweet murmur ofyour voice, the enticinglaughter that makes my ownheart beat fast. If I meetyou suddenly, I can'tspeak-my tongue is broken;a thin flame runs under my skin; seeing nothing,hearing only my own earsdrumming, I drip with sweat;trembling shakes my bodyand I turn paler than dry grass. At such timesdeath isn't far from me

[DinkDonk 1]

Paging Checky to the poetry thread.

[Love4hockey 0]

Here is what I have so far. I have two conflicting thoughts that I'm hoping someone can clarify, or maybe they both are right.It starts out, "He is more than a hero He is a god in my eyes." It appears that she is writing a love poem about a man. A hero is a bold, brave, strong man. A god is one step above a hero so she is giving the man a great compliment. It's starts out by leading us to believe that she is in love with him.Here is where I have conflicting viewpoints. "The man who is allowed to sit by you" This shows us that the man is taken by you, an unnamed women. She is either A: in love with man and jealous of the women, or B: she has feeling for the unnamed women and not the man.The word "allowed" makes it seem that Sappho puts the unnamed women above the man because the unnamed women is the one that decided to let the man be with her. Sappho placed the unnamed women above the man. The rest of the poem describes the physiological affects on the body that the man/unnamed women causes on Sappho.What do you guys think, is Sappho in love with the man or the unnamed women?

[Don Giovanni 0]

in love with the man, jealous of the womannow lets analyze a much more significant poem:I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes. The king of Scotland had died without a son, and the king of England, a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, claimed the throne of Scotland for himself. Scotland's nobles fought him, and fought each other, over the crown. So Longshanks invited them to talks of truce - no weapons, one page only. Among the farmers of that shire was Malcolm Wallace, a commoner with his own lands; he had two sons, John and William.

[Suited_Up 2]

This poem seems way too simple to be breaking down.

[Love4hockey 0]

in love with the man, jealous of the woman

I think it can be interpreted both ways. I'm leaning towards in love with the woman because of the word "allowed." The unnamed woman is in charge of the relationship. Sappho sees this and puts the woman above the man. And Sappho was from the island Lesbo. Kind of obvious.

This poem seems way too simple to be breaking down.

Yea tell me about it. I've written three pages on it and still have two to go. I hate literature classes. I've never bought into the "what caused the author to write this" discussion. Why can't we just say for entertainment.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

that poem sucks.i could write a better one.

[LadyGrey 6]

in love with the man, jealous of the woman

If you follow the use of "you" and "your" she is addressing the woman throughout the poem.Here is some inspiration for you OP:Introduction To Poetry I ask them to take a poemand hold it up to the lightlike a color slideor press an ear against its hive.I say drop a mouse into a poemand watch him probe his way out,or walk inside the poem's roomand feel the walls for a light switch.I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author's name on the shore.But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.Billy Collins