Read the next two sections for Thursday's class, and remember (or try to remember) to do the following as you read:
1. Read some of the poems out loud, just to hear the 'music' of the poems...what sounds strike you as interesting of even beautiful? What calls attention to itself?
2. Read the metaphors and imagery: think about why the poet is trying to make us see one things in terms of another (for example, the "ears all thunder" from last class...how can ears be thunder? What is she trying to convey?). This is more important than simply trying to get the 'point' or the 'message' of a poem, of which there is always more than one.
3. Try to figure out what kind of person is speaking, and to whom. Is it a mother to her daughter? A woman to her lover? Sappho to a goddess? Etc. Who else is in the "room" and how might this shape the poem?
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Many of the poems in "Her Girls and Family" concern the perspective of a mother or a wife in the ancient world. What ideas or sentiments can we relate to? What sounds like something your own mother might have told you?
Q2: Likewise, many of these poems seem to be about jealousy and lost love, with the speaker addressing someone who has moved on from the relationship. How do the poems characterize these break-ups? Were they mutual? Bitter? Messy? Discuss a poem that seems to illustrate your answer.
Q3: The poem on page 59 which begins "Some call ships..." is one of her most famous poems. In this poem, she invokes the famous Helen of Troy, the woman who (thanks to Aphrodite) started the Trojan War. Does Sappho seem to be blaming Helen for her weakness or sympathizing with her? Why might Helen be the perfect person for Sappho to compare herself to in this poem?
Q4: Which fragment seems to you confusing and almost impossible to understand? Do you think it's because the poem is too incomplete, or are the references/images too obscure? Can you making any guesses as to what the poem might be referring to?
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