Desperate Unrequited Love

                                                  Desperate Unrequited Love

                                                                                                                            Linda Olmos

                                                                                                                      Jerilyn Sambrooke

            Sappho’s poem “It Seems To Me” is an ode of desperation rooted from heartbreak. Sappho’s desperation towards her love is projected through the figure of the body. This is a woman that Sappho loves from and fantasizes about but most likely, has no relationship with. First, desperation is developed when Sappho sexually personifies the laughter of the woman she loves and the reaction it has on her body.  Second, Sappho’s desperation is noted when she compares the fiery arousal from her body to the cold truth that oozes from her mind. Finally, Sappho’s desperation is seen when she talks about the effect of her love on her eyes and ears.

            To begin, desperation is ignited when Sappho sexually personifies her loves laughter. In the poem, Sappho dedicates a line to show what this women’s laughter awakens from her heart. Specifically she writes that her loves laughter causes her heart to stir. Out of all the organs in her body, Sappho chooses to connect the one that symbolizes love (the heart) with the act of stirring (which means to become sexually aroused.) So, while Sappho holds feelings of love for this woman, she is also passionately aroused by her. This is desperation because Sappho is connecting the two most important qualities that are the recipe to a passionate and healthy relationship. This is desperate because based on this poem, Sappho and this women are not in a relationship meaning that this is pure fantasy, desperation, and obsession on Sappho’s part. “It seems to me he’s equal to the gods the man who sits within the scope of your sweet voice.” If Sappho and this woman were in a relationship, Sappho would feel content with where they stand and not feel the need to go into a jealous envy over her love and man spending so much time together. Further, if they were in a functioning relationship, this woman would be spending time with Sappho rather than this man.

            While up to now there is only confirmation of Sappho’s love and arousal towards this woman Sappho’s desperate emotions begin to contradict one another. “Seeing you like this even for a second stops the sighs within me.” By the next second, when seeing the man that sits beside her unrequited love, Sappho goes into complete and utter shock: “yet my tongue freezes” she adds “and beneath my skin a fire rages.” Right here, one runs across an oxymoron. This is a figure of speech when contradictory words appear in conjunction with one another. By writing the words “fire” and “frozen,” Sappho shows that there are two contradicting emotions that she is feeling.

            Specifically, these emotions consist of passion as well as hate. Sappho’s fire beneath her skin is the stirring she mentioned earlier. Sappho has sexual desires for this woman and has a fire in her body. Every part of Sappho’s body oozes a fiery passion for this girl. At the same time however, Sappho’s gut tells her what she is feeling is wrong. Out of her mouth, Sappho yearns to speak the cold difficult truth to her unrequited love but she cant. Sappho has hate for this woman although she is aroused, because her unrequited love is showing affection to another person. In this case, specifically, a man. This is desperation at its finest. Sappho is allowing her sexual fire to overrule her cold distance.

            Once again, another contradiction arises through Sappho’s desperation. She writes “my eyes are empty but my ears are full.” When Sappho says her eyes are empty, she is referring to the fact that she is blinded by the sight of her love and man together. Sappho isn’t reacting well to it and desperately seeks change for her blinded eyes. Next, Sappho’s “ears are full” because she hears the sweet voice of her love speaking. “ It seems to me he’s equal to the gods the man who sits within the scope of your sweet voice.” This oxymoron is reflecting universal human condition in which a person can feel two conflicting emotions at the same time. In Sappho’s case, she feels comforted by her loves voice and blinded by the sight of her unrequited love speaking to a man. This right here is desperation because Sappho continues to look for the good in her love when really she should be turning away and moving on. Sappho cannot let go of this woman and this is precisely why she is desperate.

            To conclude, Sappho’s poem is a poem rooted in desperation and despair. This desperation is anticipated through the figure of Sappho’s body. Desperation is initially developed when Sappho sexually personifies her loves laughter and the reaction it has on her body. Second, Sappho’s desperation is distinguished when she relates the fiery arousal from her body to the cold truth that seeps from her mind. Finally, Sappho’s desperation is seen when she contrasts her ears and eyes and the reaction her love has on each body part. Thus, this poem is really Sappho using the figure of her body to whine in desperation about her unrequited love.