It Seems to me

Kizal Butt

11/19/16

Rhetoric 103A

Kuan Hwa

Figurative Analysis

In the poem, It Seems to me, Sappho narrates the intensity of emotions and physical responses that overtake her as she is witnessing the woman she loves speaking to another man. Sappho constructs a flow of emotions from the beginning of this poem to the end, beginning with affection and immediately contrasting it with the raw yet relatable emotion of jealousy.  Her emotional build-up is arranged in an auxesis which grows throughout the poem, simultaneously darkening, resulting in a climax of overwhelming bodily responses that overtake Sappho. She finally concludes with the numbness that is seemingly brought about after the turbulent emotions she experiences.

            Prior to illustrating the intensity of her feelings, Sappho sets up the scene and environment, beginning with the metaphorical similarity of the man speaking to her love as being “equal to the gods” (1). We become aware the Sappho is referring to the one she loves because of the condensed simile used to refer to her “sweet voice” (3) and laughter that the man is witnessing. This man that Sappho introduces is at the root of her jealousy which soon begins to arise. The extent to which she is experiencing affection for this woman is alliterated in the next stanza – “Seeing you like this, even for a second, stop the sighs within me” (6-9). Sappho is subsequently left breathless once she rests her eyes on this woman, and the magnitude of her affection is established.

            The auxesis of the poem begins in the stanza that follows, at which point Sappho begins to construct the physiological effects that this encounter has on her body, which are all figures that are passionate attempts to pull in the reader’s own emotions. Sappho exaggerates bodily reactions which are formed through catachresis’ as Sappho’s “tongue freezes” (10-11) and beneath her skin “a fire rages” (13). This leads to a further building up towards the climax of the poem. She implicates juxtaposition through synesthesia where her “eyes are empty” (15) but her “ears are full” (16), an embodiment of the chaos that is wreaking havoc within her mind and her heart. Finally, the auxesis nears its end as Sappho constructs a hyperbole where she is overwhelmed with “a torrent of sweat” (17) and “a wild tremor” (19). Sappho hyperbolizes the accumulation of spirited emotions in order to demonstrate the all-consuming nature of emotions.

            The following stanza consists of the completion of the climactic events that accumulated over the course of the poem. Sappho concocts a climax that manages to seize the emotions that are ravaging inside of Sappho, while simultaneously making them relatable for the reader. "Torrent of sweat" (17) and "wild tremor" (19) are two examples of detailed descriptions of her bodily reactions that allow the audience to imagine reacting in the same way, creating an empathetic effect where the reader can envision the same response coming from themselves. "Torrent of sweat" (17) is a metaphor for a flood of sweat, which can be connected to a variety of emotions, but is used by Sappho because she isn't simply feeling one emotion. She is feeling multiple emotions including jealousy, hatred, and anxiety, which all build up to regurgitate through the bodily reactions. 

The conclusion of this poem is the shortest stanza in the whole poem, consisting of only two lines. I believe this also signifies an important change in the overall theme of the poem. The poem begins with an overall positive tone, but quickly becomes negative once Sappho's feelings of jealousy and anger begin to emerge. This continues throughout the whole poem but changes once again when the poem nears its end. The change from multiple lines to a two-line stanza is a signifier of Sappho's weary state. After experiencing the rush and intensity of emotions that were described throughout the whole poem, it is understandable that she feels drained at the end, which is exactly what the shortness of the stanza relays. "I've turned the colour of drying grass" (22) is another metaphor that's meant to show the fatigued state of Sappho. It also leaves the reader with feelings of incompleteness, and loss. This transition from feeling passionately negative to extremely desensitized concludes the poem, creating an indefinite end to an emotional journey.