Fragment 31

The repetition of sounds that marks the use of alliteration often creates a sense of flow and ease in a work of poetry; here, in “Fragment 31,” the repetition of the consonant “l” sound in the first two stanzas as the speaker “listens raptly / to your lilting voice / and lovely laughter” (Lines 3-5) communicates the speaker’s loving feelings for her beloved before the speaker feels that the man poses a threat. The repetition of the “l” sound reminds the reader of other words that begin with the letter “l,” like love.

Later in the poem, the tone has changed, and “blood booms” (Line 11) in the speaker’s ears. The repetition of the heavy consonant “b” sound thuds with the speaker’s heartbeat, reflecting the emotional burden of the speaker’s feelings of jealousy and insecurity. In the last stanza of the poem, as the speaker feels death “is very near” (Line 16), repetition of the sibilant “s” sound occurs as “sweat pours” (Line 13) and the speaker is “suddenly sallower / than summer grass” (Lines 14-15). The alliteration of the “s” sound suggests the sound of hissing; the hissing sound indicates a passage of the speaker’s breath as she loses energy and suggests danger may be approaching, which leads to her intuition in the final lines of the poem that she will soon die.

Sappho employs the second person in “Fragment 31,” which enables the speaker of the poem to address her beloved directly. This use of apostrophe, which is the direct address of an object, an abstract quality, or a person who is either no longer living or not present, directs the reader’s attention away from the speaker and towards something else.

In “Fragment 31,” the use of apostrophe first indicates a shift in the speaker’s attention, from the appearance of the rival in the first lines of the poem to the reaction of the speaker’s beloved, to whom she addresses the poem. Specifically, in the third and fourth lines of the first stanza, the speaker addresses her beloved directly, emphasizing the high regard and love she feels for her beloved. The use of apostrophe at this moment takes the focus off the man and places it emphatically on her beloved, suggesting that the speaker’s beloved is more important than even the godlike man.

Sappho employs vivid imagery throughout “Fragment 31,” which is characteristic of much of her surviving body of work. Imagery is a kind of figurative language that invites the reader and/or listener to experience sensations and imagine pictures of what might be happening in the literary work. The comparison of the man to someone who must be a “gods’ equal” (Line 1), for example, invites the reader to imagine what a god might look like in human form.

Imagery can stimulate all five senses, and “Fragment 31” contains references to all five. The reader can hear the speaker’s beloved talking and laughing, feel the rhythms of a rapid heartbeat, see the extinguished light of the speaker’s eyes, smell the sweat that “pours coldly” (Line 13), and taste the dry bitterness of the speaker’s tongue as she finds herself silenced by the encounter between the man and her beloved. As well, the sudden heat of “flames” that “prickle and spark” (Line 10) suggest that the speaker is experiencing physical pain that has the potential to burn slowly rather than lead to an instantaneous death.