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Sappho's Use Of Imagery Essay

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Imagery is utilized in literature to appeal to the reader’s senses and to paint a picture in their imagination. Poets use the images they create to help the reader interpret their writing. For instance, in Psalm 104 descriptive language is used throughout to praise the beauty of earth as god created. The poem opens by praising the greatness of the lord and continues into: “Who coverest thyself with as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain / Who layeth the beams of his chambers into the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot” (Lines 2-3). In these lines the poet is explaining how god created the natural world. The reader can visually picture god creating the heavens, in their vastness, just as if he were shaking out a curtain. Attempting to picture the creation of heaven can be difficult, however, the author uses a simile to help readers develop a clear picture. …show more content…

For example, in Sappho’s poem number 94, her use of imagery allows the reader to experience the speaker’s loss of their lover in lines 1-5:

“I simply want to be dead.
Weeping she left me

with so many tears and said this:
Oh how badly things have turned out for us.
Sappho, I swear, against my will I leave you.”

The poem is written as a conversation between Sappho and a woman who is leaving her, probably to marry another. The reader can relate and feel Sappho’s heartbreak and relate to her agony. There is also a sense of fondness between the two women as the discuss the time they shared together (lines 10-20).

“Boat of Cypress,” contained in the Classic of Poetry, also utilized imagery to allow the reader to relate to the speaker of the poem.

“The Boat of cypress drifts along, it drifts upon the steam.
Restless am I, I cannot sleep,
As though in torment and troubled.
Not am I lacking wine
To ease my mind and let me

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