The poems that will be discussed in my essay are: Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” (30 B.C.) (see Appendix 1) and Dickinson’s “I Cannot Live with You” (1890) (see Appendix 2). Both poems are narrated through a first-person perspective of the poets and could therefore be relating to actual real-life situations that occurred.
Sappho, born around 610 B.C. on the Greek island of Lesbos, is one of the most famous poets of ancient Greece, recognized for her lyrical poetry on passion and love.
“Ode to Aphrodite”, also known as “Hymn to Aphrodite”, is the only existing work by Sappho that was found in its full form and is the longest surviving Fragment. The translated version I have chosen is by Anne Carson and Alfred A. Knopf. It is a lyric poem, in which the speaker calls on the help of Aphrodite in the pursuit of an unrequited love. The outline of the poem is the speaker, potentially Sappho herself, invoking the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, and seeks her to help deal with an unrequited lover. Aphrodite responds to the speaker directly and agrees to help her. The poem concludes with the speaker’s renewed request for the Goddess’s intervention and a resolved dilemma.
Aphrodite, the greek goddess of beauty, love and sexuality, also referred to as Venus, is the daughter of Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder. In Greek mythology, she was married to Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and metalworking. However, she was always portrayed as unfaithful to her husband and she had many lovers.
“I Cannot Live with You” is Dickinson’s longest poem and one of her most poignant love lyrics. Its structure appears to be a well formalised argument which has been rationalised and objectified. The poem invites the coherent appreciation of her thoughts about her lover from her first proclamation of love to the inevitable devastating conclusion. This is not a conventional love poem; it argues against love. Over the twelve stanzas, Dickinson explains how she cannot live with her lover, why she cannot die with him, why she cannot rise with him, why she cannot fall with him and why them being together is just impossible.
Emily Dickinson was born in December 1830, to a well-known family in Amherst, Massachusetts and is regarded as one of the most highly-regarded poets ever to write. She famously dressed in white, secretly wrote countless poems and denied entry to visitors in her room. Her Puritan upbringing and her personal life profoundly influenced her love poetry. Most scholars agree that the man Dickinson fell in love with was Dr. Charles Wadsworth, a married Reverend at a Presbyterian church who may have inspired much of her love poetry. Her seclusion allowed her the space and time to write poetry. However, when he visited Dickinson to tell her of his plans to leave, she suffered a nervous breakdown and nearly ruined her eyesight. Dickinson, who never married, was a reclusive woman, and the only moment she felt love, she was heartbroken. At age fifty-six she died from a severe case of Bright’s disease on May 15, 1886.
Introduction
In my thesis I will be investigating the portrayal of romantic desires and self-determination through comparing these themes in in Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” and Emily Dickinson’s “I Cannot Live with You”.
In portraying romantic desires, Dickinson and Sappho employed similar motifs and such as heartache and religious imagery. However, I have found that Dickinson and Sappho adopted contrasting approaches to their respective dilemma: the former is determined to distance herself from her lover, while the latter seeks advice from goddess Aphrodite.
Subsequently, I will investigate the theme of self-determination through juxtaposing the comparisons of the characterisation of Sappho, Aphrodite and Dickinson. Within this, the sub-themes of female dominance and independence will be explored. Next, I will contrast the different independent lifestyles that Sappho and Dickinson each pursues, which are evident in the tone and literary devices used in the respective poems as they are portrayed differently between the uses of language devices in the different lifestyles they pursue.
Main Body
1. Portrayal of Female Romantic Desires: Similarities
The theme of ‘female desire’ is present in both poems: Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” and Dickinson’s “I Cannot Live with You”. The themes of heartache and physical sickness play a crucial role in portraying the anguish Sappho feels from her rejected love and Dickinson’s fear of abandonment exceeds her desire to pursue a relationship. Sappho risked heartache by declaring her love, while Dickinson is left with a sense of longing for her love, but would rather avoid love than risk losing it through death or departure.
(a) Heartache
Here, Sappho uses physical symptoms of heartache to draw an analogy to the theme of unrequited love through the extended metaphor of sickness. Sappho used physical symptoms like “frenzied heart” and “utter yearning” to illustrate her emotions of rejection from her lover. The literal meaning of “frenzied heart” creates an image of one’s heart being so painful that it drives them crazy. However, in this case, both are used in a romantic manner as she longs for her lover to return her love.The connotations underlying this interpretation is that Sappho is consumed by her unrequited love to the extent that she felt physically ill, which was triggered by the intense emotional burden of unrequited love. Aphrodite notices her pain and asks her, “Who wrongs thee, Sappho?”. Moreover, diction such as “distress and pain” reflects the depth of pain Sappho was experiencing. Furthermore, Sappho’s use of the extended metaphor of sickness and heartache highlights the intensity of Sappho’s disappointment for her lost love.
In “I Cannot Live with You”, Dickinson also touches upon the theme of sickness to emphasise her hurt as she could have also been interpreted that she felt physically ill triggered by her emotional trauma. Dickinson’s description of her “homesick Eye” suggests that rather than looking forward to the new heaven and new earth as Christians were taught to do, she would miss the old earth. The idea of being “On my homesick Eye” is similar to the anguish Sappho described in ‘Ode to Aphrodite. However in “I Cannot Live With You”, there is an additional reminiscence for Dickinson’s lover in the old earth, which distracted her from experiencing the new paradise that she was supposed to move on to. Through the assonantal ‘i’ sound in the line ‘And I – Could I stand by’, Dickinson evokes a cry of pain. This emphasises her agony of not being able to die together with her lover that if he was to die, she would rather exercise her “Right of Frost” and she too would have to die, as she could not bear being alive without him. Through the portrayal of heartache in both poems, Sappho and Dickinson drew analogies between physical illness and its symptoms to compare with their frustration of intense romantic desires.
(b) Religious Imagery
Religious imagery is also used to display romantic desire in both poems. In “I Cannot Live with You” Dickinson describes her lover’s face as one that “Would put out Jesus’”. This has a two-fold meaning: on one hand, it may suggest she is being blasphemous, but on the other hand she may compare him to Jesus to show that he has more importance to suggest her lover’s supreme divineness, physically as well as religiously. In the following stanzas the poem moves from earth to paradise: “Your face / Would put out Jesus”. The idea of the lover obscuring Christ continues as she considers how they would be judged after death. His faith meant he would serve Heaven while she could not.
However, religion is also what keeps Dickinson apart from her lover. The line, “They’d judge Us” suggests religious and societal pressures are behind their separation. ‘They’ could be said to be God and he would not approve because of her lack of faith and understanding of religion or ‘they’ could be society disapproving of their love. Even if Dickinson spent her life with her lover, someday, she would still go to “Hell” whereas he would go to Heaven and would be where he was not. Moreover, the use of the term Sexton, which literally means a gravedigger, implies the theme of the afterlife and religious disapproval of their relationship. The Sexton locks up “Our life – His Porcelain – / Like a Cup – ‘ which may be a suggestion of a communion cup but then becomes one “Discarded of the Housewife” because it is “Quaint – or Broke – “. Additionally, the reference to the porcelain also implies that the fragility of their love which is kept under watch by the Sexton.
In the last stanza, “White Sustenance” may be an biblical allusion to white manna, the food provided by God for the Israelites on their journey from Egypt to the Holy Land (Exodus 16:31). However, the “white sustenance” that Dickinson is relying on is inherently different to the manna because it lacks any promise of future fulfilment, but it is merely a thin comfort devoid of any real sustenance: despair is all she will be left with as there is no possibility of her ever being with him.
In “Ode to Aphrodite”, Sappho refers to Aphrodite as an“immortal beauty”. This religious diction chimes with the immortality and perfection of the Greek Gods and therefore the Goddess’s divineness. “Ode to Aphrodite” is structured in the form of a ‘prayer’, and therefore the use of enjambment throughout most of the poem also demonstrates the passion of her prayer. The run on lines allow the poem to display the passion of Sappho’s anguish in a prayer to Aphrodite.
Aphrodite’s entrance occupies more than one stanza, therefore suggesting its importance. It is significant to highlight the religious imagery and diction used. Sappho references Aphrodite as the “Daughter of God”, “immortal”, “deathless” and a “weaver of wiles”. This clearly indicates her divine status as superior and eternal as well as her cunning ways which allows her to make sure Sappho’s love will return her love. Moreover, Aphrodite’s descent is idolised as she is summoned “With thy chariot yoked; and with doves that drew thee”. In addition to this, her god-like nature is further emphasised as she travels “Through the mid-ether” which indicates visual imagery as we can evoke her ascending from the heavens to aid Sappho. The line “Very swift they came; and thou, gracious Vision” proposes that Aphrodite responded to Sappho’s call immediately and with Aphrodite’s presence she will provide Sappho with the wisdom needed for her acute heartache.
2. Portrayal of Female Romantic Desires: Differences
Though “Ode to Aphrodite” and “I Cannot Live with You” are similar in their exploration of the theme of ‘romantic desire’ there are also differences between the poems. The evident differences are the theme of resolution.
(a) Resolutions for the Protagonists
In “Ode to Aphrodite”, the point of the poem was that Aphrodite would come to her aid and offer a resolution, whereas in “I Cannot Live with You”, Dickinson is left in despair as she rather be left alone than risk being discarded by her lover.
Sappho opens with a distressed tone, with the speaker pleading for the Goddess’s help and imploring that her heart not be crushed. By the final stanza, the tone is lighter and optimistic. Although Sappho is not content, she is also no longer feeling the severe anguish. She asks Aphrodite to “come to me”, which suggests an imperative tone, suggesting increasing proximity between a human and a goddess as she commands Aphrodite to her and indicates the elevation of their relationship. She is able to get through her distress, as she is assured that the goddess will “Still be my ally” therefore implying that Aphrodite will tend to her needs.
In contrast, Dickinson develops a morbid and cynical attitude to the idea of love. She states one must wait to die until after their partner. After all, someone had to be there to shut the eyes of their beloved: “For One must wait / To shut the Other’s Gaze down”. The poem concludes with “So”, they must “meet apart”. This is an example of an oxymoron because the act of meeting is inherently contradictory to being apart. Therefore, the emphasis must be on the emotional rather then the physical connection. Dickinson also made frequent use of dashes; in the line,“You there – I – here – ” the dashes show the separation and distance between the two. Dickinson became increasingly reclusive and the line “With just the Door ajar / That Oceans Are -” may allude to the fact that when she developed Bright’s disease, her doctor had to diagnose her by passing back and forth through an ajar door. Her rare disease, coupled with her eccentric character, may also be another obstacle to her relationship, apart from her lack of faith. As a solution to this obstacle, she chose to maintain her distance from her lover as illustrated through the juxtaposition of the slightly ajar door and the ocean: even with the negligible distance, she feels as if they are oceans apart.
3. Portrayal of Female Desires for Independence: Similarities
The desire for self-determination is portrayed both through the characterisation of Aphrodite and the presentation of the speakers in Sappho’s “Ode to Aphrodite” and Dickinson’s “I Cannot Live with You”. It could be speculated that the poets are themselves represented by the voices in their poems.
Portrayal of Sappho
In “Ode to Aphrodite”, it was widely thought that the pronoun of Sappho’s lover refers to the male. However, in 1835, Theodor Bergk proposed that the pronoun was feminine, but it was not widely accepted until the 1960s . This leads to further discussion and a growing consensus that Sappho was a lesbian and the lover she is referring to is a woman . The female pronoun is used when Aphrodite refers to Sappho’s lover as a woman saying, “She that heeds thee not, soon shall love to madness”.
That Sappho’s sexuality is represented in “Ode to Aphrodite” further provides evidence for her self-determination in her desire to pursue a romantic relationship with a woman. The fact that Sappho was not afraid to cry out that the lover that had rejected her was a woman, further proves to readers that she was determined to pursue her desires. A potential reason why Sappho went to a female Goddess with her dilemma was because a traditional God would not understand her situation or even disapprove of it. Due to her personal relationship with Aphrodite, she is vocal and assertive when displaying her love using command words “come” and “release”.This also portrays strong female characters defying patriarchal values of that time: A female Goddess more capable than a male God and Sappho’s sexual desires for a woman.
(b) Portrayal of Aphrodite
The portrayal of Aphrodite demonstrates the female desire for self-determination, as her characterisation does not hinge upon the presence of any man. She is represented as graceful and independent and powerful. Her gracefulness is evident as the poem states, “With thy chariot yoked; and with doves that drew thee”. This proposes that she is idealised as a holy figure descending from the heavens as doves are leading her. In her first appearance in the poem, she is descending effortlessly from heaven as if she was in slow motion, which allows the reader to focus on every detail of her actions. This puts the reader further in awe of her presence. In Greek mythology, the use of dove is associated with love where as in Christianity, it is an image of peace and purity. However, Sappho’s writing is pre-Christ and so would most likely mean love. This further contributes to the religious imagery used to describe Aphrodite as a figure that is worshipped to the highest degree.
She is also displayed as independent from her powerful father and the king of all gods, Zeus. This is clearly shown when she leaves “the golden House of thy father”. She did not ask her father for permission to leave their palace or for his help. This portrayed Aphrodite as a brave but also independent woman who did not require the aid of a man. The fact that Zeus is referred to but is not required in any way suggests her freedom of movement and autonomy. This further focuses on female portrayal from the point of view of the poet, as it was quite rare for a poem not to address a man at all in those times. This is of high importance because she was able to leave her father’s “golden” palace. Zeus is considered to be the most powerful Greek god, and so if she was able to leave his palace, this suggests that Aphrodite is free in what she wants to do. Aphrodite is successfully portrayed as a goddess who offers to support Sappho through her romantic dilemma and assures her that her love will be requited in due time through self-determination.
(c) Portrayal of Emily Dickinson
The portrayal of Dickinson in “I Cannot Live with You” demonstrates her in an emotional state of permanent sadness. However, like Sappho and Aphrodite, she is also independent. Her fear of a relationship and wanting to be independent stems from the fact that she does not want to depend on anyone as there is a possibility of death and or departure. This can be demonstrated through Stanza 5: “I could not die – with You – For One must wait / To shut the Other’s Gaze down”. Her capitalization of the letter ‘Y’, as well as the dashes either side of the phrase, emphasis the ‘with You’ stresses her desire and certainty to not be with her lover and that no matter what happens, they will separated. Her intention of not dying with her lover, through the use of the modal verb ‘must’ comes across as very assertive and independent as she can be seen as taking control of the situation and deciding the outcome. The object of her love in this poem is not given a voice, which further proves her dominance. This contributes to the theme of self-determination as Dickinson is fighting the urge of love with her rationality of preventing future heartbreak.
Dickinson also demonstrates her independence through turning down a ‘marriage proposal’ from her lover as she says “I Cannot Live with You”. That Dickinson refused this and demonstrated female empowerment in a way that shows women that they can be in control of the situation and can think about their own needs instead of what society requires you to want, a husband.
The attention given to Dickinson in “I Cannot Live with You” represents her independence and subsequently being alone as a consequence of her choice. She has given elaborate thought to the situation, and has willingly accepted the price of pursuing the independent lifestyle. The poem’s structure may show this through the many uses of dashes, suggesting her isolation and therefore independence, short lines, to emphasise her difficulty to formulate her words and the capitalisations of personal pronoun, “You”, “We” and “I”.
The self-determination displays her maturity when denying her lover because of her honesty that she does not feel that the love is the worth the heartbreak she will go through when he abandons her: “Discarded of the Housewife”. The use of the word discarded can be comparing Dickinson to an object, which is disposed of when her use is done and therefore limits women as a purpose of satisfying men. Dickinson denies her lover of potentially ‘using her’ and this further proves her independency and rejection of potential heartaches.
4. Portrayal of Female Desires for Independence: Differences
The female desires of self-determination are portrayed differently between the uses of language devices in the different lifestyles they pursue. This is done through the use of positive imagery and colourful language presented in “Ode to Aphrodite” and negative imagery and dark language in “I Cannot Live with You”.
The positive imagery in Sappho’s poem is demonstrated when Sappho is describing Aphrodite’s descent from the heavens: “Leaned with face that smiled in immortal beauty”. This gave Sappho hope in her pursuit of calling for Aphrodite that she descended from the Heavens to help her. The fact that a God has descended to help her suggests a hopeful ending to her dilemma and therefore an optimistic approach. Sappho also uses the words “azure” and “vibrant”, a bright blue colour and glow, to describe the colour of the distance. The recurring idea is the array of brightness that is being exerted from Aphrodite. When the sky is azure it also suggests that there are no clouds, therefore meaning there is no potential of rain, which could be seen as a negative connotation. With Aphrodite’s presence, Sappho is rid of all negativity and evil. The positivity displayed leads to her problem being resolved as well as a developing a bond with Aphrodite. She announces “Still be my ally!” demonstrating military imagery and Sappho’s trust in Aphrodite and hope that her heartbreak would be mended. The use of “ally” is a term that has connotations of battle and so this comparison could be suggesting a bond between Aphrodite and Sappho who will ‘fight’ together until death. Therefore, being each other’s allies is a great responsibility; it suggests that both women would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the other.
The negativity displayed in Dickinson’s poem is very enigmatic and melancholic as she constantly refers to the afterlife as well as death related ideas. An example of reference to afterlife is the metaphors of cold, “freeze” and “Frost” for death which are regarded as a “Right” and “privilege”, therefore making death a desirable state. She also refers “to shut the Other’s Gaze down” which is also very dark as she is saying even if her lover doesn’t abandon her through his means, he would abandon her through death and she would have to shut his eyes. This is very appealing to the sense of touch as the word choice of “shut” is very forceful in nature and this may be because of the “Gaze” that they are experiencing due to their love for each other. She also includes that “ “I – condemned to be Where You were not”, which further states her inability to be with her lover as condemned, is to receive a severe punishment and in this case could mean death. The negative connotations of afterlife, gave rise to a grim and melancholic atmosphere to the poem, which echoes the choice of lifestyle that she opted for.
Conclusion
As a result of my analysis, I can conclude that the exploration of female empowerment through the pursuit of romantic desires and self-determination portrayed in “Ode to Aphrodite” and “I Cannot Live With You” were not common in the years that they were written. Both poets demonstrate an unusual level of female dominance. There are similarities between the poets exploration of the themes of romantic desire: Dickinson and Sappho used interchangeable motifs such as religious imagery when discussing the themes of heartache and unattainable love. There is correlation between the presentation of Sappho and Dickinson’s speakers and the characterisation of Aphrodite which also considers the themes of female independence. Furthermore, the resolution of the poems highlights the differences in the ways that self-determination is portrayed. At the end of “Ode to Aphrodite” the women are linked together to resolve her unrequited love, but the speaker in “I Cannot Live With You” is left alone and in “despair”. This was depicted through a wide range of language devices and the use of positive imagery in “Ode to Aphrodite” and negative imagery in “I Cannot Live With You”. In conclusion, the overarching themes of romantic desire and self-determination are clearly evident throughout “Ode to Aphrodite” and “I Cannot Live With You”. My lasting impression of both poems leave me with a reminiscence of female empowerment and the extent of which one woman’s emotions can display literature that can make the reader feel as though they are in the poet’s circumstance.