Analysis of Sappho
John Lars Zwerenz (1969 - ) 1969 (NYC)
Her dress, half open to an oceanic breeze,
She wanders as an angel in glorious Crete;
Among its ivory columns and bright colonnades
She composes mystic verse as the languid sun fades.
Near streams of Aphrodite the reeds beneath her feet
Speak only of dreams and effulgent trees.
Dionysus and Apollo vie
For the gem of her tender, regal hand.
As the sails of Salaminia near the cradle of the land
She skirts the silver coast beneath a cloudless sky.
And in the hills of Cythera Athena sighs
Envious of this priestess, for she does understand
How precious is the canvass of lauding lullabies
On which the painter crafts the Olympian hues
Of the coveted and holy gleaming deep blues
Found within the grottos of her coveted eyes.
And there by the gleaming, dreaming statues
As the final ray of daylight flees
Composing stanzas of eminent lines
She writes beneath the fronds of eros and its ecstasies
By a trellis where the roses are married to the vines.
And the poet says at night when the moon does ascend
Over florid, green boughs, wafting as they bend
The diamond sands shine, gilded and serene.
She skirts the coast, this august queen
When swallows sing in the courts as they rise.
And true peace brims in the zephyrs of the skies.
And as the brine scented sunset
Laced with thyme and mignonette
Of a solemn, redolent silhouette
Crowns the crimson nipples of her soft, fragrant breasts
She ponders on Elysium, reclining as she rests.
John Lars Zwerenz
Scheme | ABAX BACDDC EDEFFEFAGAG HHIIEE JBJKK A |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110110101 110111001001 01110010011 1010101101011 111010010101 11011011 100101 1011010101 101111010101 110101010101 0001110101 100111011101 110101011010 110101001001 101000101011 10101101001 011010101 10101111 0101011001 110101110011 10101010110101 0010111101101 10101110111 0101110001 11011101 1101001111 01110010101 0101101 11101 101010001 101010101101 11010100010111 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,467 |
Words | 277 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 11, 6, 5, 1 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 196 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Written on January 14, 2023
Submitted by johnzwerenz on April 01, 2023
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 3 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sappho" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/155392/sappho>.
Discuss this John Lars Zwerenz (1969 - ) poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In