The Development Of The Sappho-Corinne Myth In Victorian Women’s Poetry

16 Pages 3904 Words

n and ridicule. “Yet glory’s light hath touch’d my name” she admits, because she has indeed gained recognition for her literary achievements; exultantly she exclaims “the laurel wreath is mine!” Such recognition lies at the heart of every Victorian woman poet’s fondest desires. Still, fame alone will not give her peace. Hemans’ Sappho has traded away love in exchange for her fame and, alone, she ends her life by plunging herself into the sea with a plea, “give me peace, dark sea!” Sappho’s death lends a metaphor to her legacy. Like a ship lost at sea, Sappho buries herself and her pain in the depths of the mighty deep. However, her works remain and like “lost gems, and wasted gold” they have resurfaced bit by bit to form the treasure trove of a matriarchal literary legacy so sought after by Victorian female authors.
Hemans’ literary portrait of Sappho reoccurs in Caroline Norton’s “The Picture of Sappho”. Like Hemans’ “The Last Song of Sappho”, Norton’s poem was inspired by a picture of the myth...