Fragment 31

From this poem, readers learn that the experience of love can inspire both physical and emotional pain when a rival for one’s beloved appears on the scene. The poem’s speaker reveals her deep love for the object of her admiration when she describes her beloved in affectionate and complimentary terms. When the speaker hears her beloved’s voice, her heart beats more rapidly as her passion rises, indicating an intimate bond between the two.

The speaker also suggests that she knows her beloved well enough to know that the godlike man poses a threat to their connection; the speaker understands “as soon as I glance at you a moment” (Line 7) that her beloved likes the man, and the speaker’s feelings of fear and insecurity take hold. The speaker loses her ability to communicate altogether, dumbstruck by the jealousy she feels from loving her beloved so deeply. 

At the start of “Fragment 31,” the speaker elevates her rival to the level of the immortal gods by perceiving him as equal to the gods. The speaker follows this comparison with a thorough discussion of her own corporeal self. By juxtaposing the man’s implied immortality with descriptions of her own human body, she calls attention to her suddenly inferior position in the eyes of her beloved, who appears to enjoy the attention from the man.