Sappho

Sappho is the speaker of the poem. She was an Archaic Greek poet who wrote mostly lyric poems and occasional elegies, all likely set to music in their own time. Little is known about Sappho's life, and most of her poetry only exists to this day in fragments. However, what does remain of her work has become closely associated with expressions of queer love, specifically love between women. As such, the word "sapphic" now, in contemporary language, usually denotes female-female homoeroticism, while the word "lesbian" derives from her home on the island of Lesbos.

Donne's poem portrays Sappho with these associations in mind, as she attempts to convince a young girl, Philaenis, to accept her love.

Philaenis

Philaenis is the person to whom the poem is addressed. Unlike Sappho, it is not known whether this particular Philaenis existed in history. Instead, many scholars agree that "Philaenis" was a...