# To Hilda explained — A Cycle of the West

> Chapter companion for A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

## What happens

This chapter presents a brief, poetic epigraph in ancient Greek, quoting Sappho's fragment about a sweet apple reddening at the top of a tree, forgotten by the pickers because they could not reach it. The excerpt evokes themes of unattainable beauty and longing.

## Themes in this chapter

### Loss and Nostalgia

The image of the forgotten, unreachable apple suggests a sense of loss and yearning for something that cannot be possessed.

## Key lines

> Οιον το γλυκύμαλον ερεύθεται άκρω επ’ ύσδω άκρον επ’ ακροτάτω: λελάθοντο δε μαλοδρόπηες, ου μαν εκλελαθοντ’, αλλ’ ούκ εδύναντ’ επίκεσθαι.

Like the sweet apple that reddens on the highest branch, at the very top—forgotten by the apple-pickers; not truly forgotten, but beyond their reach.

_This Sapphic fragment serves as a metaphor for unattainable desire or beauty, setting a tone of wistful longing for the chapter._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/to-hilda
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters