The metaphor lasts for a very long time, too. From an early fourteenth-century Anglo-Irish poem that goes back and forth between Middle English and Latin, here (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E300000-001/text017.html):

Erth gette on erth gersom and gold,
Erth is thi moder, in erth is thi mold.
Erth uppon erth be thi soule hold.
Er erthe go to erthe, bild thi long bold!

Erth bilt castles
And erthe bilt toures.
Whan erth is on erthe
Blak beth the boures.

Humus querit plurima super humum bona,
Humus est mater tua, in qua sumas dona.
Anime sis famula super humum prona,
Domum dei perpetra munda cum corona
Ops turres edificat ac castra de petra
Quando fatum capiat penora sunt tetra.

Also, thank you both very much for posting the Sappho.