In the poem Demeter, Waiting, Demeter is heartbroken that her daughter has been taken away from her. She vows to wait for her until Persephone returns from the Underworld. It is interesting because the tone of this poem is sorrowful and grieve, however at the same time it has a tone of anger. Demeter loves her daughter more than anything in the world; she loves her enough to stop harvesting crops. This shows the audience that the relationship between mother and daughter is a very powerful thing. It is a mother’s instinct to worry about their child and to take care of them. Also, mothers are there to guide their children and to prepare them for the day that they no longer need their parents. Dove uses this Greek myth to emphasize the importance of a mother-daughter relationship.
Yes, this poem definitely has an angry tone to it. Rita makes Demeter's rage so intense because of the intensity of the love between mothers and daughters. Demeter shuns her own identity as the goddess of agriculture and fertility because of nature. The human nature of love for her daughter
I think more than it emphasizes the importance of a mother-daughter relationship, it shows the feelings of a over protective mother who loves her daughter immensely. The poem is about a mother who loses control over her daughter and will do anything to get her back. When she asks herself, "Who can bear it." she answers by saying, "who believes to pull a hand back from a daughters cheek is to put love into her pocket-" she is almost mocking the mothers that let their daughters do what makes them happy even though it might hurt the mother. She refuses to be one of these mothers and just wants her daughter back in her possession.
Striking similarities are seen between the two poems "Persephone, Falling" and "The Narcissus Flower". Right away the reader is aware of the connection, as the title of "The Narcissus Flower" is taken directly from the first line of "Persephone, Falling". The tone of "Persephone, Falling" is dark and prideful. From this the reader can can gather that it is written in the voice of Hades. Hades is boasting his cleverness in being able to successfully capture Persephone. Contrarily, "The Narcissus Flower" is clearly told in the voice of Persephone. In "The Narcissus Flower", Persephone is recounting the same tale told in "Persephone, Falling" from her own perspective. The tone of "The Narcissus Flower" is tragic and frightening, giving insight to how Persephone feels about her capture. While the majority of "Persephone, Falling" is apparently told in Hades perspective, lines 9-12 are told in the voice of Demeter. The tone of these lines are of warning and caution. The way Demeter is telling Persephone to behave contrasts sharply with how Persephone is depicted by Hades and Persephone herself. Hades describes her in "Persephone, Falling" as, "One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful/flowers, one unlike all the others" (1-2). Persephone recounts what she used to be like in the beginning of "The Narcissus Flower", "I remember my foot in its frivolous slipper,/a frightened bird..." (1-2). From this the reader can gather that Persephone was carefree, prideful, and lovely, very different than the conservative attitude her mother tells her to have in lines 9-12 of "Persephone, Falling". Hades is clearly trying to justify his kidnapping of Persephone. Hades believes that because Persephone did not follow her mother's instructions, he is entitled to take her, "When, sprung out of the earth/on his glittering terrible/carriage, he claimed his due." (4-6). Persephone feels that she is unjustly taken, but she can do nothing about it. Therefore, she is forced to quickly grow from a naive, carefree child into an ominous queen.
I agree with you!! I think there are definite correlations between "The Narcissus Flower" and the story of Persephone. You mentioned the first and second lines in "The Narcissus Flower" and I would also like to add that when the author says "frivolous slipper/a frightened bird" she could be talking about Persephone's entrapment. Birds are traditionally a symbol of freedom, and when they fly its obviously in an open, sky. The idea of a frightened bird could lend itself to the thought of entrapment. Persephone was a young girl and was supposedly, very happy, so to her, being trapped underground with Hades, the lord of the dead, is equivalent to a frightened bird being trapped. Also, later in the poem in lines 10-11, Dove says "The mystery is, you can eat fear/before fear eats you,". This could be a reference to another important part of Persephone descent into the underworld: while she is there, she eats 6 pomegranate seeds, and because of that, she must stay in the Underworld for 6 months. She literally ate a part of the Underworld, and it ate her back by stealing half of her precious life.
You can relate the poem Mother Love and Demter waiting. First, both address the role of mothers and how important this role is. Demter, putting everything at a standstill for her daughter while the mother in Mother love will stop at nothing to nourish her baby. Both will go through great obstacles to try to be with their kin. You can compare the two as a god struggles versus a human struggles, and can see apparent similarities. I also noticed the word damn in both of them . Obscene words are usually written to send a strong message and leave a lasting image in our brains. It says to be that they hold nothing back when they are talking about their children, ready to do whatever it takes.
Mother Love and Demeter, Waiting are both similar, but also different. In the first poem you see the nurturing, caring side of the mother. And in the latter poem, you see the anger, grief, and sorrow a mother has when her loved one is no longer with her. I also noticed the use of "damn" in these poems, and also in Demeter, Waiting, she says "shit". This really caught my attention and drew focus on what she was saying and emphasized it greatly.
“O why did you pick that idiot flower? Because it was the last one and you knew it was going to die”
In Rita Dove’s poem, Heroes, the narrator goes through a process many humans face except to an extreme degree. While trying to save the flower for the woman, the narrator kills the woman. Before that, the narrator tries to fix the problem through certain works in order to make the woman feel better and in an attempt at showing love. This process is common in human nature as guilt makes humans try to fix the problems that they made. Most of the time, the effort is in vain. This reaction towards guilt is an attempt to show love to those whom love was taken away but the situation worsened and love became crime, regret, and murder. The narrators intention started as love, however, Rita Dove places a tone of the narrator's thoughts that implies that the narrator is trying to make the woman feel better so that the guilt will leave. This is supported by the fact that the narrators kills the woman because the existence of the woman is making the guilt persist as well. In human nature, is this reaction, when good intentions turn into problems that cause guilt, done out of love, or out of selfishness and reprieve.
This is a really interesting observation. I never would have thought to connect love to guilt in this way, but now it makes perfect sense. I would say that in this way the entire poem is a metaphor for the emotions that come with love and guilt. The only thing that I want to know is how does this poem actually fit in to the theme of mother love? It could have something to do with the feeling of maternalism, in wanting to save the flower. Does that make the flower a symbol of a child being protected by the mother?
This also relates to another part of human nature which is to hide the problem. When children are young and make a mistake, they don't understand that it is better to accept the problem and fix it rather than hide it and get into more trouble. This attempt to hide the problem can be seen in the line, "and you can't leave any clues." The way the main character acts like a child shows the impulsive nature of the main character and that they aren't necessarily thinking about what they are doing.
In Rita Dove’s poem titled, “Heroes,” the relationship between mother and daughter is illustrated as difficult and complex as there exists an inevitable battle between a mother’s intentions and the actual end result. In the very beginning, Dove uses imagery of a poppy flower in a weedy field and it is important to note the great significance in the poet’s choice of flower. Poppy flowers represent dreams and remembrance. In the context of this poem, the poppy comes to symbolize a mother’s dear child. In the poem, similarly to how “you” are trying to keep the plucked poppy from wilting by finding a jar of water, a mother insists on trying to preserve her child, hoping they will forever remain as loving, youthful, and vibrant. The natural persistence of a mother to do so unavoidably results in conflict because the child eventually seeks independence and feels that their mother is overstepping in their life and being too motherly. These unintended, sometimes harmful disputes that result from innocent, good intentions between mother and daughter are represented in the poem when “the woman on the porch starts screaming” because “you’ve plucked the last poppy in her miserable garden, the one that gave her the strength every morning to rise!” It becomes clear how a simple, well-intended action can end up having a harmful effect. The problem worsens as “you” strike the lady and “she hits her head on a white boulder.” This represents how heightened tension between mother and daughter can result in a strain in the relationship due to the possible violent actions or words exchanged in the heat of the moment. Dove uses interesting diction in line 20, where she writes, “because you’re a fugitive now.” A fugitive is someone who runs away from something, and this can be symbolically interpreted as the mother repeatedly running away from acknowledging the fact that she is robbing her child from independence and the experience of growing up. In the last few lines, 24-28, Dove writes, “O why did you pick that idiot flower? Because it was the last one and you knew it was going to die.” These lines sum up the message Rita Dove is trying to convey: mothers have a natural, inevitable tendency to want to try to preserve their beautiful child and keep them forever safe.
I honestly had no idea what "Heroes" was about, so this is truly interesting. The connection between the flower and the meaning behind it is very creative and a nice catch on your part. My question is, what did Dove mean by "a juicy spot in the written history" in line 12?
The poems "Primer & Persephone, Falling" for me they both have a powerful motherly feeling. In "Primer" for example, when the girl is gonna get bullied but then her mom "shake them down to size," it just shows me the power the mother has to the girls by making them stop, and protecting her daughter, and in "Persephone, Falling" its not about what the mother does, but what the mother says, "(Remember: go straight to school. This is important, stop fooling around! Don't answer to strangers. Stick with your playmates. Keep your eyes down.)" Which I can feel the power of the moms rules, by her commanding which is amazing!
I totally agree! There is definitely a sort of motherly theme in the two poems. In both "Primer" and "Persephone, Falling" we see these mothers desperately trying to protect their kin from school yard bullies and also the seductively dangerous Hades. However, in the poems we also see deviance coming from the children that the mothers are trying to care for. In "Primer" the 6th grade narrator is dead set on not entering her mom's car, even though it would provide solace from her bullies. And again in "Persephone, Falling" it can be inferred that Persephone does not head to her mother's warnings, as according to Greek mythology Persephone does leave with Hades. The question is: why do these young children not wish to accept their parent's advice and help?
I don't think the kids intentionally choose to not follow parent's advice. During teenage years, there is an internal urge to prove people wrong, specially parents. Once their mind is made up on a matter, there isn't much that will change it. In this case, the character in 'Primer' acknowledges her mother's presence and protective abilities. Yet, the character refuses to get in a car where she will be safe from the bullies or the world's negativity for that matter. She desires to overcome difficulties on her own terms rather than have her 'five-foot-zero' mother deal with her problems. The urge to show independence will always be evident among mother-daughter relationships even if it means for one side to get hurt. In the end, a lesson will be learned by both sides.
This is a very good similarity between the two! I think that these two poems have a motherly theme and in this case, the mothers actions have a huge effect. I think both of these poems shows how much power a mother has and how effective it can be. It also shows that a mother of a child is willing to do anything for them. I think the main goal of the mothers in these two poems is protectiveness. I think a lot of mom in modern day and in any situations share this same trait.
I found it interesting how Rita Dove's poem is entitled "Heroes" while the behavior exhibited by the narrator in the poem is not heroic at all but rather disturbing and cowardly. Why would the two pieces of the poem blatantly contradict themselves? Is Rita Dove perhaps saying she maybe condones these actions because the narrator is attempting to make something beautiful out of a wilting flower? Or is she simply using this contradiction to create some cruel ironic effect? The narrator also never refers to themselves as "I" or "me", but always "you". Like she's trying to separate herself from the person who committed the crime because she too realizes the violence and incredibility of her actions. All in all, this poem leaves me with more questions than answers, but maybe that was exactly what the author was trying to achieve in this work.
I think that the way Dove used 'you' rather than 'i' or 'me' was so that the perspective shifted, putting the reader in the foot steps of the criminal. This give the poem a more emotional feel. It allows the reader so almost connect with the feelings of the person, especially when she writes "..stirring as your heart pounds into your throat".
In Rita Dove's poem "Demeter, Waiting", Dove portrays the utter agony of losing a child. This is done through many different literary techniques. The one I found most striking was the way she used 'bear' rather than 'bare' then when saying "Who can bear it." This makes the reader think of actual bear, therefore allowing the reader to make the connection between the relationship between Demeter and Persephone to that of a mother bear and her cub. Demeter's anger is very similar to that of a mother bear, if said bear were to lose her cub.
I also thought it was weird that he used the word "bear", but it fits well in this situation, since all animals and humans have the instinct to become angry and miserable, knowing they might not ever see their child again.
I agree with you, the fact that the writer uses bear instead of bare is amazing! We can see an entire different meaning of not only the sentence but the entire poem. The fact that the Rita Dove uses bear instead of bare, it makes the poem describe things in a better way, it connects the relationship of each other, and makes a powerful impact on the readers. We can also relate us to the animals, the way Rita relates the mother to her daughter as a mother bear and a cub, just as you said.
In the poem “Mother Love”, it describes the actions and instincts that every mother has, as seen in the quote, “Toss me a baby and without bothering to blink I’ll catch her, sling him on a hip.” Mothers are very protective and play a very important role in a child's life, which makes their love so strong. They will never stop protecting their child and will always put their lives first. It provides a loving tone, knowing that there will always that one person who will be by your side to protect you at all costs. Some people do not appreciate their mothers at all times and I believe this poem was Rita Dove’s way of showing many people how hard they hard they work and their importance as a whole.
I agree with your interpretation of the poem. I believe this poem also portrays how mothers feel obligated to raise children, even though the children will grow up and the mother will lose them. This shows how strongly mothers love their children, that they are willing to let them go.
I completely agree with this. I think that is why Rita Dove relates a lot of her poems with Demeter and Persphone, because Persphone did all she could to raise her daughter perfectly, yet she still left, abruptly. I believe as you stated, that "Mother Love" shows all of her true feelings behind the relationship between mothers and daughters with a mix her own experiences as well.
In the poem "Primer", Dove exposes the reader to a character that comes off as troubled by others, often misunderstood. Reminiscing back to middle school years, happy memories come to mind. It was a time of growth and exploration as everyone was trying to 'fit in' and deal with the concept of being a teenager. In the case of the poem, the character was being 'chased home by the Catlin kids' and being called "Stringbean" (Dove 7). Such actions are classic examples of what bullying looks like among sixth graders; often characterized by name-calling or physical intimidation. When looking at an actual stringbean, one notices its elongation and ability to easily break, which were characteristics that the bullying kids associated with the main character. It is natural to infer that the main character doesn't have enough confidence as she is allowing herself to be bullied. As the poem continues, the character proudly thinks: "Who is calling who skinny?". The clear indication of sass displays confidence from the inside even if the courage to display it on the outside isn't yet there. The character is aware of her physical size and she doesn't mind comparisons when it comes to it. it is later mentioned that "[her] five-foot-zero mother drove up in her Caddie to shake [the Catlin kids] down to size". Clearly, the character isn't ashamed of the mother's height or her ability to deal with bullies as she specifically states that her height is 'five-foot-zero" and not a inch more. The reader senses the pride and confidence boost as the character describes her mother, even if there are differences among the mother and daughter. It's almost as if the daughter is speaking in an idolizing manner as she aspires to achieve the same confidence that her own mother possesses. The bond is beautifully portrayed as the mother protects her child from negative influences and the daughter secretly praises what has been done for her.
I agree with your analysis and loved that you pointed out the daughter’s confidence boost that the reader senses when the daughter is describing her mother. It is evident that she admires her mother and wishes to secure the same level of confidence. I would just like to add another piece of interesting commentary. Although the daughter talks about her mother in this almost idolizing manner and her admiration for her mother is clearly shown, when the mother comes to the rescue, the daughter turns her back to her mom as she does not get in the car and goes her own way home. This is essential for her to learn independence and start gaining that confidence she wishes to attain. It shows the cruel nature of loving and letting go. Mothers will be there to nurture their children, but eventually the children will leave to live their own independent lives, taking with them everything they learned from their mothers.
The thing that caught my eye most about the poem, "The Bistro Styx," was the repetition of the color grey (or synonyms for grey). In the first stanza of the poem, her cape is described as silvery. From then on the girl in which the poem is referring to is described as wearing grey, graphite, and brushed steel. All these plain and bland colors give the girl a very dull and serious feel. It also creates kind of a harsh tone for the reader. Since this poem is referencing to Demeter visiting her daughter, Persephone, in the underworld, it could represent how the once beautiful and bright Persephone has changed since meeting up with Hades. This could be referencing the feelings that a mother feels when she sees her daughter start to be with the mother less and instead be with a boyfriend, husband, etc. In this case, the mother doesn't like what the daughter has become with her man (shown by the dull, sad colors).
Yes I completely agree with your interpretation! I like the touch about the silver and bland colors. I believe that since this is a modern version of the ancient Greek myth, they share many similarities with each other. The daughter represents Persephone, the mother - Demeter, and the boyfriend is Hades. This dull look that the daughter carries ever since she met her boyfriend shows her rejection of affection towards her mother and a newly adopted formality. As you mentioned, this symbolic of the change Persephone goes through while with Hades in the underworld. The fact that the daughter continuously eats throughout the poem is also symbolic of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds. The pomegranate seeds Persephone ate caused her to become forever trapped in the underworld. Similarly, the daughter in this poem eats, "in its fragrant crust, a black plug steaming...one touch with her fork sent pink juices streaming" and later on, it is mentioned that "nothing seemed to fill her up". The delicacies served to her do not wholly satisfy her so she can never finish, just as Persephone can never fully return to the human world with Demeter. The connection between the pomegranate seeds and food demonstrate the daughter's separation from her mother and reflects her choice of living with the "modern" Hades, further distancing herself from her past life.
One poem of Rita Dove's that really stood out to me was "Golden Oldie". At first it just seems like a young woman becoming absorbed into the lyrics of a love song. Then, I wondered how this poem even fit in to the Mother Love theme. I went deeper into the poem and decided it was like a daughter who is new to life alone. The narrator is not used to the emptiness left where the mother used to be, and she feels the need to fill it with another person. When she states that the singer in the song is "dying to feel alive, to discover a pain majestic enough to live by", she is trying to explain how loving or caring for someone makes you feel complete, and in that way more alive. However, when loss in the relationship occurs, it turns into a painful wound. In spite of the pain, people gravitate to love, because it is in our nature. In this way, the love from her mother has left her so desparate that the narrator truly relates to the ballad song by the singer of the song.
That is very interesting. I had never really thought of that before. I definitely agree with you. I think 'Golden Oldie' really emphasizes the importance of a mother-daughter relationship. This poem shows that a mother's love is genuine and unconditional. But, like you said, it shows that every person is eager for love. It is human nature for us to want to feel fulfilled with love. The tone of this poem is very intense and sorrowful. I also think that it also makes the poem relatable to the audience as well.
The first difference that I noticed between the poem “Breakfast of Champions” and many of the other poems in Mother Love that relate to the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter is the difference in conflict and mood. The poem is related to Demeter with the line, “a little dust on a laurel branch.” The laurel branch is the type of branch that was used in crowns. The crown is likely meant to show that the main character is a god or leader and Demeter is the most likely god based on the other poems of Mother Love. In “Breakfast of Champions,” Demeter is trying to make it through the day. The tone in much more passive than the other poems on Demeter. In the other poem, Demeter angry about what has happened to Persephone and is seeking revenge or wishing to change the past. The passive nature of the poem can be seen in both the weather of overcast skies, looking to escape with drinks, and the line, “to find a place fit for mourning.” The tone of the poem is one of acceptance of fate. The anger has passed and all Demeter can do is wait and go through the motions of life. The pain from the loss of her daughter is seen in her complete lack of energy. One part I didn’t understand was, “a sonic hospital graph announcing recovery.” Does this relate to an event in Rita Dove’s Life of possibly be loosely related to the myth itself?
I was wondering what a laurel branch was!! I agree with your interpretations, but I feel like this poem is in Demeter's point of view. I don't think it really relates to the myth, and I don't know enough about Dove's life to know if it relates to her. I found the last two lines interesting though, "Though I pour myself the recommended bowlful,/stones are what I sprinkle among the chaff." I wonder what that means...
In the poem Primer Dove uses body image to create a repetition and syntax to the poem. Every person brought into the poem is describe by using size, height, or the lack of caring about body image to portray a picture of the character. “Five-Foot-zero mother” & “Three skinny sisters” are direct references of the body. Both give the reader a prominent figure and preconceived notion of the person being described. She speaks of being bullied because of her size, yet she remind those reading that her mother isn’t tall. I think this was brought to show us that no matter what size our mother she will always be there “To drive up in her caddie” & “Shake them down to size” mothers are meant to protect us. In this specific scenario the mother probably knows what its like to be made of for her size so she fights to protect her daughter. The best part though is how the daughter fights to be independent and show them that she doesn’t need her mother. The significance of growth, size, and independence is not something to be looked over in this poem. Also to complete the poem it was written with 14 lines making it a sonnet. Coincidence?
The poem Demeter, Waiting, acts as a sequel to the poem Persephone, Falling. It is easy to notice that the titles are very similar in structure, both starting off with a name, then a comma, followed by an verb ending in "ing". This parallel structure is an obvious hint that these poems are connected. Also, both poems are 14 lines long, making them both sonnets.The first poem, Persephone, Falling, the poem discusses how exactly Persephone was taken into the underworld, and her mothers warning before hand. And in Demeter, Waiting, you now see Demeter's sorrow and rage now that her beloved daughter is gone. Demeter says "I will drag my grief through a winter of my own making and refuse any meadow that recycles itself into hope", this is meant to be figuratively and literally, according to Greek mythology. Figuratively, Demeter creates this "winter" that is her own sorrow and the pain she feels that her daughter is gone. She says she will refuse any meadow, this shows how sad she is, because she doesn't even want to be happy if she had the chance. Then literally, Demeter is the creator of the real seasons like fall and winter on the Earth because of her sadness, and then spring and summer when her daughter returns. The first poem has a tone that is more cautionary and worrisome, while the second one displays grief, anger, and sorrow.
In Rita Dove's poem, "Party Dress for a First Born", the speaker/listener relationship is hard to define, because the whole collection of poems is about a mother's love for her daughter. However, there are a couple of indicators that it may be more of a sister to sister relationship. The very last line says "Mother's calling. Stand up: it will be our secret". This doesn't sound like something that you would say to your daughter, but more like a older sister talking to her younger sister. The last stanza by itself could also be interpreted as an older sister's protectiveness of her younger sibling, especially if that younger sister is not supposed to be at a certain social event. "When I step out, disguised in your blushing skin../ I will smile, all the while wishing them dead." This points me toward the conclusion of a sister-sister relationship rather than a mother-daughter relationship. The only thing that puts a damper on this conclusion is line 6 when Dove says "When I ran to my mother, waiting radiant" which, if they were siblings, the author would have said "our mother" so that line could indicate a mother telling her daughter of how she felt at her daughter's age. Overall, this poem's narrator/reader dynamic is varied and clearly open to interpretation.
This is a interesting perspective and I defiantly agree with it! It all ties together on how it could be a sister- sister relationship. I think that the ending part does throw it off but maybe there is a deeper meaning we cannot quite see yet. Rita Doves way of writing these poems have seemed to be tricky but always have the deeper meaning so I agree with you and the sister-sister outlook on it!
One thing that I noticed, was, “Persephone, Falling” and “Demeter, Waiting” correspond with each other in the retelling of a myth. Demeter is known as the “goddess” of harvest and Persephone is her daughter. Rita Dove wrote a poem about Persephone being taking to the underworld and then in another poem the mothers feelings about it. In “Demeter, Waiting” Persephone’s mother is not happy with herself for letting her daughter go but has to deal with it. The descriptive detail is very important in these two poems, as is the tone as well. It is very intense and shows Persephone’s mothers emotions in a great matter. Her mother says that she will wait all winter and stop harvesting crops, emotionally, until her daughter comes back. This shows that her mom is willing to do anything to get her daughter back. In “Persephone, Falling” it has a part in parenthesis where it describes, in my opinion, what her mom has told her about being safe and this shows that her mom is protective. In “Demeter, Waiting” her mom does not think that she has done a good job on being a mother and failed by not keeping her daughter safe. I think that these two poems correlate in a way where it shows a cause/effect on Demeter. This is very important for all of us to notice because it can help us all have a better understanding on both of these poems. Does anyone have anything to add or a different opinion?
The poem Wiederkehr, is about the rape and kidnapping of Demeter and how Dove reflects that on society taking her daughter. Dove writes, "He only wanted me for happiness..and not think so much...I sat to hold the rain untouched inside me" . This displays the innocence of Demeter and how the Hades wanted her for that, and her beauty mainly came from that too, comparing it to Dove's daughter saying how she was innocent and naive but the influence of society took her over. When Riva Dove refers to the rain in this poem, I believe that is a symbol of evil or negative influence. Using "rain" as the symbol shows it how is somewhat something you really can't control and it will eventually just happen. One must go through that experience of being "corrupted" to find themselves. As Rita Dove says in the poem, "...if I would stay. which is why, when the choice appeared. I reached for it". I feel like this line has a lot of meaning behind it. A lot of which goes with independence, being able to make your own choice based on your own experience. Rita Dove realized that her daughter, although she was "taken" by society, has that experience to make her own choices. Something else I found interesting about this poem was the line breaks. I believe Rita Dove uses line breaks to show something. In the beginning, she uses small quick brisk lines, she uses these to make the reader feel calm, somewhat enchanted, yet when the poem goes on, it starts getting longer lines, to show how it is dragging on and becoming more intense.
I agree with your interpretations of this poem. I also like how you interpreted "rain" as something that is unexpected, and it just happens when it happens. I agree that the line structure of this poem contributes a lot to the poem. In the first part of the poem with short lines, it almost has a positive tone to it. In the second part of the poem, it becomes darker and more somber.
In the poem, "Exit", by Rita Dove, the emotional process of a daughter leaving her mother is evidently expressed. As the daughter leaves the house, she sees the streets, "clean of people, of cats; except it is YOUR (I can't do italics) street". A child that leaves his or her parent's house for the first time begins to see the world for themselves. They are all on their own and must live a life independent from others. This would explain why the daughter sees a lack of activity in the streets and hits the harsh realization that she is leaving "HER" street, her familiarity, her home. The contrast between the windows turning pink "doing what they do every dawn", and the outside being gray, "This suitcase, the saddest object in the world" mirrors the emotions the girl is experiencing. Pink suggests warmth and happiness, and is a sign of femininity. The windows that habitually turn pink bring solace and reminiscence to the girl, but the outside appears gray and bleak. She feels sorrow at the prospect of leaving her mother, hence the reason why the suitcase elicits sadness. Knowing that she must start her own life "the sky begins to blush, as you did when your mother told you what it took to be a woman in this life". Again, this resembles back to the windows that turn pink each day at dawn. One is said to turn "pink" when they blush, so this shows a striking similarity between the window and the sky. The daughter understands that she must leave and start her own life, therefore she must raise her head to the sky and remain optimistic about this transition. she must grow and learn and transform from a girl into a woman, as her mother once taught her.
Rita Dove creates a lot of parallels to the myth of Demeter and Persephone in the poem "The Bistro Styx". In the poem, the daughter seems focused on food rather than conversing with her mother. For an example near the end of the book, when the mother asks her if she was happy, she evades the subject and bit into a fig. This is parallel to Persephone eating the seeds from the pomegranate. After they both eat the fruit, the mothers realizes that their daughters are 'lost'. Another parallel is Styx. In the myth, Styx is a river between the Underworld and earth. If dipped in the river, one would gain invulnerability (Achilles) but if one drank from the river, they would have their memories erased. The daughter drinking the wine corresponds with how forgetful the daughter is and could represent how she forgot about her values in life. I feel like this poem shows how in modern society, people do things to escape reality, and to forget.
The poem Heroes and Persephone, Falling are related. It seems to me that the poppy in the weedy field represents Persephone because there is only one flower since Rita Dove said "A flower in a weedy field", which makes that poppy significant because it's rare. Same as Persephone, Falling because there is only "one narcissus flower among the ordinary beautiful flowers, one unlike all the others!" The Persephone, Falling poem also emphasized that Persephone is special and better than the other flowers. Both poems uses flowers as an imagery. At the part when the poppy flower gets picked in the Heroes poem, it's like Hades kidnapping Persephone. The woman who screamed represents Demeter, who is full of sorrow because the poppy "gave her the strength every morning to rise". At the part when the person taking the poppy flower strikes the woman and causes the woman to hit her head on the a white boulder, it seems like Hades mentally injured Demeter greatly by kidnapping her daughter. Rita made the boulder white to symbolize the snowy, winter months that describes the agonizing pain that Demeter goes through without her daughter. The Heroes poem is telling the Persephone mythology in Hades point of view and shows what he feels like when he kidnaps Persephone. It tries to make the readers understand Hades and see that he's not a total bad guy; what he did was out of blind love. He even thought of returning Persephone to her mother, but it was too late because she ate six of his seeds. This part of the story is related to the Heroes poem because the person apologized to the woman but "it's too late for apologies though you go through the motions, offering trinkets and a juicy spot in the written history...".
I love how you thought about the symbol of the flower! I was quite confused at first reading this poem and I even made a note to ask a question about the meaning behind the white boulder. It all makes sense now! I also love the meaning behind the color in the poem representing winter and the loss of her daughter.
In "Breakfast of Champions", it talks about a mourning and sorrowful person and based on the poems in Mother Love, I believe that this poem is based on Demeter's perspective. "Finally, overcast skies." I infer that this is talking about the period of time when Persephone is in the underworld, because overcast skies usually correlate with the fall and winter seasons. "worked my way through petals and sunlight to find a place fit for mourning" When Persephone isn't by her side, Demeter worries about the safety of Persephone. Because she is so worried, all she can do is grieve about her daughter. For every mother, her child is one of the most important persons in her life and not being able to see him/her pains every mother. "...the first pair of Canada geese have arrived on the lake." The signs of animals coming out into the open shows the early signs of Spring and warm weather, and also when Persephone returns back to her mother. "... a sonic hospital graph announcing recovery. Arise, it's a brand new morning!" Persephone returning back to her mother revives her mother's mood and makes her relieved and happy again. This shows how just anticipating to see the child makes the mother feel 100 times better. After months of not hearing from Persephone, Demeter's mood takes a 180 degree turn when Spring comes and she knows that her child will be back by her side.
In the poem "Heroes" by Rita Dove, I found the structure of the poem very interesting. She writes the poem directed at the reader constantly saying "you" or "your". A couple examples of this are when she says "you pick it" or "you knew it was going to die." She says the words you or your ten times in the poem. This gives the poem a accusing tone and makes the reader feel almost guilty. If the poem is coming from a mother's perspective to a daughter, it shows the authority that mothers have over daughters. This differs from many of the other poems in the "mothers and daughters" category because it doesn't show how a mother loves her daughter but instead how a mother has authority over her daughter.
“Party Dress for a First Born” is about how girls need to grow up and their reluctance to do such. The passage, “When I ran to my mother… the world stood still.” talks about how, when troubled, the child would race to her mother for aid, who made the troubles cease.
The opening sentence speaks of a “headless girl”, referring to the party dress the child was given. The second paragraph speaks of men and women at the party, making it appear as if the party dress is for a grown up party. The ‘girl’ is headless to represent how the first born child sees growing up: empty and senseless (headless).
Ladies were described as “... petals waiting to loosen.” which gave the image of women as flowers. The loosening of the petals equates to the blossoming of the flower and thus, the maturing and growth of girls. When men are described as “elegant scissors”, it could be another way of describing them as gardening shears, off to go take hold of the girls once they’ve matured enough.
When she speaks of being “ill at ease on the bed”, it shows her discomfort of the inevitable intercourse that she will later come to face in life.
Girls, overall, do not generally wish to grow up, but rather stay in their ideal and carefree life. However, they are forced to grow up into a society where it is required.
I support your comparisons within this poem. I believe this poem holds a lot of feminine symbolism as Dove includes the unwillingness of girls growing up and the discomfort of maturing. Your idea that the "headless girl" represents a senseless child stood out to me because of the obvious examples of coming of age throughout the passage. Because this section of poems is focused on the topic of mothers, this poem is also a significant representation of how a mother is important for a young girl's introduction to womanhood and influence through hard times of reluctance to grow up.
I found that in the poem "Used," Rita Dove portrays a more modern tone that can relate to today's society. Contrasting to her usual theme of a Greek mythology connection within her sonnets, this poem begins with a stanza that you would see in present-day articles. The passage leads with, "The conspiracy's to make us thin. Size threes are all the rage, and skirts ballooning above twinkling knees are every man-child's preadolescent dream." This isn't the norm for Dove, as she sets the alert and important tone for the poem. As she is referring "us" as the entire women population, the debate of female image and views from society lead into her own personal life as a woman. While most of her writing in this section ties into Persephone or motherly figures, this poem gives the reader a sense of the emotional exhaustion women go through. In the writing, she describes herself as had experienced "postnatal dread" from a "child that emptied her of their brief interior light." The context of her just giving birth is a very important factor from the italicized sentence referring to her muscles, "We have been used," along with the title. As a mother, Dove portrayed her own life of how she saw how small sizes and skirts were popular and related the views of today's society into the writing.
Rita Dove’s The Bistro Styx is a part of a modernisation of the myth of the Abduction of Persephone in which the mother (Demeter) meets her daughter (Persephone) who has presumably moved away to live with her boyfriend (Hades) whom her mother deeply disapproves of. The poem is an exploration of the separation that now exists between them.
‘“Sorry I’m late” she panted, though she wasn’t’
This can be interpreted two ways: one, she showed up on time and apologised out of habit, or two, she intentionally showed up late and apologised because it was fashionable. All throughout there is also vivid description of food and drink with long French names like ‘Chateaubriand,’ ‘Pinot Noir,’ ‘Camembert’ which the daughter keeps eating seemingly insatiable, almost gluttonously unless they are eating extremely small portions. This contrasts with the mother who only watches her eat and tries to interact with her daughter who quickly dismisses her. The final line spoken by the mother, ‘“But are you happy?”’ is answered with a dismissive ‘“What? You know, Mother—one should try the fruit here.”’ The fruit is a reference to the pomegranate seeds Persephone of the myth ate which bound her to the underworld. The daughter dismissing her final question which some mundane conversation filler about the fruit is what makes the mother finally realise the extent of the barrier which has formed between them. ‘I’ve lost her, I thought, and called for the bill.’
In the poem" Primer", the characters parallel those in Greek mythology. Following our discussion of Persephone, Falling in class, the narrator is Persephone and her mother is Demeter. The Gatlin kids represent the three fates and the poem shows that one cannot run away from fate as the fates "trod" on Persephone's heels. The Gatlin kids also represent Hades indirectly as Persephone's fate is to be trapped by Hades and her mother tries to do everything in her power to stop it, "shaking Hades down to size."
In her poem "Sonnet in Primary Colours", Rita Dove uses juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery to portray the life of Frida Kahlo. In the poem, Frida is described using natural and positive imagery, often associating her with animal-like qualities, "This is for the woman with one black wing/perched over her eyes: lovely Frida, erect/among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant" (Dove 1-3). This imagery embodies the blunt, realist paintings that Frida is famous for. The positive imagery of animals and nature suggests that Frida finds freedom in her painting. This positive imagery is juxtaposed with negative imagery that is associated with Diego, whom Frida was married to, "...Diego's/love a skull in the circular window/of the thumbprint searing her immutable brow." (11-13). This shows how Frida feels pained by her relationship with Diego. In the first line, Frida's brow is described using natural and positive words such as "wing" and "perched". In the last line, Diego is described as "searing her immutable brow". This negative imagery juxtaposed with the positive imagery shows how Frida feels that Diego destroys the beautiful freedom she finds in her work.
This is an interesting analysis, I had a totally different interpretation and yours make just as much sense as mine. I thought that Dove was describing her beauty, not her art, mostly because of the line "lovely Frieda, erect/ among parrots". Your analysis make so much more sense! But I have a question about the poem. Why do you think she titled it a sonnet when there are only 13 lines in the poem?
Melanie brought up a good point. The fact that there are only 13 lines is fairly interesting. My best guess, which I happen to be very proud of, is that there are 13 lines because there are 13 letters in the combined names of the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. This still doesn't necessarily explain why Dove titled the poem as a sonnet and not "Primary Colors."
I didn't notice that interesting point about the sonnet until you pointed it out! I also may have to do with how Dove is "destroying" the balance and integrity of the sonnet, just as Diego is destroying Frida's life and freedom.
In the poem, “Canary” Rita Dove uses the word ‘burned” in the first line that seems to indicate that Billie Holiday was hurt in her life, or represents her hard past and difficult present. Some example of this could involve the time she was sent to jail, at age 14, for prostitution, or when she became addicted to heroin, or even involving her abusive and violent marriage. All of these difficult times is also reflected in the line ‘had as many shadows as lights’. Throughout her life she had many rough patches, but she still had music and became popular by her glamorous lifestyle and reputation, although it was limited.
I agree with what you said. I also like how at the end of the poem it says, "If you can't be free, be a mystery." This line is significant because Billie Holiday had to do some horrible things in order to support her and her mother, which she kept a secret about. Also, she had to put on a mask and pretend to be fine when in reality her life was a mess. She had to constantly act like her life was put together in order for people to buy her music and to make it big in the industry.
In the poem, Catherine of Alexandria, Dove uses imagery to portray the life of Catherine. It gives a tone of innocence and purity. “A kept promise,” signifies that Catherine of Alexandria vowed to stay a virgin in order to follow Jesus. She also claimed that she was in a relationship with Jesus, which led her to be beheaded. This poem gives a clear picture on how she wanted to live her life. Catherine left a huge impact because she paved a way for women to have a role in politics as well as in the church.
I agree with your analysis that the poem depicts a tone of innocence and purity. She seems to be hiding her life as the passage states, "and what went on each night was fit for nobody's ears but Jesus'." The secretive mood of this poem tells the story of her struggle to remain a virgin to follow Jesus. I believe Dove exemplified her hidden lifestyle as, "Deprived of learning and the chance to travel," while she was deprived of new experiences as she had to keep her promise to Jesus.
Catherine of Alexandria, was a Christian Saint who believed she was married to Jesus Christ by Mary, herself. And therefore, she had consecrated her virginity to him. I agree with both of you in terms of the tone. There is definitely something sort of innocent and naive about this piece of writing. I think this poem is Catherine of Alexandria reflecting on her own life, perhaps as an older woman. She has lived a very deprived and lack-luster life, and so her childhood innocence is still intact. There's also something almost depressing about this poem- like maybe she's sad that her life has been so heavily dictated by her promise to Jesus. She has lived a life without knowledge, without any sort of birth. In this poem, I see a sort of internal conflict. Catherine of Alexandria is morning her vanilla life, and all the while she is trying to reassure herself that she has not loved without cause by saying that He has fit ears and breath of a lily.
'Nestor's Bathtub' could be read two different ways. The first time I read the poem, I felt like Dove was discussing how Nestor's wife was behaving poorly while Nestor was fighting in the Trojan war. Dove writes, "Nestor's wife was the one/ to crouch under/ jug upon jug of fragrant water poured/ until the room steamed." I thought that this refered to the water being poured onto Nestor's wife. Later in the poem, Dove writes "his wife with her white hands' scraped the dirt from a lover's back". Nestor's wife is engaged in immoral behaviors while her husband is fighting a war. Her white hands can be interpreted as a person who didn't do any work and is always being pampered. In the last section of the poem, Dove explains how only the tub, combs and drinking cups lasted. Which could suggest how Nestor's possessions have been destroyed and the things that lasted were things that his wife had and used. The things that survived were the extravagant objects left from his wife's life. After re-reading the poem, I saw that this poem could be interpreted differently. When Dove writes, "Nestor's wife was the one/ to crouch under/ jug upon jug of fragrant water poured/ until the room steamed", she could also mean that his wife was the one working in his home pouring the water in the bathtub to clean it. And that she took on another lover because Nestor was too busy doing other things. Also, the tub stands because she cared for it. Overall, I felt like this poem explains how history could be seen in different perspectives. Additionally, the fact that Dove did not mention the name of his wife once, she could suggest how women were ignored in history. When researching for Nestor's Wife, there was little to no information at all. A part from the poem that was confusing to me was when she writes "this heap of limestone/blocks-look how they fell, blasted..." Does she mean that there is something blocking us, preventing us from seeing the truth? Or was she referring to something else?
This is a very interesting interpretation. I really like both ways that you pointed out, but the second theory makes a little more sense to me. The way I interpreted the blasting of the limestone could be a metaphor of the anger released by Nestor when he finds out what his wife had been doing, like a violent outburst symbolized in the downfall of the foundations of the building as well as their relationship. I feel like everything Nestor did to secure his ideals were not as well planned out, so they crumbled after his death. However, since his wife had more moral and was respected by so many, she had a stronger reputation that lasted for years after her death, signified by her remaining possessions.
What really stood out to me in Rita Dove’s poem titled, “Canary,” was the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery in the very first stanza. When Dove describes Billie Holiday’s voice, she says it “had as many shadows as lights.” The “shadows,” which represent Billie Holiday’s struggles with poverty, rape, prostitution, and drugs, are clearly intended to symbolically communicate the bad aspects of her life. The “lights,” which represent big city lights, fame, and success, are symbolic of the good aspects of her life once she became well known. In the following line, Dove writes, “a mournful candelabra against a sleek piano.” Here, the reader envisions the scene as it is described. Instead of a peaceful, elegant candle holder with flickering flames, the candelabra is sad-looking and positioned next to a beautiful musical instrument. The last piece of evidence for the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery is the line, “the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.” A gardenia is a beautiful, white flower that signifies secret or untold love. This flower is positive nature imagery, but it’s paired with the negative imagery of the singer’s “ruined face.” Through these cases of positive and negative imagery juxtaposition, Rita Dove is able to emphasize the happy and sad, or good and bad parts of Billie Holiday’s life.
As I was reading "Canary", I noticed the same patterns! I believe Dove wanted to emphasize that there are always two sides to the aspect of fame: the good and bad side. Most importantly, she wanted to emphasize that they go hand in hand with each other. It is seamlessly done with a character such as Billie Holiday because she got to experience the advancement of jazz and pop music industry, as she was a part of what caused that advancement. During that process, she was introduced to heroin, one of the most dangerous and addictive drug out there. It wasn't long before she became addicted and got in trouble with the law as a result of it. Billie Holiday was an amazing artist who didn't get to fully experience the goods of her art; she was never fully liberated. Dove named the poem "Canary" because of the similarities between the bird and the singer. Canaries are known to have very melodic voices, so they are often kept in cages in order to provide entertainment. They are never liberated from their cage unless they are raised in the wild. Similarly, Billie Holiday was an attractive artist who could sing beautifully but her bad habits didn't allow her to further reach her absolute potential. Her addiction represented a metaphorical cage which she had built around herself. Ultimately, her reckless decisions ended up costing her life as she died at a tender age of 44 because of heart failure due to drug and alcohol abuse.
I do agree with how the poem is speaking to Billie Holiday specifically, but I also think that Rita was trying to send a more general message. She was trying to portray that even though it might look like people are good on the surface, there is a dark side to everybody that is often times kept a secret. Even an amazing singer like Billie still had to rely heavily on drugs to function. This theme is super common throughout musicians and actors. Just look at Kurt Cobain or Robin Williams. Both were extremely talented and successful but it still didn't make them happy. So while Rita was talking about Billie, she could have also just been trying to send a more general message.
"Tou Wan speaks to her husband, Liu Sheng" is a poem that really stood out to me because of its hidden message which was conveyed through the usage of specific imagery and appealing word choice. Dove allows the reader to gain perspective on what marriage looked like in ancient times in China. The men were viewed as the dominant partner and women were often characterized as subservient and obedient. Dove writes," I will build you a house of limited chambers but it shall last forever". The woman's love for Liu Sheng is compared to the house that she is willing to build for him. Although the love, and the house, may be limited in size, it will last forever. Tow Wan is willing to deal with all problems that life will bring to their relationship since her love for him will last 'forever'. Her adoration is thoroughly revealed as she is proud to put tremendous effort in order to ensure her own husband's happiness. Her love for Liu Sheng isn't portrayed as bothersome; instead, it is portrayed as something she is willing to work hard for. Dove later describes the husband as "her only conqueror", meaning that loyalty and trust is evident in the relationship and Tow Wan isn't too shy to glorify her husband by calling him a 'conqueror'. Women in today's society would argue that Tow Wan is trying to mold herself and her beliefs in order to please her husband, thus revealing that she is the weaker link in the relationship. Do you guys see this as a form of weakness or is Tow Wan genuinely concerned about her husband's well-being and trying her hardest to make things good with him?
I think that the use of calling her husband "conqueror" multiple times is not her showing she is less than him, but just expressing how much he means to her. She is willing to buy him a lamp, a statue, bronze jugs, and a jade burial suit for him, and it's out of love. The part of the poem in parenthesis that says "(And a statue of the palace girl you most frequently coveted)" shows even more that she loves him and can overlook even him wanting other women for physical reasons, because they share such a strong bond and love for each other.
I definitely perceive it as a weakness because it seems she gives herself no value, aside from her love. However, the wife truly does want the best for her husband. As I was reading this poem, I found myself feeling increasingly sorry for Tou Wan because she is essentially proclaiming her undying love for her husband all the while it seems he could not care less. This is evident in the lines, “worth more than a family pays in taxes for the privilege to stay alive, a year, together...but you’re bored. Straight ahead then, the hall leading to you, my constant emperor.” The ellipsis is very important because it gives the reader the sense that the wife is explaining the great extent of her love, but then she sees her husband’s disinterest and reverts to explaining the luxurious house plans to interest him again. Tou Wan doesn’t seem to be deterred by this considering she goes on to refer to him as “my constant emperor.” She is so blinded by her love for Liu Sheng that she dispels any of his potential flaws. “Here when the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air (but you will find none)” is a perfect line that illustrates this. She feels the need to convince him he is perfect. In the last stanza, “when you are long light and clouds over the earth” is a metaphor that paints him almost like a god and it shows how deeply Tou Wan idolizes her husband.
I had two interpretations of the poem Party Dress for a First Born. The poem refers to a girl, Persephone, headless and thinking of nothing. The first stanza talks about feeling nothing for anyone accept her mother. It goes on to depict men as hated and meaningless to Persephone. At first I thought this poem was about the unwillingness to leave her mother for Hades and her hatred toward him. “Tonight men stride like elegant scissors across the lawn to the women array there, petals waiting to loosen.” Off the bat I thought this line was referring to sex as “petals waiting to loosen”, and the elegant men as the ones taking her purity. As well, when she wishes them dead it seems she feels a strong hatred to these men. I thought this poem was relating to the real world issue of forceful sex and prostitution. Now looking into it more I think it is simpler than that. My second interpretation of this poem had nothing to do with hades. This poem could refer to the coming of age of Persephone and her reluctance to be in a “party dress”. The men striding elegantly to the women and the petals being loosened could symbolize a garden and the petals being girls waiting to be picked by a man. Persephone is reluctant to grow up and this is what I believe the sonnet is truly representing, her reluctance but desire to please her mother.
I found "Nestor's Bathtub" to be a very interesting poem, and it starts off with a great hook. The first sentence of the poem states "As usual, legend got it all wrong: Nestor's wife was the one to crouch under jug upon jug of fragrant water poured until the small room steamed." The title of the poem regards the bathtub as Nestor's, but this line says quite the opposite, and it was actually his wife who used it. The statement that legend got it wrong, "as usual" shows Rita Dove's opinion that women in history and in legends are not always represented how they really are. Women were looked upon as second class people for thousands of years, and unless they were extraordinary, they were mostly forgotten. Men throughout history are talked about and studied much much more than women are, and this isn't right. When Nestor's house burned down, one of the only things remaining was "his" bathtub, standing strong and firm, much like he would in the Trojan War. Another line in the poem says that his wife "with her white hands scraped the dirt from a lover's back". The connotation of having white hands is that of aristocracy, and the dirt on a lover's back (a lover that is not Nestor) shows the opposite. This is a very interesting image, and is an example of how Nestor's wife was more interesting than most people know, because legends get it all wrong.
The ‘Catherine’ poems Rita Dove seems to written as companions to each other, in a way twins but also in a way opposites. Firstly, they are both called ‘Catherine of ____’. Secondly, they are about both Christian saints. Thirdly, they are both about women who rebelled against traditional social order in order to persue their faith. Then there are the ways in which they differ. In ‘Catherine of Siena’ Dove describes her as a woman with strength, and with deep devotions, a deeply pious woman who threw herself into what she believed in and died for it. The historicity of Catherine of Siena is undisputed, in her lifetime Saint Catherine contributed significantly to peace between several Italian states and the return of the Papacy to Rome. This contrasts heavily with Catherine of Alexandria of whom the existence of is doubted more often by secular historians than that of Jesus himself.
Catherine of Alexandria’s story is far more romantic, involving among other things, an extremely beautiful pagan princess who converts to Christianity and to whom everyone no matter how smart and powerful they are is swayed by, an evil pagan emperor who alternates between torturing and proposing to her, a miraculous stay of execution, and angels carrying her body to Mount Sinai after she’s martyred. I feel that Dove does not think much of Catherine of Alexandria, as in ‘Catherine of Alexandria’ she makes a number of contrasts to ‘Cath. of Siena’ which in the book itself is printed right to left of it on the same page. ‘Cath. of Siena’ follows a woman as she walks endlessly through Italia under a ‘star-washed dome,’ stopping only to pray ‘until tears streaked the sky.’
‘Cath. of Alexandria’ follows a woman lying in a bed, her nightshirt bunched above her waist while she dreams of her lover, Jesus Christ. Notably for Cath. of Alexandria, sainthood ‘came as voice/ /in [her] bed’ in contrast to Cath. of Siena whom devoted her life to charity, political peace-brokering, and proselytism before being rewarded with a stroke at the age of 33. Both stories contain feminist ideals in which women reject the expectation of marriage and motherhood society dressed them with in favour of religious devotion, but I think that what Dove wanted to say was that Catherine of Alexandria was not truly liberated, but rather that she had simply taken her body and obedience away from ‘mortal men’ and gave them instead to Jesus; Catherine of Siena was what Dove believed women ought to aspire to, strong, tough, pushing through hardship and danger in complete devotion to what the believed and without any expectation of an angelic final reward.
As you said that Dove believed that women should aspire to be strong, tough, and in complete devotion to their goals, do you think there is a reason she wrote "Tou Wang Speaks to Her Husband Liu Sheng"? In the Tou Wang poem, Dove writes Tou Wang as a devoted housewife, who succumbs to her husband because of her love for him. This concept of dependence is a interesting contrast with the feminist ideals of the Catherine poems. Do you think that this is why she wrote Tou Wang in the same collection as the Catherines?
In Rita Dove's Poem "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband", I was really intrigued by the portrayal of Tou Wan's love for her husband through describing the actual tomb of Liu Sheng. Narrated from the point of view of Tou Wan, she describes how Sheng's tomb was carefully thought out and planned by Wan as a token of her love. When she says " In the south room all you will need for the journey", she is referring to the journey that Sheng will take to reach the afterlife. She also describes leaving riches and servants for him to use after death in various other rooms. When Tou says "Here the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air", she is referencing the literal scent of decay coming from Liu Sheng's own corpse. The use of this language adds a creepy feel of entrapment, as if there is no escaping death, and it is where Liu Sheng will remain forever. I interpret this poem to be a literal description of Sheng's tomb, but with implications of metaphor describing Tou Wan's love and transitions from life and death. The way it is narrated, also, almost makes it seem as if Wan is speaking to Sheng's spirit, as if he were already dead. Overall, this poem just left me with a romantic ye eerie feel.
I really got that same feeling from that poem. I think the fact that it is written from the point of view of Tou Wan really makes a bigger impact on that eerie romantic mood that the reader receives. I believe that is why Rita Dove made that who's point of view it was from. How do you think the mood and tone would be affected if it was just from a 3rd person point of view?
I agree with you and Julia's comment. I got the same exact feeling from reading this poem. I feel like the mood and tone would be a different feel only because I do not think it will be as meaningful. This is because, you hear from the source and everything she is willing to do for her husband even though she is affected by her his affairs.
I really didn't pay attention to the meaning of the objects she was going to build, I focused more on the what she was doing or going to do. I even didn't pay attention to how much love she showed for her husband, the way she's gonna build all that just for him, and also another thing that really shows the love she has for him is when she says, "For those times in your niche when darkness oppresses, I will set you a lamp." Which show that even after him being dead, she will still take care for him.
In the poem Nestor's Bathtub, Dove discusses the inexact nature of legends. "As usual, legend got it all wrong......Legend, as usual doesn't say.....For the sake of legend only the tub stands". The bathtub that is presented as Nestor's is more his wife's than his. As Nestor is away at battle or counting jars of oil in the storeroom, his wife is caring for the household, including caring for a lover with more tenderness than she reserves for Nestor himself. Dove is calling into question the possession of something as simple as a bathtub, in order to bring attention to the fact that perhaps it wasn't Nestor's, that perhaps legend was mistaken in calling it Nestor's Bathtub. The significance of the bathtub itself is quite interesting in fact. I looked it up and it was a real thing, there were several photographs of a very solid looking bathtub. Perhaps Dove meant for it to represent Nestor, as a solid male figure who is in absence, while his wife is what fills the bathtub, ever-changing and fluid water. This is shown in lines 26-27 "only the tub stands, tiny and voluptuous as a gravy dish". The tub is solid but the use of the word voluptuous gives the reader a feel of fluidity.
Rita Dove's Poem, Canary, was one that stood out to me the most. A line that stood out to me is the last line in the poem where Dove writes, " If you can't be free, be a mystery". For Rita Dove, this probably had to do with being mistreated and treated not as an equal as an African American in the United States. And she's saying to survive you must keep to yourself and be independent. When Dove says "mystery" I think she's meaning you must be discrete with what you are feeling. When people are against you, you must show that you are not affected by them and if those feelings show, they will event in a loss. In the time period of Billie Holiday, there was a lot dissatisfying things going on, rape, drugs etc... Showing that one is not being effected by those things and all the harm in the world that they cannot escape from would be the ultimate way to survive it. I think that this poem has a really rhythmic feel to it, more than other poems. That makes the reader more in touch with it and relate more to Billie Holiday. The poem has a couple references of drugs like when Dove writes, "magic spoon, magic needle" as well as references of death; "the gardenia her signature under that ruined face". So if the reader understands those references they get that solemn feeling and feels the struggle within the music.
The poem, Canary, describes the end of Billie Holidays career and the struggles she faced.
“Billie Holidays burned voice had as many shadows as lights, a mournful candelabra against a sleek piano the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.”
In the first two lines, it says “burned voice” and this can refer to two things. One, the literal meaning of her actual voice sound. Her voice could be rough from the years of drugs, smoking, and alcohol. And two, the ways Holiday has been “burned” down in life. There was a lot of racism and she was not treated equally even with the talent she had. She was raped when she was at an adolescent age and expressed the way she felt in her music. This line can her interpreted as a metaphoric meaning.
The third line represents a mental picture of how she performed on stage. She made a connection with her music which caused her to make a connection with the audience. The candelabra describes the sad emotion that was connected into her voice. The imagery of the gardenia was Holidays trademark to show her outside appearance from hiding the feelings of herself falling apart on the inside.
“(Now you’re cooking, drummer to bass, magic spoon, magic needle. Take all day if you have to with your mirror and your bracelet of song.)”
This part of the poem shows the time period where Holiday has fallen into drugs. This part shows very descriptive detail of the preparation of making/taking drugs and how she escapes all of her pain in her life from it.
“Face is, the invention of women under siege has been to sharpen love in the service of myth.”
This can be interpreted to the stress she is under from the fame and how it is effecting her actions. Rita Dove can be showing that love can be hard to find according to the word “myth.” It can show how women can be treated differently or poorly and it sharpens the love but cannot find it.
“If you can’t be free, be a mystery.”
This line describes Holidays life from how the addictions and her past have taken over her life and she cannot define herself so, she must be a mystery. Be your own person and do not let other people affect the way you present yourself.
I didn't understand this poem when I first read it, so your interpretation is really interesting! I think the line "If you can't be free, be a mystery." also refers to Holiday's struggle to find freedom among her fame, which she finds impossible. Instead she finds freedom through the use of drugs, which you pointed out.
I really like your input and have something else to add. During this time, not only were women, but also african-americans were oppressed. I thought that the last line was a spotlight on how being both, Holiday must be quiet about everything wrong in her life becuase very few will listen, and the few that will listen just want it as fuel to bring her down even more. Do you think the same or do you just think that it is talking about being your own person, becuase wouldn't being oneself, mean being free, which it says you may not be able to do?
In Rita Dove’s poem, “Catherine of Siena,” Dove uses heavenly imagery Catherine of Siena’s opinion on the traditional way of following religion. First, Dove writes, “Under the star-washed dome of heaven, warm and dark.” This gives the reader the feeling of safety, yet the feeling as if they are trapped. The use of the word “dome” turns the seemingly safe belief into a boundary or prison keeping people contained in belief. Catherine of Siena, in her lifetime, was forced to fight for her ability to stray from the traditional life of women in the time period. She was forced to travel all across Italy in order to spread her ideas and she faced many difficult tasks. Her path was not accepted by her father and she forced herself to fast to prove her worth. She was also nearly assassinated in the riots of Florence in 1378. She faced extreme difficulties and Dove writes about her perseverance saying, “you prayed until tears streaked the sky.” This shows both the passion and the pain that Catherine of Siena had and Dove uses her as a role model for other women to live their own lives and not to fall to societal pressures.
The last two lines of the poem form a quasi-couplet that are meant to make the reader feel empathy for Catherine of Siena. Dove writes, “No one stumbled across your path. No one unpried your fists as you slept.” Dove uses second person perspective to connect the reader more to Catherine of Siena. The reader feels the alienation, passion, and anger from the repetition of “no one” and “fists.” Catherine was put through so many stressful conditions that she eventually lost the ability to eat, the ability to walk and soon after her life. Dove uses this couplet to state that change can’t happen alone and to inspire others to feel for Catherine and Siena’s cause and to follow her example.
In Rita Dove's poem, Sonnet in Primary Colors, there is a distinct portrayal of natural visual imagery with a calm and serene tone. Dove tells the story of Frida Kahlo's life with the significant symbol of her famous brow throughout the poem. When the passage states, "lovely Frida, erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant," it is describing the painter's beauty that contrasts against even the brightest parrots. The comparing of nature in the poem, "wildflowers entwining," "celluloid butterflies," "walks of the garden," gives the serene impression in mood and implies the scenery of where Frida often creates her famous artwork. As the passage is lead with the description of her brow as "one black wing perched above her eyes," and ends with "the thumbprint searing her immutable brow," I feel as if Dove used that iconic symbol to not only characterize the main historical figure in the sonnet, but to also represent the famous self portraits Kahlo paints and keep the focus on her natural beauty.
I agree! I also think the way Dove personified her brow help to convay this message as well. However when reading this poem, to me, it seem like it was almost a bit mocking when talking about her brow. By saying "Immutable" its almost like Dove is saying it is hard not to notice.
I noticed the same thing when I read the first part about "one black wing perched over her eyes" and "searing her immutable brow". The repetition of Frida's unibrow emphasizes her uniqueness and how willingly she is to be unchanged by society when Rita used the word immutable. Also, Rita used the black wing to represent Frida's unibrow to compare her to society. Even though she is the black bird amidst the parrots, which means she is only a peasant among the political leaders. she is still proud to be a peasant.
In “Sonnet in Primary Colors”, the juxtaposition between positive and negative imagery caught my attention. In the first line Dove writes, “This is for the woman with one black wing/ perched over her eyes”. Black is usually associated with loneliness or sadness, and if black is paired with a bird, it usually signifies bad luck or unfortunate events, which parallels Frida’s unhappy life (volatile marriage and illness caused by a bus accident earlier in her life). Later on, the poem mentions “wildflowers” and “romance of mirrors”, which gives a more happy tone. I’m not entirely sure on the meaning of “romance of mirrors”, but I’m thinking Dove is using this phrase to describe Frida’s beauty? Dove then goes on to say, “she lay down in pain and rose / to her celluloid butterflies of her Beloved Dead”. This shows Frida’s pain that she faces because of her illness and also the hardships she has in her relationship with her husband. She would rather die than endure the pain in her life. She’s thinking of suicidal thoughts and hoping that she will be released from the suffering. “Diego’s / love a skull in the circular window” portrays the love that Frida’s husband once had for her is diminishing, due to the fact that both spouses were not loyal to each other both had many affairs. While I was reading this poem, I felt sorry for Frida because of how terrible her life was combined with Dove’s details associated with death. The eerie tone in this poem portrays Frida’s feeling of loneliness and sadness.
In Rita Dove's "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband Liu Sheng", It seems to be written in a sarcastic voice/tone and addresses Tou Wan's unhappiness with her marriage to Liu Sheng. The way she writes "for you, my / only conqueror" and "my constant emperor" gives a sarcastic or over dramatic feel to the reader. Over all the poem addresses her discontent with the expectations of a family that are set forth in this time pieord. She wants to express he feelings but it seems like social expectations are preventing her from doing this, with her husband high class social standing, she often feels inferior and neglected. She seems to be implying that in this time period women were seen as greatly inferior to men therefore she had little say in her life, especially having been married to Liu Sheng. In the second to last stanza she implies that she will out live her husband as she talks about burying him.
Huh, I had never read the poem in that perspective, but when I re-read the poem in that point of view, I do see where you are coming from. I had originally interpreted the poem as Tou Wan loved her husband deeply and was willing to do anything for him. She seemed deeply devoted to him, but with your point of view, the poem becomes a completely different style with the exact opposite tone. The tone of one hopelessly in love becomes cynical and almost mocking, and once one reads it in that tone, what were once highlights of Liu Sheng become negative qualities. Especially "when the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air", definitely shows her contempt for her husband. It's as if shes waiting for him to die and as he is aging, she is revolting him more and more. I really like your interpretation of this poem and how poem can be so easily read from love and faithfulness to mockery and scorn.
I agree with Tera when she said "I had never read the poem in that perspective..." You found points and a voice which I had missed. I admire Dove's ability to write poems that can be interpreted in more than one fashion. What is the point behind this, however? It shows great skill, but why does she do it?
The poem, Catherine of Alexandria, can be interpreted as a cautionary tale. Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian saint who consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ, whom she believed to be her husband. She lived her whole life "deprived of learning and the chance to travel" because of her devotion to her idol. This poem is in the perspective of Catherine of Alexandria, she is looking back on her life and describing the experiences and opportunities lost. When reading this poem, all I could think about were the dependent couples of the world- couples that walk and talk in tandem, couples that are unable to make decisions as individuals, couples that marry young and have children immediately, etc. I wondered, since these people had fully devoted themselves to another person, as Catherine of Alexandria had to Jesus, would they too be deprived of life experiences? Would they look back on their lives as old men and women and realize that they have no identity outside of their relationship? I think this poem poses as a cautionary tale. It's okay to have a relationship with God, with a lover, and with your family, as long as that bond does not consume you as a person. This message of this piece of work is warning to never deprive yourself of joy or experience for the sake of another person or entity.
I really like your interpretation of this poem! When I read the poem, I just thought it was talking about Catherine of Alexandria loving Jesus and treating him as her husband, and I didn't really look into how it could be applicable to our lives. Now that I've re-read the poem from your perspective, it makes a lot of sense and I can see where you're coming from.
In, "Sonnet in Primary Colors", the symbolism of poem represents some of her famous paintings and how they relate to the events of her life. Frida most often painted self-portraits of herself as evident, "lovely Frida, erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant, who painted herself a present--" Frida owned numerous pets throughout her life including monkeys, parrots, dogs, and a fawn. In this line, Frida is described standing tall and proud in the petticoat of a peasant. This is suggestive of that even thought Frida lived a difficult life, she still stood strong and held confidence in herself. On a side note, Frida often wore petticoats and long skirts in order to hide her disproportionate legs from when she had polio when she was six. Further on, "Wildflowers entwining in the plaster corset her spine resides in the romance of mirrors."representsFrida's misfortunate bus accident in which she suffered serious spinal and pelvic injuries which continuously affected her throughout her life. Dove used nature imagery of the flowers entwining in the corset to show that even though Frida needed corsets to help fix her spine, she still retained unbound raw strength and that made her naturally beautiful like a wild flower. As "her spine resides in the romance of mirrors", Frida's spine condition is a permanent part of her and greatly effects her, ultimately residing in her portraits, her, "romance of mirrors". Later on, "Lenin, Marx, and Stalin" are mentioned in the poem refering to Frida being a devout communist influencing her life as an artist. Frida lived an unhappy marriage with Diego, "Diego's love a skull in the circular window" symbolizes how their love has died. Both Frida and Diego had separate affairs throughout their marriage and the description of the skull in the circular window signifies that on the outside, they are projected as a happy couple, but on the inside, their lives are dark and secretive as their love is gone. Both lines "with one black wing perched over her eyes" and "the thumbprint searing over her immutable brow" pertain to Frida's prominent unibrow. Althought often subject to ridicule, it served as a trademark of her boldness and her independence as a woman; it was one of her most defining features.
In "Nestor's Bathtub" Rita Dove addresses the problem of men being held at a higher stature than women. While Nestor is off doing something else, Nestor's wife is at home, doing the essentials. Without Nestor's wife, not only the bathub, but the whole house is ruined. This house, is called Nestors, not Nestors and his wife. When the poem says "Legend, as usual, doesn't say." I think it means that Dove is trying to say legend had it all wrong. This is not Nestors house, yet his wifes, but him being a man overshadows the woman due to peoples views. I would also like to adress how in the poem, it says lover. I think this lover is not Nestor, as Nestor was always gone. I think this is important because it shows that the house may be this lovers house more than it is Nestors. The last paragraph talks about a great fire. I think this is ironic because the only this left is Nestor's bathtub, and all of the wifes things that she has worked so hard at perfecting are gone, and all that remains is the object of someone who is never there. Dove wrrites this as a way to address that women, have been left out of the limelight for too long, and people will be too quick to give a man this heroic stature.
After reading the poem, “Tou Wan Speak to Her Husband” it took me a while to realize what the wife was saying. At first I thought it was the wife showing her husband what she was going to build in her house, but after reading the ending a several times, I realized that the husband was dead! When Rita writes, “a suit to keep the shape of your death----” I realized that she wasn't showing him like if he was physically there, but showing him as a spirit, and talked to him as if he was there listening to her. The wife takes him on a tour of her arrangements for, (at first I thought it was a funeral) I believe a house of death for him, when she says, “I will build you a house” and also what made me think it wasn't a funeral is because later in the poem the wife is saying that when darkness comes around, “I will set you a lamp” which overall gives the idea that she’s gonna have the body and take care of him.
At first i was also confused on the state of the husband. Once realizing that he was dead, I began to see why Rita used some of the syntax she used. For example, " for the privilege to stay alive, a year, together..."(Dove). Knowing this context and seeing Rita's syntax makes the poem have a much more solemn tone
The first thing that one must notice is the fact that the poem is titled “Nestor’s Bathtub”. However, the poem speaks of his wife, not he, who cared for and cleaned the tub “until the small room steamed”.
Nestor was away quite often, “But where was Nestor…” which means that his wife was frequently left alone at home. Many believe that his absences lead to her taking on another lover, “her white hands scraped the dirt from a lover’s back”. Suppose that she didn’t, however. I believe it possible that it describes the actual bathtub as opposed to another person. Why would she scrape the dirt off with a scalpel when she could easily give him a bath? On he other hand, cleaning out the inside of a bathtub is not nearly so simple, typically requiring a lot of scrubbing and hard work. Perhaps she does so because it is Nestor’s bathtub and she wants it to be especially clean and well maintained for him.
This entertains the idea that Nestor’s wife is a woman who cared deeply for him, despite the amount of time that he has spent away from her.
Amidst explosions and ruins of the house, only the bathtub stood. This could portray how, under the care of his wife, Nestor’s tub was saved. I believe the tub to be a symbol of her devotion to him and no matter what may happen to potentially destroy it (his absences) her love will always stand.
The legend the poem refers to could be the notion that his wife was unfaithful and lazy. According to the ideas I found portrayed in the poem, however, this is not true.
In Rita Dove’s poem, Catherine of Siena Rita splits the poem into two sestets to mimic the journey of Catherine of Siena’s life. At youth, Catherine was renown as very spiritual. Rita writes that Catherine walked all of Italy to mention how she went to extremes to pursue what she wanted to. Also, Rita alludes to Catherine’s choice of spiritual commitment by writing, “You struck the boulder at the roadside” (Dove). This relates to in the Bible where Moses struck the rock which led to his demise. In the same way, Catherine’s extremes, “striking the rock” leads to the second stage of the poem, Catherines demise. Late in Catherine’s life, she loses health and the ability to walk from dangerous fasting. Rita writes that she is like woolens stacked on cedar, praying until tears streaked the sky. Catherine’s life is deteriorating and from the agony, Catherine gets a stroke and dies. Rita mentions this in the last sentence through the mentioning of Catherine sleeping, which actually means she is dead.
The title "Canary" caught my attention and I pondered of how it could be related to Billie Holiday. Canaries are colorful and melodious African birds and they are like Billie, because she has a beautiful voice and she's African American. Also, canaries are domestic animals, so they don't have much freedom, just like the last line that says "If you can't be free, be a mystery". Rita connects the canary to the last line to show that Billie, along with other women at that time, lack for freedom. The use of the word "you" lets out a tone of advise especially for women who goes through oppression in their daily lives. At the second line, where Billie's voice "had as many shadows as light" brought interest to me because it was also related to the last line. The word "shadow" created the mood of creepyness because shadows created the sense of the unknown. Therefore, the use of simile creates a tone of mystery. Billie's mysterious voice tells the readers to not give up if they can't be free. There's another way and it's to be mysterious. It looks like the poem shows that Billie Holiday feels like she's locked up in a cage and made to sing just like a canary bird because she's a woman, but she has found another way to cope with her restrained life.
I like how you broke down the title of the poem and totally connected it to the meaning throughout the whole poem. I agree with you that the title very much does connect with Billie and was described perfectly by Dove.
In RIta Dove's poem, "Sonnet in Primary Colors," she uses very interesting sound devices to affect the tone of the poem. The sound device that stood out to me the most was the repetition of the letter, "P." For example, lines three and four are, "among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant, who painted herself a present." The letter P when repeated frequently has a very sharp and intense sound to it. I think that Rita used the repetition of this letter to portray how sharp and intense the life of Frida Kahlo was. Throughout her entire life, Frida was faced with many struggles and hardships. For example, her unhealthy marriage with Diego or the crash that left her permanently injured. Rita wants the readers to feel the intense feelings that Frida felt. She does this through the repetition of the letter, "P."
In Rita Dove's poem "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband, Liu Sheng", Dove conveys Tou Wan's love for her husband in his death through language. I personally knew of his death prior to reading the poem but it is alluded to when she writes "a suit to keep the shape of your death-" Tou wan's love is shown through what she is building for Liu Sheng for his "house", which is his tomb. She places two bronze jugs in his tomb as an offering so he, and herself when she dies, will have food and water after death. Liu Sheng is the son of an Emperor and Tou Wan respects this by covering his body with two thousand jade wafers with gold thread to show his status and wealth. Finally the large amount of incense she burns shows that she believes that he is very powerful as the smoke of incense represents the dead's body. The more smoke there is, the stronger the body is in death. These aspects of the poem show Tou Wan's love as she portrays him as strong, wealthy and a legend in his death.
In the poem Canary by Rita Dove we the readers see that Dove uses detailed imagery to explain and portray Billie Holiday and her world renown voice and well known story/stereotype. "Burned Voice" & "Shadows as lights" here Dove uses the voice as a person or a heat as if it could really burn, her voice was something to be felt not just heard, and again when she says as many shadows as lights well in the brightest of light we don't see too many shadows the point being made is there isn't darkness when her voice enters a room. Dove is using her art to describe another woman's. To end this poem Dove writes "If you can't be free, be a mystery" this shows that Billie Holiday was trapped by addiction and a rough upbringing yet she still made a choice to be a mystery to those around her and still being the bright and talented woman that she was.
I agree with you that Dove uses detailed imagery to describe Billy Holiday in this poem. But I have a different opinion on the line "burned voice" and "Shadows as lights" these quotes could represent the feeling of Holiday's amazing vocals, but I also thought it could symbolized her drug addiction. From researching Holiday, I have found that because of her childhood with drugs, her voice could be tricky at times for her and had some issues when performing which could be the "burning voice" and also "Shadows as lights" could mean her past playing a role in the present day and career. Other than that I agree everything else you have mentioned.
In her poem "The Situation Is Intolerable", Rita Dove uses an angry tone to portray how the African-Americans felt about their lack of rights during the Civil Rights movement. The ironic use of the word "intolerable" is used to show how the racist arguments of the anti-civil rights workers was used against them by the civil rights workers. In the first line of the poem, the use of intolerable is used to imply that the white Americans thought the building civil rights movement must be stopped. In the last line of the poem, the same word is used to imply that the truely intolerable aspect of the situation is the way the African-Americans were being treated. The poem is clearly told in the voice of an African-American attemptig to rally ithers to support the civil rights movement. The narrator uses the twisted meaning of intolerable to rally the other African-Americans to rebel against the unjust treatment. Dove uses battle imagery to set an angry tone to the piece. The African-Americans are angry that they are being treated so unfairly for something they had no control over, "So what if we were born up a creek/and knocked flat with a paddle/if we aint got a pot to piss in/and nowhere to put it if we did." (Dove 15-18). The narrator is arguing that even though the African-Americans did nothing to cause they racism, they still need to fight against it. Also notable is the change in tone in the middle stanza. The middle stanza has a peaceful, quiet tone ehich starkly contrasts the angry, urgent tone of the other teo stanzas, "tiny, missionary stars-/on high, serene,studding/the inky brow of heaven." (12-14). This suggests that the narrator finds peace and inspiration in God and heaven. The narrator also implies that God is on the side of the Civil Rights movement and has not abandoned the African-Americans, no matter how unjustly they are treated on Earth. Althoughthe narrator is being treated unfairly, she will rise to the occasion and God will help her fight for her rights.
I think that the use of the word intolerable meant that the African-Americans were sick of being treated unfairly and they were ready to finally take action to achieve human rights. In lines 12-14, "tiny, missionary stars-on high, serene, studding the inky brow of heaven.", it give a tone of hope. It can be interpreted as literally looking at the heavens and finding hope and strength to fight for their beliefs. The African-Americans were tired of sitting around and letting something so inhumane to happen, so they had to take action. Although they did not have much money or power stated in the lines 17-18, "if we ain't got a pot to piss in and nowhere to put it if we did?", they did have numbers of people who were willing to fight on their side.
In Catherine of Alexandria, dove shows Catherine’s love for Jesus through very intimate and sexual imagery. In the first stanza it mentions her sainthood but slowly the story becomes less pure than someone would suspect a saint to be presented. This poem clearly shows Catherine’s lust for god’s love. In the 3rd and 4th stanzas, Dove describes Catherine pleasuring herself to Jesus; this brings a hushed feeling to the story and an ominous tone.
In the poem, Claudette Colvin Goes to Work, Rita Dove uses the life of Claudette Colvin to describe what the African-Americans went through during the Civil Rights Movement. Colvin was a pioneer for the African-American civil rights movement. She was the first person to be arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks later followed her that year. Dove uses the tone of sympathy to portray Colvin’s life. When Claudette Colvin would walk around the street, people would mock her and comment rude things about her appearance: “ ‘Hey Mama’ souring quickly to ‘Your Mama’ when there’s no answer- as if the most injury they can do is insult the reason you’re here at all, walking in your whites down to the stop so you can make a living.” (19-23). They would basically tell her that she was worthless and she did not deserve to be alive. However, Colvin ignored then and still went to work and made a living. She tried to stay headstrong but, she also wondered why she was being treated horribly… “What do we have to do to make God love us?” (25) This line gives a sense of hopelessness, like there could be nothing done to fix the situation. Also lines 31 and 32, “And I don’t curse or spit or kick and scratch like they said I did then,” explain the non-violent actions that the civil rights activist took in order to gain their freedom.
Rita Doves does use interesting diction that caught my attention and when she says, "so ugly, so fat, so dumb, so greasy". Why do you think the civil right activist weren't more violent, why did they hold their violence back?
I agree with your interpretation. I also think that in this poem, Dove used the hopeless tone to help readers sympathise with the civil rights workers. The tone contrasts with the angry, fighting tone of many of the other poems, which Dove uses to demonstrate the many stages of fighting a moral battle such as this. Dove uses this poem to inspire people to fight for what is right, even though it often looks like all hope is lost.
I agree with you and Hannah! I think Doves tone in this poem is very important because, like Hannah says, it does help the reader sympathize with the workers. I didn't know that someone before Parks. How come Rosa had such a more public reaction and emotional response?
I completely agree with the tone that is set by Dove's diction but one particular line caught my attention: "Sometimes I wait until it's dark enough for my body to disappear"(13-14). Claudette's dark skin complex makes it easier for her to blend in with the darkness around her. However, a person in today's society would use that trait to hide away from the world. It goes to show that her life isn't going well at the time. The darkness conveys misery and Claudette would rather surround herself in misery and darkness rather than go out in the world and achieve her objectives. The poem allows the reader to experience what African-Americans felt at the time. Unfortunately,they were made to feel worthless and that their existence wasn't needed in a world where Whites were dominant.
In response to you, Morgan, the question of why weren't civil rights activists more violent in their pursuits has been debated for decades. There's no one true answer but several theories. For one, a good majority of protesters fell under the leadership and guidance of Martin Luther King Jr., who famously discouraged violence against oppressors. He believed that if the African American community were to use brute force they would be no better than the bigoted whites. A major goal of the movement was to educate peacefully. Another reason the African American community wasn't more violent in their protests was because it was an extremely racist and hateful time in the world. If protesters were to be accused of being violent or irrational (which many, many protesters were wrongly accused of being) white law officials would arrest them, hose them, gas them and even sometimes kill them. And these law officials would receive no punishment, but rather a pat on the back for a "good day's work".
I agree with Katie about why during the civil rights movement there were many non violent protests; I also think that another reason is that non-violent protest is often more impactful to the outside viewer than violent protest. This is because if you see rioting in the streets and you are already biased towards the white law enforcement, you will be way more willing to side with them in their violent acts against protestors. If they had used violence, they would have lost many white supporters. Malcolm X for example preached violence against the white man, and this lead to hatred of his group, not only by white people, but by other African-Americans, who didn't want to earn their rights through bloodshed. The whole idea of this movement was equality, and violence isn't the most effective way to achieve that.
I absolutely agree with Katie. Another reason why African Americans don't protest in a violent manner is because it's not as effective as nonviolent resistance. For instance, Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat to a white person inspired African Americans to not give up and peacefully resist. Rita putted a small section of the "Boycott Flier" to let the readers see how Claudette has a peaceful mindset since she was a young girl and grows up to peacefully resist by refusing to give up her seat to a white person. It shows that a black person doesn't have to be given a speech by Martin Luther King to be persuaded into using peaceful resistant methods, but they can be peaceful as a nature.
In the poem, Belinda’s Petition, Rita Dove uses interesting diction and imagery to portray an African slave’s struggle for freedom. Throughout the poem Dove puts emphasis on words to establish the focal points of the story by capitalizing them at odd times. These words include: Life, Time, Advantage and Condition along with many others. This poem Dove also compares the freedom of America to the freedom Belinda wishes to have“…severed the Binds of Tyranny. I would hope you would consider the Same for me”. I thought this was interesting and important in the story because it shows Belinda’s desire to be free at last. Another thing I found interesting about this poem was the line “I have known of Men with Faces like the Moon,” This clearly is describing a white man’s face being as pale as the moon but I also thought it represent the foreignness of the man just as foreign as the moon is to earth and how Belinda must have felt that. This story is amazing with its unique diction and the way it portrays the strength of the young woman set in the time of slavery.
Rosa Parks who is famously known for sitting on a bus and refusing to give her seat up to a white person. The poem “Rosa” emphasizes the historical background of Rosa Parks and how impactful she was involving race equality, by standing up for herself and other African-Americans. In line three, “so wrong it was ready” explains that Rosa was annoyed with the racial segregation and decided to take a stand for what she believes is right. This also represents the line in the third stanza, “doing nothing was the doing”; she did not, refusing, to give her seat to a white person. Throughout the poem, Dove paints a picture of Rosa Parks as a humble and quiet women, but also very strong and powerful. This is also shown in the second line of the third stanza when Dove uses ‘flame’, meaning that the fire inside Rosa helped her stand her ground and provided strength for many people who were afraid to stand up for themselves. She figuratively stood up for what was right.
I agree with you analysis of the poem "Rosa", I as well thought the oxymoron of "so wrong it was ready" showed Rosa's fire for the civil rights movement and her drive to do what was right even if it meant serious consequences. Throughout the poem it shows her burning flame for justice.
I agree with this a lot. I had some of the same ideas but I also thought that in the line "doing nothing was the doing," meant way more than actually nothing. I thought that it meant everything that she has done and how she made this such a impactful historical event. Something that also caught my eye, was the last stanza... what do you think it means? I thought the first line meant the complete opposite because she never actually stood up until the very end. She stood up for what she believed in and for every African American that had to give up a right. Also, who do you think bent down for retrieve her purse or is it a completely different meaning?
I think the last two lines can indicate that a gentleman picked up her purse, because during that time men were known for opening doors for women, grabbing their coats, etc., but we don't know exactly who. That was my impression.
In the poem "The situation is intolerable", Rita Dove contrasts the lives of white and black people through vivid imagery and through asking the readers obvious questions. The first stanza mentions the word civilized, and gives imagery of how african americans are just as civilized. The tone of this stanza is confusion, the narrator of the poem comes from point of view of not understanding how one race is more civilized than another. The second stanza goes on with a more soothing tone using "Hush, now" in the first line and vivid imagery by describing the stars as "the inky brow of heaven" this imagery gives way to the issues and looks at the beauty that still exists. The last stanza comes back to the issues of equal rights and shows strength of the narrator through powerful diction. "Our situation is intolerable, but what's worse is to sit here and do nothing." This shows how much passion and drive Dove portrays in this poem.
Following this logic, the perspective is clearly from an African-American and that is part of why it has a strong impact on the reader but do you think that if the perspective was changed to be from a white man with the true belief of equal rights, would the impact be as strong? For example, if the 2nd line was changed to "Aren't they civilized, too?" would it give the same meaning as it currently does?
I think that Rita Dove was trying to put the reader in the shoes of a black person during the civil rights movement. The whole poem could be interpreted as a black person having an internal conversation with themselves about whether they should fight back, or stay quiet. The first stanza is the person questioning his or her surroundings and starting to realize how unfairly he or she is being treated. The second stanza opens up by saying, "Hush, now. Assay the terrain." This is the person telling themselves to be quiet and asses the world around them. The person is thinking that they couldn't possibly change the way society was. The third stanza is the person questioning themselves again and finally coming to the conclusion that their situation is intolerable and it has to be changed. Rita uses first person because she wants the reader to feel the same passionate emotions that people were feeling back then.
I agree with Matt. I believe that Rita Dove is trying to convey the harshness that blacks had to endure during the Civil Rights Movement and tries to communicate to the reader the inequality blacks were submitted to. The first stanza though, sounds like it's pleading to the reader to see the inequality blacks face when Dove writes, "Aren't we civilized too? (2)". It's like one is trying to reason for equality and is fighting against the notions of blacks being uncivilized. To add to your interpretation of the third stanza, it also seems to refer back to that first stanza and gives the demand of what can be done to stop this discrimination; that there is nothing worse than "to sit here and do nothing (20)".
Matt and Tera both bring up a good point that main intention of using the perspective of a black person during the civil rights movement is to point out the obvious flaws in the difference in treatment, however, also can see how the putting the poem into the perspective of a white man could be impactful. The character would be undergoing a realization and is now able to see the protestors side. The character could be seen as a connection between both races that would give hope for negotiation rather than conflict.
The poem, Rosa, is clearly stated under the Civil Rights Movement to portray the historical event of Rosa Parks. For those of you that do not know what happened, in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1st, 1955, Rosa refused to listen to the bus drivers command on giving up her seat in the colored section of the bus, to a white man, after the section was already full. At this time, racial tension was very high. Because this is a well-known event Dove does not go into full detail about it. The first three lines set the tone of the poem, it is simple but powerful.
“How she sat there, the time right inside a place so wrong it was ready”
I think that this section has so much meaning and could be interpreted into a couple different ways. In my opinion, it is showing us that in that time period, on the bus, she made her decision to stand her ground, and show what she believes in. Dove is referring to one thing in each of her words. She used a paradox in the third line by saying “so wrong it was ready.” This is meaning that it was shown as the wrong thing to do but, Rosa did not let anyone come between her and what she believed in.
“That trim name with its dream of a bench to rest on. Her sensible coat”
In this stanza, Dove uses enjambment in the fifth line carrying the thought into line six; Dove uses this technique a lot. I think that in lines four and five it is showing a literal meaning. The word “trim” makes me think of carving or cutting her “name” into the “bench” of her “dream.” So the bench is what she sat on and the dream is the embankment of what she stood up for. Does anyone else have a different interpretation? Also, “her sensible coat” describes Rosa as a calm, quiet person that made an enormous impact on Civil Rights.
“Doing nothing was the doing: the clean flame of her gaze carved by a camera flash.”
First thing that caught my attention was “doing nothing was the doing.” Obviously nothing has a much more major meaning that just nothing. Dove is showing that nothing actually means everything that Parks has done. This means Parks refusing to give up her seat and standing up for not only herself, but every African American. The next two lines, I interpreted as the “flame” being her spark or will power to stand up for herself. And the “camera flash” could be the attention and concern she aroused from the public and everyone around her.
“How she stood up when they bent down to retrieve her purse. That courtesy.”
In the first line I noticed that it says “how she stood up” but Parks never stood up. She “stood up” for what she believed in. This is saying the complete opposite of what happened. I am not exactly why Dove did this, but, I think she was trying to show a more in depth meaning to it because the tone of this line is kind of intense. In the last two lines, I think it is showing as she was standing up someone picked up her purse, possibly a gentleman, and I think they also were “standing up” with Parks of what she believed in. This may be a symbolic or literal meaning. The last line mentions “That courtesy” and this could refer to herself of the person that picked up her purse. Does anyone have and different interpretations?
The "Lady Freedom Among Us" stood out to me because it showed that the Statue of Liberty isn't just a statue for tourist attraction, but people overlook its' symbolism of liberty. How Rita Dove described the statue of liberty using informal diction like "oldfashioned", "trinkets", and "hand-me-down" shows that the statue of liberty is no more important to everyone. These three diction creates a tone of insignificance, meagerness, and humbleness and shows that people of the lower class own these items. The purpose of these informal descriptions is to show that people no longer look at the statue of liberty in a meaningful and awestruck way. Also Rita used personification such as "she fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap and spruced it up with feathers and stars..." to add a realistic, lively, and emotional character to the statue of liberty to relate her more to people. One example of how the statue of liberty shows emotion is when "her stained cheeks" are mentioned and it sounds like her cheeks are stained with tears. The statue of liberty has tears on her face because Rita wanted to show that the meaning of the statue is fading away and people now see it as just a normal statue. Rita wrote this poem to emphasize the irony of how people built the statue of liberty to represent America, since America is famous of its' freedom and liberty, yet people still discriminate and treat each other with injustice. Lastly, this poem makes the reader feel like the statue of liberty is the mother of America and she is feeling deep sorrow for the wrong ways that Americans are treating each other. How "she has risen among us in blunt reproach" makes me feel like a mother scolding her child. Despite how poorly dressed the statue of liberty is, the last seven lines bring the mood of respect and admiration because it shows that the statue of liberty is powerful and firm, just like a mother would be.
I like your interpretation of this poem. I found it interesting as well how Dove personified the statue when "she fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap and spruced it up with feathers and stars..." to symbolize the realistic meaning of the iconic figure. As Dove exemplified the statue's disappointment and sorrow towards America nowadays with "her stained cheeks," it does seem to relate to a mother as you stated. The figure is there to look after the country and because of the discrimination and hatred her "child" portrayed, her cheeks are tear-stained.
In the poem "Freedom Ride", Dove uses vivid imagery of what is seen from a Freedom Bus ride to express hope for the end of segregation and contrasts it with the harsh reality. Dove writes," As if..the view would veer onto someplace fresh..But there's just more cloud cover, and germy air condensing on the tinted glass, and the little houses with their fearful patches of yard rushing into flames" (1-11). In the beginning of the poem, there is a sense of desperation to see something new happening in the world. The rider wants to see 'someplace fresh' where there's no racial injustice or problems: somewhere friendship and companionship knew no color, somewhere with no violence or lynching, somewhere elsewhere. Although there's desperation, the reader acknowledges that there is still hope for things to change where the poem is set. After all the wishing, the rider realizes that there's 'more cloud cover' and 'germy air'. The dark imagery created by Dove signals a reality crash. The weather isn't clear and the air isn't fresh but it is in fact, the opposite. The dark weather symbolizes the effects of segregation in that time's society. Nothing was pleasant anymore, but instead, there was an eerie and heavy feeling to what was going on. Freedom Rides were created to promote equal opportunities for all people and most of the buses were attacked because of anti-racist beliefs. The White race wanted to promote racism and the primary goal was to destroy what was in their way. When stated that "their fearful patches of yard rush[ed] into flames", Dove was portraying the rider's fear: the fear of having the bus burned down while all the freedom riders were still in it. She later emphasizes that the windows were 'tinted' and that was done on purpose. The riders wanted privacy while on the road, and tinting the windows would provide privacy and also lower the chance of sudden attacks. Although the rider yearned for change in society, the harsh reality dominated the hopeful dreams of having equality among all races.
I too noticed the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery in the first stanza. I agree that the purpose of this was to sharply contrast dreams, hopes, and aspirations for equality with the cold reality of the time. I thought it was also interesting how powerful the diction is to the tone of the poem. References to fire and flames is repeated several times and words like “fearful,” “gauntlet of stares,” “stale dark,” and “scorched brick, darkened windows” collectively amount to an unhappy, uneasy, and gloomy feel, which emphasizes the oppression and desperation of those on the freedom rides.
In her poem "Freedom Ride", Rita Dove writes about the danger of racism and the Freedom Rides. The Freedom Rides were a group of African-American's attempt to see whether states would follow up on the statement saying that segregation on buses and rail stations were unconstitutional. She writes about a "fire" which represents the dangerous storm of racism. She writes "at every corner the same scorched brick, darkened window" which shows the spread of racism and how it is everywhere. This is apparent in the Freedom Rides as almost every city from Washington DC to Mississippi showed the riders hostility. Dove writes "but where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits" to say that regardless of whether one decides to protest or not, racism will occur almost everywhere.
I like your analysis for "but where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits” A poem that I think is connected to this poem is “The situation is intolerable” because in “The situation is intolerable” it talks about the struggles and the differences between societies, and in “Freedom Ride” it talks about the dangers of the outcome of racism. Which both fall in the same concept of the good & bad of racism.
I agree about how threatening Racism was. Rita Dove also writes about the tedious process that the Freedom Riders used to protest. Rita writes, "Pull the cord a stop too soon, and you'll find yourself walking a gauntlet of stares. Daydream, and you'll wake up in a stale dark of a cinema"(13-17). Rita uses a pun when saying to pull the cord a stop too soon. Stopping protests too soon, or getting off the buses a stop too soon, would render their movement a confusion and racism would persist. Protest too long this way and the effect will die out and become stale.
I also find your entry very intriguing. I love how in this poem you can make metaphoric connections to what actually happened during the freedom rides. I think this poem is so powerful as it shows that they felt unsafe no matter where they went. It would be weird to have no sanctuary and she portrays that well. Love your analysis!
Rita Dove's poem "Climbing In" is extremely powerful, even though its not a long poem. The speaker uses short, brief lines to convey a sense of curtness, and danger. The very first line in fact is "Teeth.". That by itself is pretty strong and the rest of the stanza adds to its intimidating nature "Metallic. Lie-gapped./Not a friendly shine" By using end-stops in the first two lines, the speaker creates a harsh, threatening mood to the first stanza. Then the juxtaposition of "a friendly shine" coming from the dime in the speakers hand emphasises that threatening mood.
Overall, I think this poem is making a comparison between the classic children's story of Red Riding Hood, and the experience of a African-American using segregated public transportation. In the third and fourth stanzas, the speaker says "these are big teeth,/teeth of a wolf//under Grandmother's cap" (lines 9-11). That leads to the story of Red Riding Hood where a wolf dresses up in Red Riding Hood's grandma's clothes, and Red realizes upon inspection of the Wolf's "sharp teeth" that it is in fact not her lovely little grandmother but a huge rabid wolf. That same sense of danger lurking below the surface was prevalent during the Civil Rights Movement, and especially in situations where African-Americans were publicly segregated from whites. The title, Climbing In, gives the reader a sense of an ominous situation, as if you are climbing into darkness.
I agree with your analysis. But I was wondering why she wrote " I clutch the silver pole/ to step up, up". Why do you think this line contrasts with the title. Maybe for emphasis? And also, the words "Lie-gapped". What do you think she meant?
When I first read the poem "Lady Freedom Among Us" I originally thought that Dove was writing about the statue of liberty. So I googled lady freedom and found out that she is a statue to represent the freedom triumph in war and peace in 1855. She was placed on top of the capital dome, and was taken down to be restored, then it was hoisted back up. (Miller). In this poem, Dove is trying to show how in society, people focus on their own life and they forget about their own freedom, and what things truly stands for. For an example when Americans say the pledge of allegiance, look at the flag, or even the statue of liberty, all they see are objects, or "another item to fit on a tourist's agenda"; instead of what they truly stand for:freedom. When when writes, "don't mutter oh no/ not another one/get a job fly a kite/ go bury a bone" she is showing how people complain about their lives and forget that there are other people in third world countries who would love to be in their position. We take freedom for granted in our lives and we sometimes forget objects that represent freedom. The fact that I had no clue who Lady Freedom is proves that we or at least I was ignorant of how much we took for granted. One thing that I didn't really understand about this poem is why she didn't use any capital letters, or punctuation. Maybe its to show how forgetful we are?
Miller, Katya. "Lady Freedom - Her History." Lady Freedom - Her History. US Capitol Historical Society, 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
I really like your observations. I also noticed the lack of punctuation and capital letters, which makes this poem in particular different from all of the other ones. The lack of proper punctuation and capitalization in its own way adds characterization to the poem, and it almost gives it a rushed feel. Maybe Rita Dove did this on purpose, to portray American society in the characteristics of this poem's structure alone?
The poem "Lady Freedom Among Us" really stood out to me. It depicts The Statue of Liberty and compares the original ideology behind her to America's current perspective. Throughout history we have always lived in a racist civilization. Anyway you slice it, whites have always found a toy they liked, stolen it from the previous owner, stuck a flag on it and called it theirs. America is no different. Whites were not the original inhabitants of America. Every white person in America was an immigrant at one point. Yet white people have always thought they owned this land and have always thought they had the authority to say who deserved to be here and who didn't and who had rights and who didn't. That's what this poem is about. In theory, America is a big melting pot, where everyone, no matter the demographic, can live peacefully. That is, obviously, not the case. Practically all non-white immigrants and people of color have been subjected to racism and have been stigmatized. In the second stanza it says "oh no not another one, get a job, fly a kite, go bury a bone" and this is exemplary of the racist behavior in our modern society. The Statue of Liberty is muttering not another immigrant, not another person of color, go bury a bone and make use of yourself. This has become a very common position among Americans. And the message of the poem becomes all the more powerful when these discriminatory words are coming out of the mouth of such a prominent American figure. In the fourth stanza The Statue of Liberty goes on to murmur "all of you even the least of you" meaning she represents all Americans with the "least of" being people of color. Dove uses such bold word choice in this poem and is so blunt in her statements so the audience becomes uncomfortable while reading. America is "supposed" to be a loving, culturally diverse country, but racism is still very prevalent in our society, and whites still see themselves as more worthy than immigrants or those of color.
In the "Civil Rights" group of poems by Rita Dove, the poem that most stood out to me was "Climbing In". The use of sharp imagery creates a sense of danger and unsettlement in the reader. Upon first examination, I actually interpreted it as a story about a prostitution in the way that the wolf portrayed man and the narrator was a girl only looking for money, but upon further examination of the context and themes of the other poems I realized that I was way off. The "metallic teeth" being referred to are the steps of the bus. The poem is narrated from the point of view of a young negro girl boarding a bus, and she sees and describes it as ominous as it represents one of the things that defines her race as beneath whites, as black people were forced to sit in the back of a bus. When Rita Dove uses refrences to a wolf in a grandmother's cap, she is actually refrencing the story "Little Red Riding Hood", comparing the bus to the wolf in the way that they are both seemingly nice on the outside, but filled with darker intention on the inside. When she says that she "pays him to keep smiling", she is talking about paying the bus driver with money as well as metaphorical obedience. If she disobeyed the rules of the bus to bring awareness to this issue of color on the bus, the "wolf", or bus driver, would reveal his anger and bring the law down upon her.
This is a great interpretation! I initially got the Little Red Riding Hood comparison as well, but not the symbol of that wolf as the bus. It took me a few times reading it and really looking at the title to get the true meaning. This poem is a great example of how important a good title is to convey the overall message of a poem and now important it is to pay attention to that.
Throughout the poem, "Freedom Ride," I constantly noticed the repetition of the word, "fire." Rita Dove describes the patches of yard as rushing into flames and describes the brick as scorched. She also says, "There's fire back where you came from, too." and, "where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits." After reading this poem a few times to understand its meaning, I was really reminded of the, "Hunger Games," series. I know that this series is way over used and starting to sound repetitive, but it has similarities that could easily be compared to this poem. Both of the writings use fire as a symbol to describe the retaliation of oppressed people. For example, in the Hunger Games, President Snow keeps referring to how it only takes a spark to create a fire. He was trying to say that small acts of rebellion will eventually lead up to a large rebellion that could be harmful. In the civil rights movement, small acts, like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, caused an entire bus boycott that forced bus companies to let black people sit where they wanted on the bus. Both authors use the symbol of fire to represent a movement that is growing. African Americans, women, and other people who were fighting for rights can be compared to the people in the districts while white people could be compared to the people living in the capital. I'm not saying that the whole series is based off this one poem, but the symbol of fire helps make them comparable.
Your comparison is really insightful! I completely agree! I also think that the use of the heat/ fire imagery is used to illustrate the violence of the alot of the boycotting at the time and also to show the passion and drive of the African Americans to earn their rights and stand up for what they believe in. Fire was also a very important aspect int he Freedom Riders rebellion/ boycott which seems to be what the poem is about.
In Rita Dove’s “Lady Freedom Among Us,” I found the use of imagery, interesting diction, and personification to be incredibly powerful in conveying the overarching message of freedom and also very effective in regards to tone. When Dove writes, “with her oldfashioned sandals / with her leaden skirts / with her stained cheeks and whiskers and heaped up trinkets,” her purpose in using such imagery is to bring the Statue of Liberty to life and make the reader think of her as a real person or character. Her symbolic meaning of freedom has touched all Americans in some way, shape, or form, and has become an intimate part of their lives. Therefore, Dove feels the need to depict Lady Liberty as more than a simple object. In the lines, “she has fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap / and spruced it up with feathers and stars,” it is important to note the mix of imagery, personification, and diction. The statue is personified to further emphasize the sentiment that it holds so much significance, it should not be looked upon as a meaningless, inanimate object. What struck me was the description of the “hand-me-down cap.” This diction makes the reader think of something that is old and has been passed down over the years. This symbolically draws a connection to freedom, as it has been passed down and improved upon through multiple generations. I found the line “consider her drenched gaze her shining brow” to be quite impactful as well in terms of diction because it creates the image in the reader’s mind of glistening sweat trickling down the face of Lady Liberty. The beads of sweat represent the challenges that were faced and the immense amounts of hard work experienced by many who fought to attain freedom. I thought the particular diction in the last two lines of the poem, “for she is one of the many / and she is each of us,” conveyed the important message that the Statue of Liberty is a single representation of all Americans as a whole, connected or tied together by the similar desire for freedom. Through the use of imagery, personification, and diction, the overall tone of triumphant exhaustion is achieved.
After reading Rita Dove’s poem, “The situation is intolerable” I overall got the idea of the poem referring to people as civilized, but were not. I also got to see the struggles that people were going through, like poverty for example, and in the last stanza, it shows to us the struggles that were going on, and show how they felt useless when it says, “Our situation is intolerable, but what’s worse is to sit here and do nothing.” I also, personally felt that Rita was angry or annoyed, when she writes, “Intolerable: that civilized word.”
"In the Lobby of the Warner Theatre, Washington D.C." was a very distinct and interesting poem that caught my eye in Dove's "Civil Rights" collection. Rita Dove uses sensory imagery and vague details of this woman in the Warner Theatre to make the reader infer and use their background knowledge to visualize the scene. This sonnet is focused on the topic of the iconic figure, Rosa Parks, as she is attending the premier of Amistad in 1997. With the theme of civil rights, this film and event is symbolic to the movement and equality for African-Americans around the time.
Dove uses subtle descriptions for the reader to imagine the scene in their own perspective, for example, "we couldn't wait but leaned out to catch a glimpse, and saw that the smile was not practiced at all- real delight bloomed there." The crowd was anxious and eager to see such a famous figure at the premier, and Dove reflected Rosa's sincere and genuinely kind personality with her smile that wasn't "practiced." In this passage, Rosa Parks' name is never actually mentioned, which is an interesting technique as she is described so highly and well-known at this movie premier based around civil rights.
Another example of the way Dove portrays Rosa Parks' positive reputation at the time is stated, "but it was only right (wasn't it?) that she be wherever history was being made- after all, she was the true inspiration, she was living history." Because Rosa was so historically renowned at the time, she was seen as a very important guest to attend the premier. The perspective this entire poem is written in is from an outsider's view, possibly just a fan awaiting to view the film as well. I believe Dove used this perspective to capture the main highlights of Rosa's attendance at the theatre and to portray how esteemed and appreciated for her inspiration she was at the time.
Ah, I was looking for someone who did this poem. I didn't know it spoke in accordance to the premier of Amistad in 1997. That's a nice piece of allusion. I also enjoyed how Dove managed to make Rosa more of a person than an iconic figure or symbol when it described her, as you pointed out, as a person with a "smile that was not practiced at all".
In " Freedom Ride" Rita Dove writes about the Freedom Riders civil rights movement in which African Americans boycotted segregation of public buses by riding from the north to the south, then lighting the buses on fire. The repetition of the word "fire" is used to convey this message as well as heat/ fire imagery. However in this poem 'fire' means many different things. One could see it as literal fire, or as passion or drive that light the flame of the civil rights movement. I think the organization of this poem is also very interesting. Dove seems to explain the motivation for the Freedom Riders movement in the middle stanza, rather than the beginning. This allows for reader to sense the mystery before it becomes clear what the poem is about.
Rita Dove’s poem, Lady Freedom Among Us, can be looked on from the perspective of one of the whites during the Civil Rights movement. From this perspective, the person observes a specific women who is fighting for freedom with persistent vigor and some of the lines in the poem can be interpreted differently. Rita uses imagery to describe Lady Freedom’s efforts. Rita writes, “consider her drenched gaze her shining brow” (19), and, “she rests in her weathered plumage bigboned resolute”(24,25). Rita describes how Lady freedom is sweating because of her endless work. The onlooker can see this and describes her rest in a way where her set determination still shows through her resting demeanor. Also from the perspective of a white person during the Civil Rights movement, Lady Freedom’s beginning is described as, ”she has risen among us in blunt reproach” (11). The onlooker explains that through the injustice brought upon African’s, this visionary has been awoken.At the end of the poem, the onlooker realizes the truth of Lady Freedom’s beliefs. The onlooker says, “crown her with sky for she is one of many and she is each of us” (33-35). The onlooker praises Lady Freedom and comes to the realization that she is what the Civil Rights movement has been the whole time and that her belief of gaining freedom is what humanity strives for.
In "Climbing In", the motif of teeth elicits a cold and biting tone in the poem representing the discrimination against blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. The poem is about a black person boarding on to the bus and handing money to the bus driver.
The first stanza begins with the word "teeth", suggesting that teeth will be the main subject of the following lines. The teeth are described as "metallic. Lie-gapped (2)". Metallic gives a sense of coldness and sharpness. This produces the image of a cold demeanor and an unfriendly appearance from the bus driver. This lie-gapped smile infers that the black person is unwelcome on the bus and is readily dismissed. Immediately following after, the person compares the smile to "the dime cutting into my palm as I clutch the silver pole to step up (3-6)". Again, metallic imagery is used to enhance the cold and harsh tone of the poem. The metal of the dime represents the inhospitable bus.
In the third stanza, the bus driver's teeth is described like the "teeth of the wolf' (10)". The poem becomes an allegory to the classic fable of "Little Red Riding Hood". In the fable, the wolf dresses up and pretends to be Little Red's grand mother in order to eat Little Red. This can be compared to the bus driver in the poem because on the outside, he/she is friendly towards the black person, but on the inside there is hatred and disgust. Many people during the Civil Rights Movement acted like this and considered blacks inferior. However, since not all blacks could fight the law, many of them were submissive in terms of being subjugated which is why "Pay him to keep smiling" refers to how blacks know that a white person's outward demeanor towards them may only be a facade and that blacks must follow the harsh rules of discrimination (going along with the wolf pretending to be the grandmother) in order to avoid danger or threats.
In the concluding stanza, in reference to the "Little Red Riding Hood" story, Dove writes, "down the clinking gullet" to pertain to Little Red getting swallowed by the wolf in the end and how a black person must except his/her circumstance, even if it is wrong, hence, they have been eaten by the "wolf" (society).
I really like your interpretation of this poem! The metallic imagery in this poem provokes a lot of emotion to the readers and I also thought that Dove's allegory to Little Red Riding Hood gives a lot more dimension and relatability to the poem, making it easier to understand.
“Claudette Colvin Goes to Work” is a poem, written by Rita Dove, about the everyday life of civil rights movement activist Claudette Colvin. Though unfamiliar to many people, Colvin was the original women to stand up against bus segregation. She made her protest nearly nine months before Rosa Parks made her stand. Colvin, however, was deemed a bad choice for leader of the movement because she was only a teenager at the time and she had become pregnant without being married. Rita Dove tells of a night in Colvin’s shoes to point out the treatment of African Americans through the juxtaposition of light and dark imagery.
In the first two stanzas, Rita Dove juxtaposes light and dark imagery to show the contrasting views of whites and blacks in society. The first stanza begins with dark imagery; “Menial twilight sweeps the storefront along Lexington/ as the shadows arrive to take the places/ among the scourge of the earth”(1-3). The darkness is personified through the verbs “sweeps” and “arrive” to compare the darkness to people with black skin. The darkness is described as “menial” and, in the next stanza, “bad light,”(11) and placed in “the scourge of the earth” to show the mistreatment of people of color. The difficulty of life is described in the second stanza when Dove writes, “one drop of sweat/ is all it would take to dissolve an armchair pillow/ into brocade residue”(11-13). This metaphor for Colvin's life shows that even the smallest missteps can lead to the destruction of everything that she has worked for. Dove is also trying to say that people only see what is on the outside and that they don’t realize that the “armchair” is still useful even if it looks different. In the last few lines of the first stanza, light imagery is used to contradict the prior dark imagery. It is described as, “lightbulbs coming on/ in each narrow residence, the golden wattage/ of bleak interior…”(4-6). The light is overwhelms the darkness. It stands out with adjectives like “golden” or “brilliance” compared to the “bleak” darkness. The juxtaposition of light and dark imagery shows the poor treatment of blacks by whites throughout Claudette Colvin life.
"Lady Freedom Among Us" is a very powerful peice of writing. It represents that no matter how tarnished something or someone is, they can still stand up for what is right and still be the voice of a movement. I also find Dove's writing style in this poem like a riddle. As you first read, you may be conflicted on what it is about. But, as you read the last lines, you can reallly make a wholesome prediction on what it is about. I could see this poem representing one women standing alone, or America's passion for freedom itself, and how that fire for freedom will burn forever lasting. I also love that she really personificates lady liberty. She really turned her from the metallic green to a skin tone and I could feel the warmth escaping from the poem. She makes lady liberty this real life person which I think is so cool. Dove did very well at mixing America and its fight for freedom, and how women fought for it too.
I found it interesting how you described Rita Dove's writing as a riddle. I think she really tries to make the reader conflicted about what the meaning of her writing could be about at first, so that they can read it multiple times and get new insights on it. You can read a poem multiple times, especially Rita Dove's, and still find new meanings, interpretations, or just words and metaphors you didn't know where there before. So the fact that you made that point about her writing I think is very true and should be recognized more.
The poem Climbing In by Rita Rove was really interesting to me when I read it. This poem I think is from the view of Rosa Parks as she goes onto the bus, maybe not even specifically Rosa Parks. The discrimination and unwelcoming feeling when African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement felt when going in segregated areas is something she portrays here. She repeats metallic imagery in the readers head throughout the poem, especially in the beginning by using the words, "metallic", "dime", "silver". I think she does this so the reader gets a cold feeling. Then she goes on to describe this bus driver as the wolf in the tail of Red Riding Hood. This is a interesting metaphor, yet powerful. It shows that behind the forced "happy" and "welcoming" face that this man has to have to show that segregation in public systems work is all fake and he is really a wolf under that disguise. Rita Dove writes, "Not quite a grin. Pay him to keep smiling,". This shows perfectly what was happening, the government wants them to seem welcoming and all but in reality they completely not okay with this. The last three lines say, "as the bright lady tumbles head over tail down the clinking gullet,". This shows the reader that this man isn't going to stop this lady of falling down the trap and into racist and discriminatory times or down the gullet or throat of the "wolf". I find this poem super intriguing and a powerful statement of the African Americans "Climbing In", as the title describes, into this pit of racism and cold shoulders and people just standing by and letting it happen.
I was drawn to the title “Freedom Ride” because I remember learning about it in APUSH, but I also needed to look it up because I had forgotten the details about the event. In this poem, Dove incorporates a lot of negative imagery to describe the situation in the South during those times. In the first stanza, Dove describes the environment as “cloud cover, / and germy air / condensing on the tinted glass.” This description immediately makes the reader imagine disgusting weather and a very polluted environment, and it gives off a musky tone. The polluted air symbolizes the unrest in the south due to racism in the time period when the Freedom Riders were advocating against segregation. Additionally, in the second stanza, Dove begins with, “Pull the cord a stop too soon, and / you’ll find yourself walking / a gauntlet of stares.” This portrays how the whites showed so much superiority towards the blacks. They paid attention to every move that the blacks made when they were in the whites’ vicinity because they were viewed as “unclean” and inferior to them. Dove is emphasizing the oppression faced by the blacks. Dove also talks about the dream that blacks have for achieving freedom by writing, “someplace fresh” and “Daydream, and you’ll wake up / in the stale dark of a cinema”, which suggests that the blacks are constantly thinking about when they can escape this horrible time in their life and enter into a new stage in their lives where they are free to do whatever they desire without any restraints. Furthermore, these lines in the poem demonstrate the hope that freedom will one day come for them and rescue them from their horrendous situation. In this poem, Dove includes momentous Civil Rights leaders: Dallas, Bobby, Malcolm X, and Memphis (Martin Luther King Jr.) who led many significant Civil Rights movements and had a lot of impact during that period of tension, but all died from murder done by people who were against their actions. I wonder what purpose Dove had of putting Dallas, Bobby, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. into the poem? I’m also not very sure on what Dove means by “but where you sit is where you’ll be / when the fire hits”. What does Dove mean by the “fire”, which is repeated throughout the poem? Is it the outburst of violence?
“QE2. Transatlantic Crossing. Third Day” speaks of the relaxed state of the area she inhabits. There is a constant cloth motif found throughout, “Dingy percale…” and “...no selvage to catch…” all contain words which are used when one whishes to describe cloth or bed sheets. Bed sheets or cloth, of course, are often associated with comfort and being at ease or at home.
In the poem, the idea of “going home” is stating, meaning that the speaker wants to feel safe and secure.
Those of color were neglected, scorned, and segregated, so the author wanting to feel at home would make sense, if viewed from that perspective.
The poem talks about there only being “chips and signatures”, which are associated with gambling. However, it can also be used or shown for a form of identification. Perhaps the speaker means that people are only in the world if those people can be identified?
There’s a moment where it talks about being “ between the silver spoon and golden gate”. The silver spoon is commonly used as a symbol for wealth. There are two possible interpretations for golden gates, however. One would, obviously, be the Golden Gate Bridge. The other option would be the Golden Gates of Heaven. In the Bible, it states that “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God”, so if one were to use the latter symbol, perhaps the speaker want to reach that blissful perfection where they have enough wealth to be satisfied, but not so much that they would avoid entering Heaven.
It is possible, though, that the speaker is not actually speaking for themselves, but rather for others since the speaker seems to only be “some Negro actually looking for misery”, as opposed to actually being in misery.
One poem I really liked, and one that was easy to visualize was "In the Lobby of the Warner Theatre, Washington, D.C." This poem is about an elderly Rosa Parks, at a movie premier at the Warner Theatre. In this poem, Rosa Parks is never referred to by name, but by using context clues like the line "like the history she made for us sitting there" is used at the end of the poem to show who this is about. One interesting symbol I found in this poem, was the symbol of sitting down. The fact that Rosa Parks is sitting in a wheelchair, just like she was sitting down on the bus is quite fitting. A message I think was conveyed in this poem was that you can have a major impact on society even if you aren't the biggest, most intimidating person. Rosa Parks took a stand (or rather a seat) and changed the entire country. She was not the biggest, smartest, richest, or best person in the world, but she stood up for what she believed in, and that made a huge difference. Also, Rosa in this story is in a wheelchair, but she is still looked up to by all the people in the theater, even though physically, she is sat below them. The line "The audience descended in a cavalcade of murmuring sequins" I thought was a great use of imagery. This let the reader picture the audience members, looking upon Rosa in their fancy dresses and suits and them talking among each other about the living legend Rosa Parks. The main message of this poem I thought was that even small acts, by seemingly average people can make a huge impact and change the world.
The Poem Belinda's Petition by Rita Dove uses very blunt, honest thoughts to drive the reader to listen to the hurt/ anger that Belinda feels. "I will not take much of your time, but to plead and place my pitiable life unto the Fathers of the Nation." This completely grabs hold of the audience from the start. The repetition of the P's in the last sentence with such vivid words that the reader WANTS to hear about her pitiable life. We want to know what she thinks about the Fathers of this country. This is because from the start Dove uses blunt unpopular viewpoints in this section of her works titles "Slavery" To give everyone a glimpse of her heritage. With this women that is being written about having been a slave since she was twelve years old we can see that to write her poems about slavery any other way would be wrong. Blunt and Honest one of the freshest things that a person can read in the midst of all the mumbo jumbo Dove pulls out what people generally don't want to hear and turns it into something they would want to stand up for. That is the power in the poetry.
In her poem "Parsley", Rita Dove uses the repitition of the idea of "green" or "freshness" to convey a sense of irony. Greeness and freshness are often used to refer to newness or freedom. The reocurring use of these terms portrays a sense of irony at the Hatians suffering and lack of freedom. The people were dying and suffering while the world around them was growing and moving forward, paying no mind to the destruction and decay. This juxtaposition of green and suffering is seen cleary in the third stanza, "we lie down screaming as rain punches through/and we come up green." (Dove 7-8). This sense of irony shows how the Hatians felt as if the entire world was turned against them and was turning a blind eye to their suffering. The juxtaposition gives a cruel, tragic tone to the piece, which helps the reader feel compassion and sympathy for the Hatians. This also causes the reader to feel angry that this tradegy could ever be allowed to happen. The juxtaposition of green and death also gives the reader insight to the general's backround and reasoning for his cruelty. The reader is given backround knowledge on the general's mother, and is told, "how she died in the fall/and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming/four-star blossoms." (23-26). The reader can understand that the general blames the Hatians for his mother's death and wants revenge. While the reader may not agree with the general's abusive and cruel actions, they can see that they are not totally without reason. Dove uses the same juxtaposition of greeness and suffering to describe both the Hatians and the general, which gives the reader a sense that they are more connected and have more in common that what might meet the eye.
I definitely think that it is ironic how "green" or the parsley is considered fresh and healthy, but instead it leads to the Haitians death. I had never really thought about how the Haitians felt like the entire world was against them. This poem also brings up the question, why did Dove write this? How does this relate to her? As we saw earlier, the sets of poems, Mothers and Daughters, Historical Figures, and the Civil Rights Movements, all related to her in some way. How did Rita Dove get the inspiration to write about Politics of History
Well I feel like it sort of connects with Civil Rights because of the fact that the Haitians were discriminated just like the African American. I think Dove wants to remind us that there is evil in the world we live in and to remember that there still is evil today.
In the poem, Parsley, Dove uses parsley as a much deeper meaning than just an herb. Parsley is used to determine whether or not the Haitians are killed by the General. In the poem it says, “El General has found his word: perejil” (13). Perejil means parsley. I find it interesting how the Haitians grew and used parsley in their everyday lives. In the excerpt, The Farming Bones, a Haitian native said, “We used parsley for our food, our teas, our baths, to cleanse our insides as well as our outsides.” The natives used parsley basically in everything they did. Like the quote said, it was used to cleanse their bodies. The one thing that was used to signify life for the Haitians was also “used” to kill them. It is ironic that parsley can be used to symbolize life as well as death in the poem. It makes the audience feel sorrow as well as sympathy for the Haitians.
I agree with your analysis. The fact that the Haitians use the parsley in their every day life creates a twisted sense of irony. This almost makes the cruelty they suffer seem worse, because something they rely so heavily to thrive is being used against them for destruction.
I found it sad how they use parsley to torture them instead of actual physical torture. This provided the aggressive, angry tone in the poem and allows the reader to feel what they are going through when Rita uses a lot of vivid imagery.
I did not think of it like this! I defiantly agree with your analysis and it s very interesting how ironic it is. I agree is Morgan on how sad it could be. Yes both are horribly wrong, but using something that they used in there everyday life just was like a shove in the face but way worse. It was part of there life and something that they loved so it made the reader feel sorry and emotional for them. I think that Hannah is also right on how it can make the suffer seem way worse.
I agree with all of you!!! I also think that its ironic that El General is using something that like Alisa said, was used to cleanse their bodies, in order to in his mind, cleanse the population of the Haitian people. It was not only an intimidation tactic, but a threat to foreigners to stay out of the Dominican.
These are really good points, but I must add that I found it to be a symbol of purification for both the Haitian people and the Dominican people. The Haitians were cleansing their body, and the Dominicans were cleansing their world of the imperfect people.
I found it interesting that in the poem “Parsley”, Rita uses some Spanish words such as “El General” and “perejil” to help readers understand the context of the story more and how it is about the Mexican Revolution. I found it strange that in the poem it explains that the people can’t roll their R’s, which can be seen in the line “God knows mother was no stupid woman; she could roll an R like a queen”. Rita takes out the R’s in the line “mi madle, mi amol en muelte”, which is then translated in the next stanza, “My mother, my love in death”. But why can’t they roll their R’s and why do you think Rita uses “l” in replace of the “r” in the Spanish line?
The reason for dove replacing each of the "r"s with "l"s is to show the reader that the Haitians can't pronounce the letter. This is very similar to the German language and the "th" sound. It doesn't exist in their Language so German people can't pronounce it in other languages. (Fun Fact, in German, Siddhartha is pronounced Siddharta.) It is interesting that Dove replaced the "r"s with "l"s because Haitians can pronounce the letter "r." Haitians just pronounce the letter the same way Americans pronounce our "r"s; they just can't role the "r." this doesn't mean their "r"s sound like "l"s.
“to haunt us, and we cut it down. El General searches for a word; he is all the world there is. Like a parrot imitating spring,”
In the poem Parsley, there are many things that stuck out to not only me, but I am sure everyone else. There is so much repetitiveness, imagery, and interesting dictions. The section above, right off the bat stuck out to me because it gave everything else a meaning and helped the readers understand the rest of the poem. It gives a background touch and foreshadows in the next section The Palace.
The first line of this stanza says, “To haunt us, we cut it down…” Rita uses the “us” part to talk about the Haitian migrant workers and I know this because of the reading before the poem. “we cut it down” must mean something related to manual labor and that brings in the “haunt us.” The labor the workers are put through awful conditions and were most likely unbearable. Not only did they have poor conditions, it was all ruled under a general that obviously had some built up anger that was being released on the wrong people. The second line, mentions that the general is “searching for a word;” Dove portrays this word to be parsley. The background story makes this line obvious because the one person that could roll the letter “r” would be “safe” and the person who could not would be executed. When it states “he is all the world” it is describing the general and how much power he has over these people. When people disobey, or in this case, not roll the letter “r” they will be executed or beat. Having this much fear over someone the general, like in this poem, “has all the world.” This last line is so similar throughout the entire poem! “Like a parrot imitating spring,” one thing I did notice between the first and second stanza is, in the first stanza Dove writes “There is a parrot imitating spring” and in the second stanza says, “Like a parrot imitating spring.” What do you guys think this means? My ideas were Dove could be showing a comparison between the two but I am not exactly sure.
I think that the use of the parrot is used to show the narrators appreciation of the consistent way the parrot never changes what is said. The parrot can only mimic and never recreate or create. I think the use of spring is used to contrast the fall or autumn, which was the time of the mother's death.
I thought of what "there is a parrot imitating spring" could possible mean and this is what went through my mind. So there are the people (Haitians) who couldn't correctly pronounce the word "perejil", so they were slaughtered. But there were those who could correctly say the word "perejil" have their lives spared. And the people who could live were mostly Dominicans and they represent the parrot because they were all repeating the same words in order to live. Rita used "spring" because the people who could say that word live and spring represents life. Like a parrot who can only imitate one to a few words, people during the parsley massacre had their lives depend on that one word, so it was all people said in hopes to live. Although why the general Trujillo used that word out of all the words.
I think the usage of the parrot motif is quite significant when considering its shifting symbolism throughout The Cane Fields. In the beginning, a parrot is described to be living in a palace and “imitating spring.” This creates a positive feel and makes the reader think of freshness, luxury, and beauty. As the conditions of the Haitians is explained the further into the poem the reader gets, the parrot’s symbolism changes from beauty and positivity to sadness and enslavement. One can see this by noticing the way in which the parrot motif is paired with figurative language in the second, third, and fourth stanzas. In the last stanza, the tone is violent and the line “For every drop of blood / there is a parrot imitating spring” shows how the bird is now communicating its symbolism of enslavement or captivity.
In the poem, Parsley, and even in her other poems, Rita Dove discusses the theme of how people hate/discriminate to feel better. In the poem, the general deals with his grief by using his power to inflict pain on others. The speaker in the second part mentions his mother in the majority of the stanzas. This shows how he is somewhat human afterall. By showing his grief towards his mother's death, Dove gives the general a human quality to allow the reader to feel the tiniest bit of pity for him. No one can blame this general for not getting over her death, but how he overcomes it shows the depth of the love in families one has. The only way for him to feel better is to kill thousands of people. This idea reminds me of the Holocaust. In both these situations, we wonder how this became possible. How people could let this happen. In the poem, Dove uses the symbol of the parrot to represent how people follow others. She constatly repeats the phrase, "parrot imitating spring". I think it represents how people mindlessly follow others. and by using this comparison, Dove shows how this enables others to gain power. Like the analogy of the sheep and shepherd, the majority of people mindlessly follow a leader which gives that leader power. Throughout her poems, Dove shows how important it is to stand up for what is right.
I agree with the fact that this repeating theme of hate and discrimination is used in a lot of her poems. Do you think that the sadness the dictator felt about the death of his mother was what drove his to kill all the Haitians? I bring up this question because that's what I honestly think. Because after the thought of her enters his mind of "Who can I kill today" so he is showing his power and domination through killing which obviously is a really messed up way to deal with your feelings.
I find your analysis very interesting. I can see how Dove tries to personify and make the reader relate to the possible dictator/speaker in the second half of the poem. She embeds the tiny morals within the poem, like the example you gave how important it is to stand up for what is right. Because of the intense diction, these lessons and morals seem to be hidden within the context.
In Rita Dove's "Parsley", the parrot is used to symbolize how the narrator feels about the changes in a language and how the consistency of the parrot behavior is conforting to he/she. It is important to understanf the historical context first. In 1957, a dictator named Trujilo ordered the death of 20,000 Haitians would couldn't roll their 'R's". The narrator show their emotions toward this in their feelings about the parrot. Parrots can cannot say anything original, only mimic what they have heard. So unlike the way many different languages are changed a mortified, a parrots language remains consistent and is not a recreation of anything, but an exact copy. This show the frustration of the narrator and helps to convey the ridiculousness of death sentence.
I agree with your analysis, as always haha. Anyways, I would like to add more to your analysis. I also noticed that since parrots mimic speech, it relates to how the Haitians also had to 'mimic' their speech as well. The Haitians had to try and replicate the pronunciation of "perejil". On the second to last stanza , El General frustratedly thinks, "Even a parrot can roll an R! In the bare room the bright feathers arch in a parody of greenery, (61,62)". The parrot's wings are interpreted as a parody, as if they were a crude mocking. This mocking, representing that of the Haitians. Some of them were able to imitate the sound of the 'R' in "perejil", but not all of them could. The imitation was unnatural and fake to them, just as how parrots don't actually have an intricately complex language, they only copy the sound of the words.
The parrot in the poem "Parsley" by Rita Dove, embodies multiple symbols to illustrate the brutality of the Parsley Massacre and the tyrannical dictatorship under Rafael Trujillo. One of the symbols the parrot represents is beauty. Throughout the first part of the poem (a villanelle), the parrot is repeatedly mentioned as, "a parrot imitating spring". Spring is usually associated with life and birth; a time of thriving. The parrot imitates spring as it is associated with the beauty of spring. In the first stanza, the parrot's plumage is described as "parsley green, (2)". This directly refers to the massacre of the Haitians for they couldn't pronounce the 'R' in "perejil" (parsley). Here, irony is used of the parrot's beautiful green plumage because it is compared to parsley, the symbol of death among the Haitians. The irony of the parrot's beauty is further consolidated when "for every drop of blood there is a parrot imitating spring, (17,18)". The parrot is associated with violence, demonstrating the irony of beauty being compared to death.
Another symbol of the parrot is that it represents the enslavement of the Haitians. As demonstrated before in many past works of literature, birds represent freedom and independence. The beautiful green parrot in the poem is "in a brass ring, (29)" in the palace. The bird is locked in a cage symbolizing the inability of the Haitians to escape. Birds ought to be free and flying; not locked in a debilitating cage. Similarly, the Haitians are forced to work in the sugar cane fields and ruthlessly killed. They must hide from the "El General" (Trujillo).
On a side note, it is speculated that parsley is poisonous to birds. This adds further meaning to the story and creates a deeper connection between the parrot and parsley. As mentioned above, the parrot is compared to parsley as being vibrantly green and full of life, comparable to spring. Parsley is a nourishing garnish and like the parrot, is considered 'pretty'. However, if a parrot ingests parsley, it could be potentially fatal for the parrot and it could die, thereby further establishing the connection between the parrot and the parsley throughout the poem. This connection depicts the contrast of the parrot and parsley's beauty with death, and exemplifies how one harmless pretty plant can be used as a symbol of violence and genocide.
I really liked your comparison of the parrot to the parsley. When I was reading the poem, I couldn't really figure out why the parsley and the parrot reoccurred so many times, but your analysis of it really helped me understand the relationship between the two!
I noticed that between both the excerpt from "The Farming of Bones" and the poem "Parsley" had a similar theme in the way that parsley is used. In both stories, parsley is used as a symbol of purification. In the excerpt, the narrator claims that they use parsley for " our food, our teas, our baths, to cleanse our insides as well as our outsides." This means that the Hiatian people actually used parsley to clean and purify their bodies physically. In the poem, the general describes how they killed the people who cannot pronounce parsley, because it is deemed imperfect when they cannot pronounce the 'r' in the word for parsley; perejil. This means that in a way, they use the word to "purify" themselves from those who were imperfect. The way that parsley is use as a symbol for purification can leave different effects, as well. The way it is used by the Haitian people gives a peaceful tone to the reader, as it gives a sense of comfort in purity of the body. However, in the poem, the way the word is used gives a tone of dread hen it is used, because the reader knows that this simple word may be the reason for someone's death.
I noticed this as well! When I think of parsley, the first thing that comes to mind is how it is used in ethnic food to add more flavor to what is being cooked. My connotations with the word are very comforting and relaxed because, after all, it is just a plant. It is very terrifying to think that this little plant was the cause of thousands of deaths. There have been genocides that were caused by religious or dominance beliefs, but I have never heard of killings caused by just a plant.
I enjoy how you noticed the idea of the people "purifying themselves" in regards to the usage of parsley. Both in the good and healthy sense, as well as the dark and morbid fashion. You also managed to clear up the poem for me a bit further. My mind has been rather addled as of late, but you have made things a smidgen less opaque.
When I first read ‘Parsley’ by Rita Dove I originally had a rather different interpretation as to what happened than to what Dove herself said when she was interviewed in the mid-80s (http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dove/interview.htm). My original interpretation was that this was about slaves during the first wave of European colonisation who had escaped en masse from a plantation in French Haiti into the neighbouring Spanish colony of Hispaniola and had hid themselves in plain sight amongst the Dominican slaves. ‘El General,’ himself a former slave though now a freeman, has hunted them down to the plantation where they are hiding and has rounded them all up, Dominicans and Haitians alike. In order to determine who is Dominican and who is Haitian, he thinks back to his mother, a Haitian slave, and how she sang ‘Katalina, Katalina mi madle, mi amol’ with the other slaves as she cut down sugar cane. He thought back to how she, along with many others, could roll an r as easily as the Spanish, but how she chose not to in order to avoid sticking out from the crowd who said ‘Katalina’ rather than ‘Katarina.’ Remembering this, he comes up with a shibboleth: say ‘perejil,’ ‘parsely,’ like a Dominican and you live; say ‘pelejil,’ like a Haitian and you die.
Of course this is completely heterogeneous to what Rita Dove had intended with the writing of ‘Parsley’ as Rita Dove had written it about the Parsley Massacre by the Dominican government against Haitian homesteaders living on the border in 1937. Perhaps this was intentionally done to draw parallels to slavery, with the repetition of certain words like ‘lash,’ ‘cane,’ ‘sugar,’ ‘machete,’ ‘field,’ ‘ivory,’ and the seemingly intentional ambiguity as to the character of El General, the nature of the murders, the reason for the murders, and the time in which they take place.
In Rita's "Parsley" poem, she writes "The Crane Fields" in the Haitian's point of view. When I read this part, I expected it to have a resentful tone accompanied with angry and violent diction since it's the victim's point of view and they are likely to despise Trujillo, the person responsible for the deaths of around 20, 000 Haitians.However, the tone has equanimity in it, and because of that, it makes the reader feel even more sorrow and pity for the victims of the massacre. There are parts that arouses pity such as "we lie down screaming as rain punches through and we come up green". Also, the victims' inability to "speak an R" makes the reader feel their helplessness and desperateness. Along with the sorrowful feelings, the reader also feel hatred towards the general because he is described as powerful and spiteful tyrant. He has so much power that "he is all the world there is" and his spitefulness is shown when "he laughs, teeth shining out of the swamp". The second part of the poem "The Palace" shows the general's point of view and reveals a more human and emotional side to the oppressive ruler. Despite his cruelty, he is weak on the inside and uses his personal problems as a reason to hurt the innocent Haitians. Every time he thinks about his mother's death, he thinks "Who can I kill today". Also, Rita put in the part about the candies of the "Day of the Dead" to show that he used to celebrate that holiday like a normal person. The purpose for the second part is not to arouse pity for the general, but to show that he has emotions just like everybody else and he resents the Haitian for his mother's death.
The speaker in the poem Parsley not only uses the parrot and parsley as a symbol, but also a cane. In the Dominican Republic, they grow a large amount of Sugar-cane, and its often farmed by Haitian immigrants. In the poem, in almost all of the stanzas in the first part, The Cane Fields, the last line of each stanza is "out of the swamp the cane appears". Each time its written differently, sometimes capitalized, and sometimes in all under case letters. Interestingly the very last time this ending is used, is in the last stanza, when Dove uses an end-stop. This could be emphasizing that threatening feeling created by the repetition of such an ominous statement.
The cane itself is almost like a threat to the Hatians. It is associated with El General, and his punsihment for those who cannot "speak an R-". Canes are usually connected to old age, or wealth, and the General, seems to be a very powerful man, so he probably has a little of both. The swamp referenced, could be an allusion to the swamp the victims create after spewing the parsley that is shoved down their throats as punishment for not being able to pronounce Perejil. As it says in the second stanza lines 8 and 9, "and we come up green. We cannot speak an R-/ out of the swamp, the cane appears". Another interpretation of this image of a cane appearing out of a swamp, is that perhaps the speaker is saying that the General is omnipresent, and those who he deems punishable, never see his punishment coming. Overall, Rita Dove uses repetition and imagery in this sentence to create a threatening intimidating mood.
I found it interesting that the first part of Rita Dove’s poem “Parsley,” is written in the form of a villanelle. This form emphasises two lines, the first and last lines of the first triplet, through repetition in each other triplet and finally combined to make the ending couplet in the quatrain. It also interested me that the repeated lines, “there is a parrot imitating spring,”(1) and “out of the swamp the cane appears,”(3) can not be fully understood until the reader has read both parts. Upon reading the first part only, the cane seems to symbolize the Dominican army. The image of rows and rows of cane can be personified into the rows of a marching army. The character also describes their fear and hatred for the cane by “cut[ting] it down” and comparing it to “El General”. In the next part of the poem, the cane symbolizes the general’s love for his dead grandmother; “he planted her walking cane at the grave and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming four-star blossoms”(24-26). When the reader learns about the general’s view of the cane, they are left with conflicting views and contradicting viewpoints. Dove does this to show the tension between the two sides of the genocide though it is ironic the general, who ordered the killing, is the one who feels love and the people who being killed are the ones filled with rage.
Something that really stood out to me in Rita Dove's poem, "Parsley," is the change in the point of view from the first half to the second half. The first half, called, "The Cane Fields,", is from the perspective of a Haitian worker, while, "The Palace," is in third person. I think that Rita Dove did this for a couple different reasons. I think that the reason fro the first half being from the perspective of a Haitian field worker is that Rita wanted to put us in their shoes and make us feel what they were feeling. A first person perspective makes us more emotionally attached to the poem because it helps us develop empathy for the person who's perspective it is. She puts the second half in 3rd person to make us look down upon the general. If she would've written it from the general's point of view, we might feel more sympathy and understanding for the anger that he has. By putting it in third person, the reader gets an unbiased view of what the general is going through and instead of feeling pity for him, the reader is able to look down upon his behavior. The third person view lets the reader disconnect more from the emotions a character is feeling.
The most interesting indication in Parsley by Rita Dove is the General's affection towards his own mother. Dover writes that "the general thinks of his mother, how she died in the fall and he planted her walking cane at the grave and it flowered"(22-24). The General is reminiscing of his mother's death which sets a very melancholic mood to the stanza. He specifically associates he death with the fall so that importance is given to his mother's death date. Every fall, her death would be remembered and her memory would be cherished as a result thereof. His true emotions are revealed as "someone calls out his name in a voice so like his mother's, a startled tear splashes the tip of his right boot" (60-63). His own mother's death had a great impact on his mental state as he is still sensitive to her memory. The reader is able to connect more with the General because, even if his actions were terrible and wrong according to mankind, he still had feelings within him. The loss of a loved one can be very harsh if the person doesn't know how to deal with it and have the ability to move past it. The General's excessive reaction of crying, which was triggered by a memory of his deceased mother, sets a very dark mood as the General's weakness is displayed. He, who killed thousands of Haitians based on the ability to pronounce a word, became weak when a sensitive topic was reminisced. This goes to show that everyone is sensitive in a unique way and some may have thinner boundaries than others.
In The Cane Fields of “Parsley,” by Rita Dove, I found that the use of figurative language and the parrot motif communicates an overall ironic tone. In the very first line of the first stanza, a parrot is introduced. The reader gets a sense of beauty, wealth, and luxury, as the creature is described as having feathers the color of parsley green and living within a palace. First off, it is important to note that parrots are talkative birds. This motif emphasizes through contrast the tragic difficulty some of the Haitians experience with the pronunciation of the “r” sound. In the lines, “Like a parrot imitating spring, / we lie down screaming as rain punches through / and we come up green,” a metaphor is used to compare the Haitians to “a parrot imitating spring,” which conveys a fresh, positive tone. The way the sentence is set up with a positive sounding tone makes the reader think the rest of the sentence will also be positive. However, that is not the case. When Dove writes, “ we lie down screaming as rain punches through,” the tone switches to violent with this case of personification. After this mid-sentence shift, the tone quickly reverts back to fresh and vibrant with the line that follows, “and we come up green.” In the sixth stanza, the lines, “For every drop of blood / there is a parrot imitating spring,” the parrot motif is paired with the visualization of blood. The creature no longer seems to communicate its symbolism of beauty, but rather its symbolism of enslavement. The tone changes to sinister and the irony is evidently felt because “ a parrot imitating spring” is a line that makes one think of positivity. The purpose in these juxtapositions of tones, which are conveyed through the employment of figurative language and the parrot motif, is to illustrate the tragic fates of many Haitians who were subjected to such awful treatment.
The arithmetic tone that Rita Dove implements through her poem, Parsley, by using line breaks and certain diction really adds a lot of emphasis on the historical feelings brought on this poem and events. In the poem Rita Dove writes in a third person view which usually doesn't show much emotion on certain aspect levels. But the way that she uses powerful juxtapositions, repetition and line breaks in her poems make the reader feel things about this mortifying political topic. One of the more obviously repetition parts of this poem is in the first part. Rita Dove kept repeating in almost every stanza, "there is a parrot imitating spring". This adds a more poetic rhythm to the poem but more importantly what does it symbolize and show. The parrot is taught to imitate and that is all he is known to do. I think that could symbolize Trullijo and how he has always been just taught to kill and hide down his emotions from his mothers death. And that is why this gruesome section about the authority of El General ends with the Haitians blood and the parrot imitating spring, as symbolism. I find it interesting tat Rita Dove put that saying in every stanza because parrots repeat the same thing over and over and how it made the passage more poetic really.
From the section "Politics of History," Dove displays the poem "Parsely" with a strong liberated and determined tone by telling the compelling story of the Haitian and Domican Republic conflict. The poem is split into two separate passages, "1. The Cane Fields," and "2. The Palace." This creates the distinct separation of setting and mood as Dove uses detailed imagery to identify and compare the importance of each place within the event. In "The Cane Fields," the metaphors and similes Dove contributes to the scenery make a dramatic effect on the emotion the poem beings with. "The children gnaw their teeth to arrowheads," was a line that stood out to me because of the reflection of how the young children of the fields are ready to battle and are tough enough to sharpen the arrowheads they have with their teeth. The simile that is repeated within the first section of the poem, that has been previously discussed, is "like a parrot imitating spring..." This includes the important symbol of the parrot as the bird is referred to towards the end of the poem, "Even a parrot can roll an R!" I believe Dove foreshadowed the symbol of the parrot to reflect the description of the mother at during the final lines, as a parrot is a beautiful and common bird of the tropical area. With the use of metaphors and similes with vivid imagery of the setting, the poem flowed well together as the two separate passages eventually connected within the symbol of the parrot.
The poem, “Parsley”, has a very violent tone throughout the whole poem. In this poem, the motif of killing is present throughout expressing cruelness of the general. While murdering humans for the mere fact that they cannot pronounce the “r” in parsley, is a very inhuman act, in the case of the general, it can be somewhat justified. The reason that the general killed the Haitians is because he believed that they were responsible for the death of his mother. The Haitian slaves working in the fields grew sugarcane, and baking sugar cookies led to the death of his mother. Throughout this poem, he was mourning his mother’s death, and even though his actions were completely unacceptable, it was out of extreme love to the point of loving his mom so much that he was going insane that he committed these atrocious acts. The reason why the general chose the word “parsley” was because he remembered the men in his village wearing capes with parsley on them to honor the birth of their sons (68-70). In this way, he wanted the Haitians to pronounce the word correctly to show his honor to his mother even now that she had passed. For the ones who could not say parsley, they were killed because they were seen as a disgrace to his mother. The word “parsley”, in a way keeps the bond between the general and his mother.
In the poem Demeter, Waiting, Demeter is heartbroken that her daughter has been taken away from her. She vows to wait for her until Persephone returns from the Underworld. It is interesting because the tone of this poem is sorrowful and grieve, however at the same time it has a tone of anger. Demeter loves her daughter more than anything in the world; she loves her enough to stop harvesting crops. This shows the audience that the relationship between mother and daughter is a very powerful thing. It is a mother’s instinct to worry about their child and to take care of them. Also, mothers are there to guide their children and to prepare them for the day that they no longer need their parents. Dove uses this Greek myth to emphasize the importance of a mother-daughter relationship.
ReplyDeleteYes, this poem definitely has an angry tone to it. Rita makes Demeter's rage so intense because of the intensity of the love between mothers and daughters. Demeter shuns her own identity as the goddess of agriculture and fertility because of nature. The human nature of love for her daughter
DeleteI think more than it emphasizes the importance of a mother-daughter relationship, it shows the feelings of a over protective mother who loves her daughter immensely. The poem is about a mother who loses control over her daughter and will do anything to get her back. When she asks herself, "Who can bear it." she answers by saying, "who believes to pull a hand back from a daughters cheek is to put love into her pocket-" she is almost mocking the mothers that let their daughters do what makes them happy even though it might hurt the mother. She refuses to be one of these mothers and just wants her daughter back in her possession.
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ReplyDeleteStriking similarities are seen between the two poems "Persephone, Falling" and "The Narcissus Flower". Right away the reader is aware of the connection, as the title of "The Narcissus Flower" is taken directly from the first line of "Persephone, Falling". The tone of "Persephone, Falling" is dark and prideful. From this the reader can can gather that it is written in the voice of Hades. Hades is boasting his cleverness in being able to successfully capture Persephone. Contrarily, "The Narcissus Flower" is clearly told in the voice of Persephone. In "The Narcissus Flower", Persephone is recounting the same tale told in "Persephone, Falling" from her own perspective. The tone of "The Narcissus Flower" is tragic and frightening, giving insight to how Persephone feels about her capture. While the majority of "Persephone, Falling" is apparently told in Hades perspective, lines 9-12 are told in the voice of Demeter. The tone of these lines are of warning and caution. The way Demeter is telling Persephone to behave contrasts sharply with how Persephone is depicted by Hades and Persephone herself. Hades describes her in "Persephone, Falling" as, "One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful/flowers, one unlike all the others" (1-2). Persephone recounts what she used to be like in the beginning of "The Narcissus Flower", "I remember my foot in its frivolous slipper,/a frightened bird..." (1-2). From this the reader can gather that Persephone was carefree, prideful, and lovely, very different than the conservative attitude her mother tells her to have in lines 9-12 of "Persephone, Falling". Hades is clearly trying to justify his kidnapping of Persephone. Hades believes that because Persephone did not follow her mother's instructions, he is entitled to take her, "When, sprung out of the earth/on his glittering terrible/carriage, he claimed his due." (4-6). Persephone feels that she is unjustly taken, but she can do nothing about it. Therefore, she is forced to quickly grow from a naive, carefree child into an ominous queen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you!! I think there are definite correlations between "The Narcissus Flower" and the story of Persephone. You mentioned the first and second lines in "The Narcissus Flower" and I would also like to add that when the author says "frivolous slipper/a frightened bird" she could be talking about Persephone's entrapment. Birds are traditionally a symbol of freedom, and when they fly its obviously in an open, sky. The idea of a frightened bird could lend itself to the thought of entrapment. Persephone was a young girl and was supposedly, very happy, so to her, being trapped underground with Hades, the lord of the dead, is equivalent to a frightened bird being trapped. Also, later in the poem in lines 10-11, Dove says "The mystery is, you can eat fear/before fear eats you,". This could be a reference to another important part of Persephone descent into the underworld: while she is there, she eats 6 pomegranate seeds, and because of that, she must stay in the Underworld for 6 months. She literally ate a part of the Underworld, and it ate her back by stealing half of her precious life.
DeleteYou can relate the poem Mother Love and Demter waiting. First, both address the role of mothers and how important this role is. Demter, putting everything at a standstill for her daughter while the mother in Mother love will stop at nothing to nourish her baby. Both will go through great obstacles to try to be with their kin. You can compare the two as a god struggles versus a human struggles, and can see apparent similarities. I also noticed the word damn in both of them . Obscene words are usually written to send a strong message and leave a lasting image in our brains. It says to be that they hold nothing back when they are talking about their children, ready to do whatever it takes.
ReplyDeleteMother Love and Demeter, Waiting are both similar, but also different. In the first poem you see the nurturing, caring side of the mother. And in the latter poem, you see the anger, grief, and sorrow a mother has when her loved one is no longer with her. I also noticed the use of "damn" in these poems, and also in Demeter, Waiting, she says "shit". This really caught my attention and drew focus on what she was saying and emphasized it greatly.
Delete“O why did you pick that idiot flower? Because it was the last one and you knew it was going to die”
ReplyDeleteIn Rita Dove’s poem, Heroes, the narrator goes through a process many humans face except to an extreme degree. While trying to save the flower for the woman, the narrator kills the woman. Before that, the narrator tries to fix the problem through certain works in order to make the woman feel better and in an attempt at showing love. This process is common in human nature as guilt makes humans try to fix the problems that they made. Most of the time, the effort is in vain. This reaction towards guilt is an attempt to show love to those whom love was taken away but the situation worsened and love became crime, regret, and murder. The narrators intention started as love, however, Rita Dove places a tone of the narrator's thoughts that implies that the narrator is trying to make the woman feel better so that the guilt will leave. This is supported by the fact that the narrators kills the woman because the existence of the woman is making the guilt persist as well. In human nature, is this reaction, when good intentions turn into problems that cause guilt, done out of love, or out of selfishness and reprieve.
This is a really interesting observation. I never would have thought to connect love to guilt in this way, but now it makes perfect sense. I would say that in this way the entire poem is a metaphor for the emotions that come with love and guilt. The only thing that I want to know is how does this poem actually fit in to the theme of mother love? It could have something to do with the feeling of maternalism, in wanting to save the flower. Does that make the flower a symbol of a child being protected by the mother?
DeleteThis also relates to another part of human nature which is to hide the problem. When children are young and make a mistake, they don't understand that it is better to accept the problem and fix it rather than hide it and get into more trouble. This attempt to hide the problem can be seen in the line, "and you can't leave any clues." The way the main character acts like a child shows the impulsive nature of the main character and that they aren't necessarily thinking about what they are doing.
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ReplyDeleteIn Rita Dove’s poem titled, “Heroes,” the relationship between mother and daughter is illustrated as difficult and complex as there exists an inevitable battle between a mother’s intentions and the actual end result. In the very beginning, Dove uses imagery of a poppy flower in a weedy field and it is important to note the great significance in the poet’s choice of flower. Poppy flowers represent dreams and remembrance. In the context of this poem, the poppy comes to symbolize a mother’s dear child. In the poem, similarly to how “you” are trying to keep the plucked poppy from wilting by finding a jar of water, a mother insists on trying to preserve her child, hoping they will forever remain as loving, youthful, and vibrant. The natural persistence of a mother to do so unavoidably results in conflict because the child eventually seeks independence and feels that their mother is overstepping in their life and being too motherly. These unintended, sometimes harmful disputes that result from innocent, good intentions between mother and daughter are represented in the poem when “the woman on the porch starts screaming” because “you’ve plucked the last poppy in her miserable garden, the one that gave her the strength every morning to rise!” It becomes clear how a simple, well-intended action can end up having a harmful effect. The problem worsens as “you” strike the lady and “she hits her head on a white boulder.” This represents how heightened tension between mother and daughter can result in a strain in the relationship due to the possible violent actions or words exchanged in the heat of the moment. Dove uses interesting diction in line 20, where she writes, “because you’re a fugitive now.” A fugitive is someone who runs away from something, and this can be symbolically interpreted as the mother repeatedly running away from acknowledging the fact that she is robbing her child from independence and the experience of growing up. In the last few lines, 24-28, Dove writes, “O why did you pick that idiot flower? Because it was the last one and you knew it was going to die.” These lines sum up the message Rita Dove is trying to convey: mothers have a natural, inevitable tendency to want to try to preserve their beautiful child and keep them forever safe.
ReplyDeleteI honestly had no idea what "Heroes" was about, so this is truly interesting. The connection between the flower and the meaning behind it is very creative and a nice catch on your part. My question is, what did Dove mean by "a juicy spot in the written history" in line 12?
DeleteThe poems "Primer & Persephone, Falling" for me they both have a powerful motherly feeling. In "Primer" for example, when the girl is gonna get bullied but then her mom "shake them down to size," it just shows me the power the mother has to the girls by making them stop, and protecting her daughter, and in "Persephone, Falling" its not about what the mother does, but what the mother says,
ReplyDelete"(Remember: go straight to school.
This is important, stop fooling around!
Don't answer to strangers. Stick
with your playmates. Keep your eyes down.)"
Which I can feel the power of the moms rules, by her commanding which is amazing!
I totally agree! There is definitely a sort of motherly theme in the two poems. In both "Primer" and "Persephone, Falling" we see these mothers desperately trying to protect their kin from school yard bullies and also the seductively dangerous Hades. However, in the poems we also see deviance coming from the children that the mothers are trying to care for. In "Primer" the 6th grade narrator is dead set on not entering her mom's car, even though it would provide solace from her bullies. And again in "Persephone, Falling" it can be inferred that Persephone does not head to her mother's warnings, as according to Greek mythology Persephone does leave with Hades. The question is: why do these young children not wish to accept their parent's advice and help?
DeleteI don't think the kids intentionally choose to not follow parent's advice. During teenage years, there is an internal urge to prove people wrong, specially parents. Once their mind is made up on a matter, there isn't much that will change it. In this case, the character in 'Primer' acknowledges her mother's presence and protective abilities. Yet, the character refuses to get in a car where she will be safe from the bullies or the world's negativity for that matter. She desires to overcome difficulties on her own terms rather than have her 'five-foot-zero' mother deal with her problems. The urge to show independence will always be evident among mother-daughter relationships even if it means for one side to get hurt. In the end, a lesson will be learned by both sides.
DeleteThis is a very good similarity between the two! I think that these two poems have a motherly theme and in this case, the mothers actions have a huge effect. I think both of these poems shows how much power a mother has and how effective it can be. It also shows that a mother of a child is willing to do anything for them. I think the main goal of the mothers in these two poems is protectiveness. I think a lot of mom in modern day and in any situations share this same trait.
DeleteI found it interesting how Rita Dove's poem is entitled "Heroes" while the behavior exhibited by the narrator in the poem is not heroic at all but rather disturbing and cowardly. Why would the two pieces of the poem blatantly contradict themselves? Is Rita Dove perhaps saying she maybe condones these actions because the narrator is attempting to make something beautiful out of a wilting flower? Or is she simply using this contradiction to create some cruel ironic effect? The narrator also never refers to themselves as "I" or "me", but always "you". Like she's trying to separate herself from the person who committed the crime because she too realizes the violence and incredibility of her actions. All in all, this poem leaves me with more questions than answers, but maybe that was exactly what the author was trying to achieve in this work.
ReplyDeleteI think that the way Dove used 'you' rather than 'i' or 'me' was so that the perspective shifted, putting the reader in the foot steps of the criminal. This give the poem a more emotional feel. It allows the reader so almost connect with the feelings of the person, especially when she writes "..stirring as your heart pounds into your throat".
DeleteIn Rita Dove's poem "Demeter, Waiting", Dove portrays the utter agony of losing a child. This is done through many different literary techniques. The one I found most striking was the way she used 'bear' rather than 'bare' then when saying "Who can bear it." This makes the reader think of actual bear, therefore allowing the reader to make the connection between the relationship between Demeter and Persephone to that of a mother bear and her cub. Demeter's anger is very similar to that of a mother bear, if said bear were to lose her cub.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was weird that he used the word "bear", but it fits well in this situation, since all animals and humans have the instinct to become angry and miserable, knowing they might not ever see their child again.
DeleteI agree with you, the fact that the writer uses bear instead of bare is amazing! We can see an entire different meaning of not only the sentence but the entire poem. The fact that the Rita Dove uses bear instead of bare, it makes the poem describe things in a better way, it connects the relationship of each other, and makes a powerful impact on the readers. We can also relate us to the animals, the way Rita relates the mother to her daughter as a mother bear and a cub, just as you said.
DeleteIn the poem “Mother Love”, it describes the actions and instincts that every mother has, as seen in the quote, “Toss me a baby and without bothering to blink I’ll catch her, sling him on a hip.” Mothers are very protective and play a very important role in a child's life, which makes their love so strong. They will never stop protecting their child and will always put their lives first. It provides a loving tone, knowing that there will always that one person who will be by your side to protect you at all costs. Some people do not appreciate their mothers at all times and I believe this poem was Rita Dove’s way of showing many people how hard they hard they work and their importance as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of the poem. I believe this poem also portrays how mothers feel obligated to raise children, even though the children will grow up and the mother will lose them. This shows how strongly mothers love their children, that they are willing to let them go.
DeleteI completely agree with this. I think that is why Rita Dove relates a lot of her poems with Demeter and Persphone, because Persphone did all she could to raise her daughter perfectly, yet she still left, abruptly. I believe as you stated, that "Mother Love" shows all of her true feelings behind the relationship between mothers and daughters with a mix her own experiences as well.
DeleteIn the poem "Primer", Dove exposes the reader to a character that comes off as troubled by others, often misunderstood. Reminiscing back to middle school years, happy memories come to mind. It was a time of growth and exploration as everyone was trying to 'fit in' and deal with the concept of being a teenager. In the case of the poem, the character was being 'chased home by the Catlin kids' and being called "Stringbean" (Dove 7). Such actions are classic examples of what bullying looks like among sixth graders; often characterized by name-calling or physical intimidation. When looking at an actual stringbean, one notices its elongation and ability to easily break, which were characteristics that the bullying kids associated with the main character. It is natural to infer that the main character doesn't have enough confidence as she is allowing herself to be bullied. As the poem continues, the character proudly thinks: "Who is calling who skinny?". The clear indication of sass displays confidence from the inside even if the courage to display it on the outside isn't yet there. The character is aware of her physical size and she doesn't mind comparisons when it comes to it. it is later mentioned that "[her] five-foot-zero mother drove up in her Caddie to shake [the Catlin kids] down to size". Clearly, the character isn't ashamed of the mother's height or her ability to deal with bullies as she specifically states that her height is 'five-foot-zero" and not a inch more. The reader senses the pride and confidence boost as the character describes her mother, even if there are differences among the mother and daughter. It's almost as if the daughter is speaking in an idolizing manner as she aspires to achieve the same confidence that her own mother possesses. The bond is beautifully portrayed as the mother protects her child from negative influences and the daughter secretly praises what has been done for her.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis and loved that you pointed out the daughter’s confidence boost that the reader senses when the daughter is describing her mother. It is evident that she admires her mother and wishes to secure the same level of confidence. I would just like to add another piece of interesting commentary. Although the daughter talks about her mother in this almost idolizing manner and her admiration for her mother is clearly shown, when the mother comes to the rescue, the daughter turns her back to her mom as she does not get in the car and goes her own way home. This is essential for her to learn independence and start gaining that confidence she wishes to attain. It shows the cruel nature of loving and letting go. Mothers will be there to nurture their children, but eventually the children will leave to live their own independent lives, taking with them everything they learned from their mothers.
DeleteThe thing that caught my eye most about the poem, "The Bistro Styx," was the repetition of the color grey (or synonyms for grey). In the first stanza of the poem, her cape is described as silvery. From then on the girl in which the poem is referring to is described as wearing grey, graphite, and brushed steel. All these plain and bland colors give the girl a very dull and serious feel. It also creates kind of a harsh tone for the reader. Since this poem is referencing to Demeter visiting her daughter, Persephone, in the underworld, it could represent how the once beautiful and bright Persephone has changed since meeting up with Hades. This could be referencing the feelings that a mother feels when she sees her daughter start to be with the mother less and instead be with a boyfriend, husband, etc. In this case, the mother doesn't like what the daughter has become with her man (shown by the dull, sad colors).
ReplyDeleteYes I completely agree with your interpretation! I like the touch about the silver and bland colors. I believe that since this is a modern version of the ancient Greek myth, they share many similarities with each other. The daughter represents Persephone, the mother - Demeter, and the boyfriend is Hades. This dull look that the daughter carries ever since she met her boyfriend shows her rejection of affection towards her mother and a newly adopted formality. As you mentioned, this symbolic of the change Persephone goes through while with Hades in the underworld. The fact that the daughter continuously eats throughout the poem is also symbolic of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds. The pomegranate seeds Persephone ate caused her to become forever trapped in the underworld. Similarly, the daughter in this poem eats, "in its fragrant crust, a black plug steaming...one touch with her fork sent pink juices streaming" and later on, it is mentioned that "nothing seemed to fill her up". The delicacies served to her do not wholly satisfy her so she can never finish, just as Persephone can never fully return to the human world with Demeter. The connection between the pomegranate seeds and food demonstrate the daughter's separation from her mother and reflects her choice of living with the "modern" Hades, further distancing herself from her past life.
DeleteOne poem of Rita Dove's that really stood out to me was "Golden Oldie". At first it just seems like a young woman becoming absorbed into the lyrics of a love song. Then, I wondered how this poem even fit in to the Mother Love theme. I went deeper into the poem and decided it was like a daughter who is new to life alone. The narrator is not used to the emptiness left where the mother used to be, and she feels the need to fill it with another person. When she states that the singer in the song is "dying to feel alive, to discover a pain majestic enough to live by", she is trying to explain how loving or caring for someone makes you feel complete, and in that way more alive. However, when loss in the relationship occurs, it turns into a painful wound. In spite of the pain, people gravitate to love, because it is in our nature. In this way, the love from her mother has left her so desparate that the narrator truly relates to the ballad song by the singer of the song.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting. I had never really thought of that before. I definitely agree with you. I think 'Golden Oldie' really emphasizes the importance of a mother-daughter relationship. This poem shows that a mother's love is genuine and unconditional. But, like you said, it shows that every person is eager for love. It is human nature for us to want to feel fulfilled with love. The tone of this poem is very intense and sorrowful. I also think that it also makes the poem relatable to the audience as well.
DeleteThe first difference that I noticed between the poem “Breakfast of Champions” and many of the other poems in Mother Love that relate to the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter is the difference in conflict and mood. The poem is related to Demeter with the line, “a little dust on a laurel branch.” The laurel branch is the type of branch that was used in crowns. The crown is likely meant to show that the main character is a god or leader and Demeter is the most likely god based on the other poems of Mother Love. In “Breakfast of Champions,” Demeter is trying to make it through the day. The tone in much more passive than the other poems on Demeter. In the other poem, Demeter angry about what has happened to Persephone and is seeking revenge or wishing to change the past. The passive nature of the poem can be seen in both the weather of overcast skies, looking to escape with drinks, and the line, “to find a place fit for mourning.” The tone of the poem is one of acceptance of fate. The anger has passed and all Demeter can do is wait and go through the motions of life. The pain from the loss of her daughter is seen in her complete lack of energy. One part I didn’t understand was, “a sonic hospital graph announcing recovery.” Does this relate to an event in Rita Dove’s Life of possibly be loosely related to the myth itself?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what a laurel branch was!! I agree with your interpretations, but I feel like this poem is in Demeter's point of view. I don't think it really relates to the myth, and I don't know enough about Dove's life to know if it relates to her. I found the last two lines interesting though, "Though I pour myself the recommended bowlful,/stones are what I sprinkle among the chaff." I wonder what that means...
DeleteIn the poem Primer Dove uses body image to create a repetition and syntax to the poem. Every person brought into the poem is describe by using size, height, or the lack of caring about body image to portray a picture of the character. “Five-Foot-zero mother” & “Three skinny sisters” are direct references of the body. Both give the reader a prominent figure and preconceived notion of the person being described. She speaks of being bullied because of her size, yet she remind those reading that her mother isn’t tall. I think this was brought to show us that no matter what size our mother she will always be there “To drive up in her caddie” & “Shake them down to size” mothers are meant to protect us. In this specific scenario the mother probably knows what its like to be made of for her size so she fights to protect her daughter. The best part though is how the daughter fights to be independent and show them that she doesn’t need her mother. The significance of growth, size, and independence is not something to be looked over in this poem. Also to complete the poem it was written with 14 lines making it a sonnet. Coincidence?
ReplyDeleteThe poem Demeter, Waiting, acts as a sequel to the poem Persephone, Falling. It is easy to notice that the titles are very similar in structure, both starting off with a name, then a comma, followed by an verb ending in "ing". This parallel structure is an obvious hint that these poems are connected. Also, both poems are 14 lines long, making them both sonnets.The first poem, Persephone, Falling, the poem discusses how exactly Persephone was taken into the underworld, and her mothers warning before hand. And in Demeter, Waiting, you now see Demeter's sorrow and rage now that her beloved daughter is gone. Demeter says "I will drag my grief through a winter of my own making and refuse any meadow that recycles itself into hope", this is meant to be figuratively and literally, according to Greek mythology. Figuratively, Demeter creates this "winter" that is her own sorrow and the pain she feels that her daughter is gone. She says she will refuse any meadow, this shows how sad she is, because she doesn't even want to be happy if she had the chance. Then literally, Demeter is the creator of the real seasons like fall and winter on the Earth because of her sadness, and then spring and summer when her daughter returns. The first poem has a tone that is more cautionary and worrisome, while the second one displays grief, anger, and sorrow.
ReplyDeleteIn Rita Dove's poem, "Party Dress for a First Born", the speaker/listener relationship is hard to define, because the whole collection of poems is about a mother's love for her daughter. However, there are a couple of indicators that it may be more of a sister to sister relationship. The very last line says "Mother's calling. Stand up: it will be our secret". This doesn't sound like something that you would say to your daughter, but more like a older sister talking to her younger sister. The last stanza by itself could also be interpreted as an older sister's protectiveness of her younger sibling, especially if that younger sister is not supposed to be at a certain social event. "When I step out, disguised in your blushing skin../ I will smile, all the while wishing them dead." This points me toward the conclusion of a sister-sister relationship rather than a mother-daughter relationship. The only thing that puts a damper on this conclusion is line 6 when Dove says "When I ran to my mother, waiting radiant" which, if they were siblings, the author would have said "our mother" so that line could indicate a mother telling her daughter of how she felt at her daughter's age. Overall, this poem's narrator/reader dynamic is varied and clearly open to interpretation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a interesting perspective and I defiantly agree with it! It all ties together on how it could be a sister- sister relationship. I think that the ending part does throw it off but maybe there is a deeper meaning we cannot quite see yet. Rita Doves way of writing these poems have seemed to be tricky but always have the deeper meaning so I agree with you and the sister-sister outlook on it!
DeleteOne thing that I noticed, was, “Persephone, Falling” and “Demeter, Waiting” correspond with each other in the retelling of a myth. Demeter is known as the “goddess” of harvest and Persephone is her daughter. Rita Dove wrote a poem about Persephone being taking to the underworld and then in another poem the mothers feelings about it. In “Demeter, Waiting” Persephone’s mother is not happy with herself for letting her daughter go but has to deal with it. The descriptive detail is very important in these two poems, as is the tone as well. It is very intense and shows Persephone’s mothers emotions in a great matter. Her mother says that she will wait all winter and stop harvesting crops, emotionally, until her daughter comes back. This shows that her mom is willing to do anything to get her daughter back. In “Persephone, Falling” it has a part in parenthesis where it describes, in my opinion, what her mom has told her about being safe and this shows that her mom is protective. In “Demeter, Waiting” her mom does not think that she has done a good job on being a mother and failed by not keeping her daughter safe. I think that these two poems correlate in a way where it shows a cause/effect on Demeter. This is very important for all of us to notice because it can help us all have a better understanding on both of these poems. Does anyone have anything to add or a different opinion?
ReplyDeleteThe poem Wiederkehr, is about the rape and kidnapping of Demeter and how Dove reflects that on society taking her daughter. Dove writes, "He only wanted me for happiness..and not think so much...I sat to hold the rain untouched inside me" . This displays the innocence of Demeter and how the Hades wanted her for that, and her beauty mainly came from that too, comparing it to Dove's daughter saying how she was innocent and naive but the influence of society took her over. When Riva Dove refers to the rain in this poem, I believe that is a symbol of evil or negative influence. Using "rain" as the symbol shows it how is somewhat something you really can't control and it will eventually just happen. One must go through that experience of being "corrupted" to find themselves. As Rita Dove says in the poem, "...if I would stay. which is why, when the choice appeared. I reached for it". I feel like this line has a lot of meaning behind it. A lot of which goes with independence, being able to make your own choice based on your own experience. Rita Dove realized that her daughter, although she was "taken" by society, has that experience to make her own choices.
ReplyDeleteSomething else I found interesting about this poem was the line breaks. I believe Rita Dove uses line breaks to show something. In the beginning, she uses small quick brisk lines, she uses these to make the reader feel calm, somewhat enchanted, yet when the poem goes on, it starts getting longer lines, to show how it is dragging on and becoming more intense.
I agree with your interpretations of this poem. I also like how you interpreted "rain" as something that is unexpected, and it just happens when it happens. I agree that the line structure of this poem contributes a lot to the poem. In the first part of the poem with short lines, it almost has a positive tone to it. In the second part of the poem, it becomes darker and more somber.
DeleteIn the poem, "Exit", by Rita Dove, the emotional process of a daughter leaving her mother is evidently expressed. As the daughter leaves the house, she sees the streets, "clean of people, of cats; except it is YOUR (I can't do italics) street". A child that leaves his or her parent's house for the first time begins to see the world for themselves. They are all on their own and must live a life independent from others. This would explain why the daughter sees a lack of activity in the streets and hits the harsh realization that she is leaving "HER" street, her familiarity, her home. The contrast between the windows turning pink "doing what they do every dawn", and the outside being gray, "This suitcase, the saddest object in the world" mirrors the emotions the girl is experiencing. Pink suggests warmth and happiness, and is a sign of femininity. The windows that habitually turn pink bring solace and reminiscence to the girl, but the outside appears gray and bleak. She feels sorrow at the prospect of leaving her mother, hence the reason why the suitcase elicits sadness. Knowing that she must start her own life "the sky begins to blush, as you did when your mother told you what it took to be a woman in this life". Again, this resembles back to the windows that turn pink each day at dawn. One is said to turn "pink" when they blush, so this shows a striking similarity between the window and the sky. The daughter understands that she must leave and start her own life, therefore she must raise her head to the sky and remain optimistic about this transition. she must grow and learn and transform from a girl into a woman, as her mother once taught her.
ReplyDeleteRita Dove creates a lot of parallels to the myth of Demeter and Persephone in the poem "The Bistro Styx". In the poem, the daughter seems focused on food rather than conversing with her mother. For an example near the end of the book, when the mother asks her if she was happy, she evades the subject and bit into a fig. This is parallel to Persephone eating the seeds from the pomegranate. After they both eat the fruit, the mothers realizes that their daughters are 'lost'. Another parallel is Styx. In the myth, Styx is a river between the Underworld and earth. If dipped in the river, one would gain invulnerability (Achilles) but if one drank from the river, they would have their memories erased. The daughter drinking the wine corresponds with how forgetful the daughter is and could represent how she forgot about her values in life. I feel like this poem shows how in modern society, people do things to escape reality, and to forget.
ReplyDeleteThe poem Heroes and Persephone, Falling are related. It seems to me that the poppy in the weedy field represents Persephone because there is only one flower since Rita Dove said "A flower in a weedy field", which makes that poppy significant because it's rare. Same as Persephone, Falling because there is only "one narcissus flower among the ordinary beautiful flowers, one unlike all the others!" The Persephone, Falling poem also emphasized that Persephone is special and better than the other flowers. Both poems uses flowers as an imagery. At the part when the poppy flower gets picked in the Heroes poem, it's like Hades kidnapping Persephone. The woman who screamed represents Demeter, who is full of sorrow because the poppy "gave her the strength every morning to rise". At the part when the person taking the poppy flower strikes the woman and causes the woman to hit her head on the a white boulder, it seems like Hades mentally injured Demeter greatly by kidnapping her daughter. Rita made the boulder white to symbolize the snowy, winter months that describes the agonizing pain that Demeter goes through without her daughter. The Heroes poem is telling the Persephone mythology in Hades point of view and shows what he feels like when he kidnaps Persephone. It tries to make the readers understand Hades and see that he's not a total bad guy; what he did was out of blind love. He even thought of returning Persephone to her mother, but it was too late because she ate six of his seeds. This part of the story is related to the Heroes poem because the person apologized to the woman but "it's too late for apologies though you go through the motions, offering trinkets and a juicy spot in the written history...".
ReplyDeleteI love how you thought about the symbol of the flower! I was quite confused at first reading this poem and I even made a note to ask a question about the meaning behind the white boulder. It all makes sense now! I also love the meaning behind the color in the poem representing winter and the loss of her daughter.
DeleteIn "Breakfast of Champions", it talks about a mourning and sorrowful person and based on the poems in Mother Love, I believe that this poem is based on Demeter's perspective.
ReplyDelete"Finally, overcast skies."
I infer that this is talking about the period of time when Persephone is in the underworld, because overcast skies usually correlate with the fall and winter seasons.
"worked my way through petals and sunlight
to find a place fit for mourning"
When Persephone isn't by her side, Demeter worries about the safety of Persephone. Because she is so worried, all she can do is grieve about her daughter. For every mother, her child is one of the most important persons in her life and not being able to see him/her pains every mother.
"...the first pair of Canada geese have arrived on the lake."
The signs of animals coming out into the open shows the early signs of Spring and warm weather, and also when Persephone returns back to her mother.
"... a sonic hospital graph
announcing recovery. Arise, it's a brand new morning!"
Persephone returning back to her mother revives her mother's mood and makes her relieved and happy again. This shows how just anticipating to see the child makes the mother feel 100 times better. After months of not hearing from Persephone, Demeter's mood takes a 180 degree turn when Spring comes and she knows that her child will be back by her side.
In the poem "Heroes" by Rita Dove, I found the structure of the poem very interesting. She writes the poem directed at the reader constantly saying "you" or "your". A couple examples of this are when she says "you pick it" or "you knew it was going to die." She says the words you or your ten times in the poem. This gives the poem a accusing tone and makes the reader feel almost guilty. If the poem is coming from a mother's perspective to a daughter, it shows the authority that mothers have over daughters. This differs from many of the other poems in the "mothers and daughters" category because it doesn't show how a mother loves her daughter but instead how a mother has authority over her daughter.
ReplyDelete“Party Dress for a First Born” is about how girls need to grow up and their reluctance to do such. The passage, “When I ran to my mother… the world stood still.” talks about how, when troubled, the child would race to her mother for aid, who made the troubles cease.
ReplyDeleteThe opening sentence speaks of a “headless girl”, referring to the party dress the child was given. The second paragraph speaks of men and women at the party, making it appear as if the party dress is for a grown up party. The ‘girl’ is headless to represent how the first born child sees growing up: empty and senseless (headless).
Ladies were described as “... petals waiting to loosen.” which gave the image of women as flowers. The loosening of the petals equates to the blossoming of the flower and thus, the maturing and growth of girls. When men are described as “elegant scissors”, it could be another way of describing them as gardening shears, off to go take hold of the girls once they’ve matured enough.
When she speaks of being “ill at ease on the bed”, it shows her discomfort of the inevitable intercourse that she will later come to face in life.
Girls, overall, do not generally wish to grow up, but rather stay in their ideal and carefree life. However, they are forced to grow up into a society where it is required.
I support your comparisons within this poem. I believe this poem holds a lot of feminine symbolism as Dove includes the unwillingness of girls growing up and the discomfort of maturing. Your idea that the "headless girl" represents a senseless child stood out to me because of the obvious examples of coming of age throughout the passage. Because this section of poems is focused on the topic of mothers, this poem is also a significant representation of how a mother is important for a young girl's introduction to womanhood and influence through hard times of reluctance to grow up.
DeleteI found that in the poem "Used," Rita Dove portrays a more modern tone that can relate to today's society. Contrasting to her usual theme of a Greek mythology connection within her sonnets, this poem begins with a stanza that you would see in present-day articles. The passage leads with, "The conspiracy's to make us thin. Size threes are all the rage, and skirts ballooning above twinkling knees are every man-child's preadolescent dream." This isn't the norm for Dove, as she sets the alert and important tone for the poem. As she is referring "us" as the entire women population, the debate of female image and views from society lead into her own personal life as a woman. While most of her writing in this section ties into Persephone or motherly figures, this poem gives the reader a sense of the emotional exhaustion women go through. In the writing, she describes herself as had experienced "postnatal dread" from a "child that emptied her of their brief interior light." The context of her just giving birth is a very important factor from the italicized sentence referring to her muscles, "We have been used," along with the title. As a mother, Dove portrayed her own life of how she saw how small sizes and skirts were popular and related the views of today's society into the writing.
ReplyDeleteRita Dove’s The Bistro Styx is a part of a modernisation of the myth of the Abduction of Persephone in which the mother (Demeter) meets her daughter (Persephone) who has presumably moved away to live with her boyfriend (Hades) whom her mother deeply disapproves of. The poem is an exploration of the separation that now exists between them.
ReplyDelete‘“Sorry I’m late” she panted, though she wasn’t’
This can be interpreted two ways: one, she showed up on time and apologised out of habit, or two, she intentionally showed up late and apologised because it was fashionable. All throughout there is also vivid description of food and drink with long French names like ‘Chateaubriand,’ ‘Pinot Noir,’ ‘Camembert’ which the daughter keeps eating seemingly insatiable, almost gluttonously unless they are eating extremely small portions. This contrasts with the mother who only watches her eat and tries to interact with her daughter who quickly dismisses her. The final line spoken by the mother, ‘“But are you happy?”’ is answered with a dismissive ‘“What? You know, Mother—one should try the fruit here.”’ The fruit is a reference to the pomegranate seeds Persephone of the myth ate which bound her to the underworld. The daughter dismissing her final question which some mundane conversation filler about the fruit is what makes the mother finally realise the extent of the barrier which has formed between them. ‘I’ve lost her, I thought, and called for the bill.’
In the poem" Primer", the characters parallel those in Greek mythology. Following our discussion of Persephone, Falling in class, the narrator is Persephone and her mother is Demeter. The Gatlin kids represent the three fates and the poem shows that one cannot run away from fate as the fates "trod" on Persephone's heels. The Gatlin kids also represent Hades indirectly as Persephone's fate is to be trapped by Hades and her mother tries to do everything in her power to stop it, "shaking Hades down to size."
ReplyDeleteIn her poem "Sonnet in Primary Colours", Rita Dove uses juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery to portray the life of Frida Kahlo. In the poem, Frida is described using natural and positive imagery, often associating her with animal-like qualities, "This is for the woman with one black wing/perched over her eyes: lovely Frida, erect/among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant" (Dove 1-3). This imagery embodies the blunt, realist paintings that Frida is famous for. The positive imagery of animals and nature suggests that Frida finds freedom in her painting. This positive imagery is juxtaposed with negative imagery that is associated with Diego, whom Frida was married to, "...Diego's/love a skull in the circular window/of the thumbprint searing her immutable brow." (11-13). This shows how Frida feels pained by her relationship with Diego. In the first line, Frida's brow is described using natural and positive words such as "wing" and "perched". In the last line, Diego is described as "searing her immutable brow". This negative imagery juxtaposed with the positive imagery shows how Frida feels that Diego destroys the beautiful freedom she finds in her work.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis involving the juxtaposition of the positive and negative imagery and how it is well balanced throughout the poem.
DeleteThis is an interesting analysis, I had a totally different interpretation and yours make just as much sense as mine. I thought that Dove was describing her beauty, not her art, mostly because of the line "lovely Frieda, erect/ among parrots". Your analysis make so much more sense! But I have a question about the poem. Why do you think she titled it a sonnet when there are only 13 lines in the poem?
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DeleteMelanie brought up a good point. The fact that there are only 13 lines is fairly interesting. My best guess, which I happen to be very proud of, is that there are 13 lines because there are 13 letters in the combined names of the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. This still doesn't necessarily explain why Dove titled the poem as a sonnet and not "Primary Colors."
DeleteI didn't notice that interesting point about the sonnet until you pointed it out! I also may have to do with how Dove is "destroying" the balance and integrity of the sonnet, just as Diego is destroying Frida's life and freedom.
DeleteIn the poem, “Canary” Rita Dove uses the word ‘burned” in the first line that seems to indicate that Billie Holiday was hurt in her life, or represents her hard past and difficult present. Some example of this could involve the time she was sent to jail, at age 14, for prostitution, or when she became addicted to heroin, or even involving her abusive and violent marriage. All of these difficult times is also reflected in the line ‘had as many shadows as lights’. Throughout her life she had many rough patches, but she still had music and became popular by her glamorous lifestyle and reputation, although it was limited.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. I also like how at the end of the poem it says, "If you can't be free, be a mystery." This line is significant because Billie Holiday had to do some horrible things in order to support her and her mother, which she kept a secret about. Also, she had to put on a mask and pretend to be fine when in reality her life was a mess. She had to constantly act like her life was put together in order for people to buy her music and to make it big in the industry.
DeleteIn the poem, Catherine of Alexandria, Dove uses imagery to portray the life of Catherine. It gives a tone of innocence and purity. “A kept promise,” signifies that Catherine of Alexandria vowed to stay a virgin in order to follow Jesus. She also claimed that she was in a relationship with Jesus, which led her to be beheaded. This poem gives a clear picture on how she wanted to live her life. Catherine left a huge impact because she paved a way for women to have a role in politics as well as in the church.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis that the poem depicts a tone of innocence and purity. She seems to be hiding her life as the passage states, "and what went on each night was fit for nobody's ears but Jesus'." The secretive mood of this poem tells the story of her struggle to remain a virgin to follow Jesus. I believe Dove exemplified her hidden lifestyle as, "Deprived of learning and the chance to travel," while she was deprived of new experiences as she had to keep her promise to Jesus.
DeleteCatherine of Alexandria, was a Christian Saint who believed she was married to Jesus Christ by Mary, herself. And therefore, she had consecrated her virginity to him. I agree with both of you in terms of the tone. There is definitely something sort of innocent and naive about this piece of writing. I think this poem is Catherine of Alexandria reflecting on her own life, perhaps as an older woman. She has lived a very deprived and lack-luster life, and so her childhood innocence is still intact. There's also something almost depressing about this poem- like maybe she's sad that her life has been so heavily dictated by her promise to Jesus. She has lived a life without knowledge, without any sort of birth. In this poem, I see a sort of internal conflict. Catherine of Alexandria is morning her vanilla life, and all the while she is trying to reassure herself that she has not loved without cause by saying that He has fit ears and breath of a lily.
Delete'Nestor's Bathtub' could be read two different ways. The first time I read the poem, I felt like Dove was discussing how Nestor's wife was behaving poorly while Nestor was fighting in the Trojan war. Dove writes, "Nestor's wife was the one/ to crouch under/ jug upon jug of fragrant water poured/ until the room steamed." I thought that this refered to the water being poured onto Nestor's wife. Later in the poem, Dove writes "his wife with her white hands' scraped the dirt from a lover's back". Nestor's wife is engaged in immoral behaviors while her husband is fighting a war. Her white hands can be interpreted as a person who didn't do any work and is always being pampered. In the last section of the poem, Dove explains how only the tub, combs and drinking cups lasted. Which could suggest how Nestor's possessions have been destroyed and the things that lasted were things that his wife had and used. The things that survived were the extravagant objects left from his wife's life. After re-reading the poem, I saw that this poem could be interpreted differently. When Dove writes, "Nestor's wife was the one/ to crouch under/ jug upon jug of fragrant water poured/ until the room steamed", she could also mean that his wife was the one working in his home pouring the water in the bathtub to clean it. And that she took on another lover because Nestor was too busy doing other things. Also, the tub stands because she cared for it. Overall, I felt like this poem explains how history could be seen in different perspectives. Additionally, the fact that Dove did not mention the name of his wife once, she could suggest how women were ignored in history. When researching for Nestor's Wife, there was little to no information at all. A part from the poem that was confusing to me was when she writes "this heap of limestone/blocks-look how they fell, blasted..." Does she mean that there is something blocking us, preventing us from seeing the truth? Or was she referring to something else?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting interpretation. I really like both ways that you pointed out, but the second theory makes a little more sense to me. The way I interpreted the blasting of the limestone could be a metaphor of the anger released by Nestor when he finds out what his wife had been doing, like a violent outburst symbolized in the downfall of the foundations of the building as well as their relationship. I feel like everything Nestor did to secure his ideals were not as well planned out, so they crumbled after his death. However, since his wife had more moral and was respected by so many, she had a stronger reputation that lasted for years after her death, signified by her remaining possessions.
DeleteWhat really stood out to me in Rita Dove’s poem titled, “Canary,” was the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery in the very first stanza. When Dove describes Billie Holiday’s voice, she says it “had as many shadows as lights.” The “shadows,” which represent Billie Holiday’s struggles with poverty, rape, prostitution, and drugs, are clearly intended to symbolically communicate the bad aspects of her life. The “lights,” which represent big city lights, fame, and success, are symbolic of the good aspects of her life once she became well known. In the following line, Dove writes, “a mournful candelabra against a sleek piano.” Here, the reader envisions the scene as it is described. Instead of a peaceful, elegant candle holder with flickering flames, the candelabra is sad-looking and positioned next to a beautiful musical instrument. The last piece of evidence for the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery is the line, “the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.” A gardenia is a beautiful, white flower that signifies secret or untold love. This flower is positive nature imagery, but it’s paired with the negative imagery of the singer’s “ruined face.” Through these cases of positive and negative imagery juxtaposition, Rita Dove is able to emphasize the happy and sad, or good and bad parts of Billie Holiday’s life.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading "Canary", I noticed the same patterns! I believe Dove wanted to emphasize that there are always two sides to the aspect of fame: the good and bad side. Most importantly, she wanted to emphasize that they go hand in hand with each other. It is seamlessly done with a character such as Billie Holiday because she got to experience the advancement of jazz and pop music industry, as she was a part of what caused that advancement. During that process, she was introduced to heroin, one of the most dangerous and addictive drug out there. It wasn't long before she became addicted and got in trouble with the law as a result of it. Billie Holiday was an amazing artist who didn't get to fully experience the goods of her art; she was never fully liberated. Dove named the poem "Canary" because of the similarities between the bird and the singer. Canaries are known to have very melodic voices, so they are often kept in cages in order to provide entertainment. They are never liberated from their cage unless they are raised in the wild. Similarly, Billie Holiday was an attractive artist who could sing beautifully but her bad habits didn't allow her to further reach her absolute potential. Her addiction represented a metaphorical cage which she had built around herself. Ultimately, her reckless decisions ended up costing her life as she died at a tender age of 44 because of heart failure due to drug and alcohol abuse.
DeleteI do agree with how the poem is speaking to Billie Holiday specifically, but I also think that Rita was trying to send a more general message. She was trying to portray that even though it might look like people are good on the surface, there is a dark side to everybody that is often times kept a secret. Even an amazing singer like Billie still had to rely heavily on drugs to function. This theme is super common throughout musicians and actors. Just look at Kurt Cobain or Robin Williams. Both were extremely talented and successful but it still didn't make them happy. So while Rita was talking about Billie, she could have also just been trying to send a more general message.
Delete"Tou Wan speaks to her husband, Liu Sheng" is a poem that really stood out to me because of its hidden message which was conveyed through the usage of specific imagery and appealing word choice. Dove allows the reader to gain perspective on what marriage looked like in ancient times in China. The men were viewed as the dominant partner and women were often characterized as subservient and obedient. Dove writes," I will build you a house of limited chambers but it shall last forever". The woman's love for Liu Sheng is compared to the house that she is willing to build for him. Although the love, and the house, may be limited in size, it will last forever. Tow Wan is willing to deal with all problems that life will bring to their relationship since her love for him will last 'forever'. Her adoration is thoroughly revealed as she is proud to put tremendous effort in order to ensure her own husband's happiness. Her love for Liu Sheng isn't portrayed as bothersome; instead, it is portrayed as something she is willing to work hard for. Dove later describes the husband as "her only conqueror", meaning that loyalty and trust is evident in the relationship and Tow Wan isn't too shy to glorify her husband by calling him a 'conqueror'. Women in today's society would argue that Tow Wan is trying to mold herself and her beliefs in order to please her husband, thus revealing that she is the weaker link in the relationship. Do you guys see this as a form of weakness or is Tow Wan genuinely concerned about her husband's well-being and trying her hardest to make things good with him?
ReplyDeleteI think that the use of calling her husband "conqueror" multiple times is not her showing she is less than him, but just expressing how much he means to her. She is willing to buy him a lamp, a statue, bronze jugs, and a jade burial suit for him, and it's out of love. The part of the poem in parenthesis that says "(And a statue of the palace girl you most frequently coveted)" shows even more that she loves him and can overlook even him wanting other women for physical reasons, because they share such a strong bond and love for each other.
DeleteI definitely perceive it as a weakness because it seems she gives herself no value, aside from her love. However, the wife truly does want the best for her husband. As I was reading this poem, I found myself feeling increasingly sorry for Tou Wan because she is essentially proclaiming her undying love for her husband all the while it seems he could not care less. This is evident in the lines, “worth more than a family pays in taxes for the privilege to stay alive, a year, together...but you’re bored. Straight ahead then, the hall leading to you, my constant emperor.” The ellipsis is very important because it gives the reader the sense that the wife is explaining the great extent of her love, but then she sees her husband’s disinterest and reverts to explaining the luxurious house plans to interest him again. Tou Wan doesn’t seem to be deterred by this considering she goes on to refer to him as “my constant emperor.” She is so blinded by her love for Liu Sheng that she dispels any of his potential flaws. “Here when the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air (but you will find none)” is a perfect line that illustrates this. She feels the need to convince him he is perfect. In the last stanza, “when you are long light and clouds over the earth” is a metaphor that paints him almost like a god and it shows how deeply Tou Wan idolizes her husband.
DeleteI had two interpretations of the poem Party Dress for a First Born. The poem refers to a girl, Persephone, headless and thinking of nothing. The first stanza talks about feeling nothing for anyone accept her mother. It goes on to depict men as hated and meaningless to Persephone. At first I thought this poem was about the unwillingness to leave her mother for Hades and her hatred toward him. “Tonight men stride like elegant scissors across the lawn to the women array there, petals waiting to loosen.” Off the bat I thought this line was referring to sex as “petals waiting to loosen”, and the elegant men as the ones taking her purity. As well, when she wishes them dead it seems she feels a strong hatred to these men. I thought this poem was relating to the real world issue of forceful sex and prostitution. Now looking into it more I think it is simpler than that. My second interpretation of this poem had nothing to do with hades. This poem could refer to the coming of age of Persephone and her reluctance to be in a “party dress”. The men striding elegantly to the women and the petals being loosened could symbolize a garden and the petals being girls waiting to be picked by a man. Persephone is reluctant to grow up and this is what I believe the sonnet is truly representing, her reluctance but desire to please her mother.
ReplyDeleteI found "Nestor's Bathtub" to be a very interesting poem, and it starts off with a great hook. The first sentence of the poem states "As usual, legend got it all wrong: Nestor's wife was the one to crouch under jug upon jug of fragrant water poured until the small room steamed." The title of the poem regards the bathtub as Nestor's, but this line says quite the opposite, and it was actually his wife who used it. The statement that legend got it wrong, "as usual" shows Rita Dove's opinion that women in history and in legends are not always represented how they really are. Women were looked upon as second class people for thousands of years, and unless they were extraordinary, they were mostly forgotten. Men throughout history are talked about and studied much much more than women are, and this isn't right. When Nestor's house burned down, one of the only things remaining was "his" bathtub, standing strong and firm, much like he would in the Trojan War. Another line in the poem says that his wife "with her white hands scraped the dirt from a lover's back". The connotation of having white hands is that of aristocracy, and the dirt on a lover's back (a lover that is not Nestor) shows the opposite. This is a very interesting image, and is an example of how Nestor's wife was more interesting than most people know, because legends get it all wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe ‘Catherine’ poems Rita Dove seems to written as companions to each other, in a way twins but also in a way opposites. Firstly, they are both called ‘Catherine of ____’. Secondly, they are about both Christian saints. Thirdly, they are both about women who rebelled against traditional social order in order to persue their faith. Then there are the ways in which they differ. In ‘Catherine of Siena’ Dove describes her as a woman with strength, and with deep devotions, a deeply pious woman who threw herself into what she believed in and died for it. The historicity of Catherine of Siena is undisputed, in her lifetime Saint Catherine contributed significantly to peace between several Italian states and the return of the Papacy to Rome. This contrasts heavily with Catherine of Alexandria of whom the existence of is doubted more often by secular historians than that of Jesus himself.
ReplyDeleteCatherine of Alexandria’s story is far more romantic, involving among other things, an extremely beautiful pagan princess who converts to Christianity and to whom everyone no matter how smart and powerful they are is swayed by, an evil pagan emperor who alternates between torturing and proposing to her, a miraculous stay of execution, and angels carrying her body to Mount Sinai after she’s martyred. I feel that Dove does not think much of Catherine of Alexandria, as in ‘Catherine of Alexandria’ she makes a number of contrasts to ‘Cath. of Siena’ which in the book itself is printed right to left of it on the same page. ‘Cath. of Siena’ follows a woman as she walks endlessly through Italia under a ‘star-washed dome,’ stopping only to pray ‘until tears streaked the sky.’
‘Cath. of Alexandria’ follows a woman lying in a bed, her nightshirt bunched above her waist while she dreams of her lover, Jesus Christ. Notably for Cath. of Alexandria, sainthood ‘came as voice/ /in [her] bed’ in contrast to Cath. of Siena whom devoted her life to charity, political peace-brokering, and proselytism before being rewarded with a stroke at the age of 33. Both stories contain feminist ideals in which women reject the expectation of marriage and motherhood society dressed them with in favour of religious devotion, but I think that what Dove wanted to say was that Catherine of Alexandria was not truly liberated, but rather that she had simply taken her body and obedience away from ‘mortal men’ and gave them instead to Jesus; Catherine of Siena was what Dove believed women ought to aspire to, strong, tough, pushing through hardship and danger in complete devotion to what the believed and without any expectation of an angelic final reward.
As you said that Dove believed that women should aspire to be strong, tough, and in complete devotion to their goals, do you think there is a reason she wrote "Tou Wang Speaks to Her Husband Liu Sheng"? In the Tou Wang poem, Dove writes Tou Wang as a devoted housewife, who succumbs to her husband because of her love for him. This concept of dependence is a interesting contrast with the feminist ideals of the Catherine poems. Do you think that this is why she wrote Tou Wang in the same collection as the Catherines?
DeleteIn Rita Dove's Poem "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband", I was really intrigued by the portrayal of Tou Wan's love for her husband through describing the actual tomb of Liu Sheng. Narrated from the point of view of Tou Wan, she describes how Sheng's tomb was carefully thought out and planned by Wan as a token of her love. When she says " In the south room all you will need for the journey", she is referring to the journey that Sheng will take to reach the afterlife. She also describes leaving riches and servants for him to use after death in various other rooms. When Tou says "Here the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air", she is referencing the literal scent of decay coming from Liu Sheng's own corpse. The use of this language adds a creepy feel of entrapment, as if there is no escaping death, and it is where Liu Sheng will remain forever. I interpret this poem to be a literal description of Sheng's tomb, but with implications of metaphor describing Tou Wan's love and transitions from life and death. The way it is narrated, also, almost makes it seem as if Wan is speaking to Sheng's spirit, as if he were already dead. Overall, this poem just left me with a romantic ye eerie feel.
ReplyDeleteI really got that same feeling from that poem. I think the fact that it is written from the point of view of Tou Wan really makes a bigger impact on that eerie romantic mood that the reader receives. I believe that is why Rita Dove made that who's point of view it was from. How do you think the mood and tone would be affected if it was just from a 3rd person point of view?
DeleteI agree with you and Julia's comment. I got the same exact feeling from reading this poem. I feel like the mood and tone would be a different feel only because I do not think it will be as meaningful. This is because, you hear from the source and everything she is willing to do for her husband even though she is affected by her his affairs.
DeleteI really didn't pay attention to the meaning of the objects she was going to build, I focused more on the what she was doing or going to do. I even didn't pay attention to how much love she showed for her husband, the way she's gonna build all that just for him, and also another thing that really shows the love she has for him is when she says, "For those times in your niche when darkness oppresses, I will set you a lamp." Which show that even after him being dead, she will still take care for him.
DeleteIn the poem Nestor's Bathtub, Dove discusses the inexact nature of legends. "As usual, legend got it all wrong......Legend, as usual doesn't say.....For the sake of legend only the tub stands". The bathtub that is presented as Nestor's is more his wife's than his. As Nestor is away at battle or counting jars of oil in the storeroom, his wife is caring for the household, including caring for a lover with more tenderness than she reserves for Nestor himself. Dove is calling into question the possession of something as simple as a bathtub, in order to bring attention to the fact that perhaps it wasn't Nestor's, that perhaps legend was mistaken in calling it Nestor's Bathtub. The significance of the bathtub itself is quite interesting in fact. I looked it up and it was a real thing, there were several photographs of a very solid looking bathtub. Perhaps Dove meant for it to represent Nestor, as a solid male figure who is in absence, while his wife is what fills the bathtub, ever-changing and fluid water. This is shown in lines 26-27 "only the tub stands, tiny and voluptuous as a gravy dish". The tub is solid but the use of the word voluptuous gives the reader a feel of fluidity.
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ReplyDeleteRita Dove's Poem, Canary, was one that stood out to me the most. A line that stood out to me is the last line in the poem where Dove writes, " If you can't be free, be a mystery". For Rita Dove, this probably had to do with being mistreated and treated not as an equal as an African American in the United States. And she's saying to survive you must keep to yourself and be independent. When Dove says "mystery" I think she's meaning you must be discrete with what you are feeling. When people are against you, you must show that you are not affected by them and if those feelings show, they will event in a loss. In the time period of Billie Holiday, there was a lot dissatisfying things going on, rape, drugs etc... Showing that one is not being effected by those things and all the harm in the world that they cannot escape from would be the ultimate way to survive it. I think that this poem has a really rhythmic feel to it, more than other poems. That makes the reader more in touch with it and relate more to Billie Holiday. The poem has a couple references of drugs like when Dove writes, "magic spoon, magic needle" as well as references of death; "the gardenia her signature under that ruined face". So if the reader understands those references they get that solemn feeling and feels the struggle within the music.
ReplyDeleteThe poem, Canary, describes the end of Billie Holidays career and the struggles she faced.
ReplyDelete“Billie Holidays burned voice
had as many shadows as lights,
a mournful candelabra against a sleek piano
the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.”
In the first two lines, it says “burned voice” and this can refer to two things. One, the literal meaning of her actual voice sound. Her voice could be rough from the years of drugs, smoking, and alcohol. And two, the ways Holiday has been “burned” down in life. There was a lot of racism and she was not treated equally even with the talent she had. She was raped when she was at an adolescent age and expressed the way she felt in her music. This line can her interpreted as a metaphoric meaning.
The third line represents a mental picture of how she performed on stage. She made a connection with her music which caused her to make a connection with the audience. The candelabra describes the sad emotion that was connected into her voice. The imagery of the gardenia was Holidays trademark to show her outside appearance from hiding the feelings of herself falling apart on the inside.
“(Now you’re cooking, drummer to bass,
magic spoon, magic needle.
Take all day if you have to
with your mirror and your bracelet of song.)”
This part of the poem shows the time period where Holiday has fallen into drugs. This part shows very descriptive detail of the preparation of making/taking drugs and how she escapes all of her pain in her life from it.
“Face is, the invention of women under siege
has been to sharpen love in the service of myth.”
This can be interpreted to the stress she is under from the fame and how it is effecting her actions. Rita Dove can be showing that love can be hard to find according to the word “myth.” It can show how women can be treated differently or poorly and it sharpens the love but cannot find it.
“If you can’t be free, be a mystery.”
This line describes Holidays life from how the addictions and her past have taken over her life and she cannot define herself so, she must be a mystery. Be your own person and do not let other people affect the way you present yourself.
I didn't understand this poem when I first read it, so your interpretation is really interesting! I think the line "If you can't be free, be a mystery." also refers to Holiday's struggle to find freedom among her fame, which she finds impossible. Instead she finds freedom through the use of drugs, which you pointed out.
DeleteI really like your input and have something else to add. During this time, not only were women, but also african-americans were oppressed. I thought that the last line was a spotlight on how being both, Holiday must be quiet about everything wrong in her life becuase very few will listen, and the few that will listen just want it as fuel to bring her down even more. Do you think the same or do you just think that it is talking about being your own person, becuase wouldn't being oneself, mean being free, which it says you may not be able to do?
DeleteIn Rita Dove’s poem, “Catherine of Siena,” Dove uses heavenly imagery Catherine of Siena’s opinion on the traditional way of following religion. First, Dove writes, “Under the star-washed dome of heaven, warm and dark.” This gives the reader the feeling of safety, yet the feeling as if they are trapped. The use of the word “dome” turns the seemingly safe belief into a boundary or prison keeping people contained in belief. Catherine of Siena, in her lifetime, was forced to fight for her ability to stray from the traditional life of women in the time period. She was forced to travel all across Italy in order to spread her ideas and she faced many difficult tasks. Her path was not accepted by her father and she forced herself to fast to prove her worth. She was also nearly assassinated in the riots of Florence in 1378. She faced extreme difficulties and Dove writes about her perseverance saying, “you prayed until tears streaked the sky.” This shows both the passion and the pain that Catherine of Siena had and Dove uses her as a role model for other women to live their own lives and not to fall to societal pressures.
ReplyDeleteThe last two lines of the poem form a quasi-couplet that are meant to make the reader feel empathy for Catherine of Siena. Dove writes, “No one stumbled across your path. No one unpried your fists as you slept.” Dove uses second person perspective to connect the reader more to Catherine of Siena. The reader feels the alienation, passion, and anger from the repetition of “no one” and “fists.” Catherine was put through so many stressful conditions that she eventually lost the ability to eat, the ability to walk and soon after her life. Dove uses this couplet to state that change can’t happen alone and to inspire others to feel for Catherine and Siena’s cause and to follow her example.
In Rita Dove's poem, Sonnet in Primary Colors, there is a distinct portrayal of natural visual imagery with a calm and serene tone. Dove tells the story of Frida Kahlo's life with the significant symbol of her famous brow throughout the poem. When the passage states, "lovely Frida, erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant," it is describing the painter's beauty that contrasts against even the brightest parrots. The comparing of nature in the poem, "wildflowers entwining," "celluloid butterflies," "walks of the garden," gives the serene impression in mood and implies the scenery of where Frida often creates her famous artwork. As the passage is lead with the description of her brow as "one black wing perched above her eyes," and ends with "the thumbprint searing her immutable brow," I feel as if Dove used that iconic symbol to not only characterize the main historical figure in the sonnet, but to also represent the famous self portraits Kahlo paints and keep the focus on her natural beauty.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I also think the way Dove personified her brow help to convay this message as well. However when reading this poem, to me, it seem like it was almost a bit mocking when talking about her brow. By saying "Immutable" its almost like Dove is saying it is hard not to notice.
DeleteI noticed the same thing when I read the first part about "one black wing perched over her eyes" and "searing her immutable brow". The repetition of Frida's unibrow emphasizes her uniqueness and how willingly she is to be unchanged by society when Rita used the word immutable. Also, Rita used the black wing to represent Frida's unibrow to compare her to society. Even though she is the black bird amidst the parrots, which means she is only a peasant among the political leaders. she is still proud to be a peasant.
DeleteIn “Sonnet in Primary Colors”, the juxtaposition between positive and negative imagery caught my attention. In the first line Dove writes, “This is for the woman with one black wing/ perched over her eyes”. Black is usually associated with loneliness or sadness, and if black is paired with a bird, it usually signifies bad luck or unfortunate events, which parallels Frida’s unhappy life (volatile marriage and illness caused by a bus accident earlier in her life). Later on, the poem mentions “wildflowers” and “romance of mirrors”, which gives a more happy tone. I’m not entirely sure on the meaning of “romance of mirrors”, but I’m thinking Dove is using this phrase to describe Frida’s beauty? Dove then goes on to say, “she lay down in pain and rose / to her celluloid butterflies of her Beloved Dead”. This shows Frida’s pain that she faces because of her illness and also the hardships she has in her relationship with her husband. She would rather die than endure the pain in her life. She’s thinking of suicidal thoughts and hoping that she will be released from the suffering. “Diego’s / love a skull in the circular window” portrays the love that Frida’s husband once had for her is diminishing, due to the fact that both spouses were not loyal to each other both had many affairs. While I was reading this poem, I felt sorry for Frida because of how terrible her life was combined with Dove’s details associated with death. The eerie tone in this poem portrays Frida’s feeling of loneliness and sadness.
ReplyDeleteIn Rita Dove's "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband Liu Sheng", It seems to be written in a sarcastic voice/tone and addresses Tou Wan's unhappiness with her marriage to Liu Sheng. The way she writes "for you, my / only conqueror" and "my constant emperor" gives a sarcastic or over dramatic feel to the reader. Over all the poem addresses her discontent with the expectations of a family that are set forth in this time pieord. She wants to express he feelings but it seems like social expectations are preventing her from doing this, with her husband high class social standing, she often feels inferior and neglected. She seems to be implying that in this time period women were seen as greatly inferior to men therefore she had little say in her life, especially having been married to Liu Sheng. In the second to last stanza she implies that she will out live her husband as she talks about burying him.
ReplyDeleteHuh, I had never read the poem in that perspective, but when I re-read the poem in that point of view, I do see where you are coming from. I had originally interpreted the poem as Tou Wan loved her husband deeply and was willing to do anything for him. She seemed deeply devoted to him, but with your point of view, the poem becomes a completely different style with the exact opposite tone. The tone of one hopelessly in love becomes cynical and almost mocking, and once one reads it in that tone, what were once highlights of Liu Sheng become negative qualities. Especially "when the stench of your own diminishing drives you to air", definitely shows her contempt for her husband. It's as if shes waiting for him to die and as he is aging, she is revolting him more and more. I really like your interpretation of this poem and how poem can be so easily read from love and faithfulness to mockery and scorn.
DeleteI agree with Tera when she said "I had never read the poem in that perspective..." You found points and a voice which I had missed. I admire Dove's ability to write poems that can be interpreted in more than one fashion. What is the point behind this, however? It shows great skill, but why does she do it?
DeleteThe poem, Catherine of Alexandria, can be interpreted as a cautionary tale. Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian saint who consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ, whom she believed to be her husband. She lived her whole life "deprived of learning and the chance to travel" because of her devotion to her idol. This poem is in the perspective of Catherine of Alexandria, she is looking back on her life and describing the experiences and opportunities lost. When reading this poem, all I could think about were the dependent couples of the world- couples that walk and talk in tandem, couples that are unable to make decisions as individuals, couples that marry young and have children immediately, etc. I wondered, since these people had fully devoted themselves to another person, as Catherine of Alexandria had to Jesus, would they too be deprived of life experiences? Would they look back on their lives as old men and women and realize that they have no identity outside of their relationship? I think this poem poses as a cautionary tale. It's okay to have a relationship with God, with a lover, and with your family, as long as that bond does not consume you as a person. This message of this piece of work is warning to never deprive yourself of joy or experience for the sake of another person or entity.
ReplyDeleteI really like your interpretation of this poem! When I read the poem, I just thought it was talking about Catherine of Alexandria loving Jesus and treating him as her husband, and I didn't really look into how it could be applicable to our lives. Now that I've re-read the poem from your perspective, it makes a lot of sense and I can see where you're coming from.
DeleteIn, "Sonnet in Primary Colors", the symbolism of poem represents some of her famous paintings and how they relate to the events of her life. Frida most often painted self-portraits of herself as evident, "lovely Frida, erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant, who painted herself a present--" Frida owned numerous pets throughout her life including monkeys, parrots, dogs, and a fawn. In this line, Frida is described standing tall and proud in the petticoat of a peasant. This is suggestive of that even thought Frida lived a difficult life, she still stood strong and held confidence in herself. On a side note, Frida often wore petticoats and long skirts in order to hide her disproportionate legs from when she had polio when she was six. Further on, "Wildflowers entwining in the plaster corset her spine resides in the romance of mirrors."representsFrida's misfortunate bus accident in which she suffered serious spinal and pelvic injuries which continuously affected her throughout her life. Dove used nature imagery of the flowers entwining in the corset to show that even though Frida needed corsets to help fix her spine, she still retained unbound raw strength and that made her naturally beautiful like a wild flower. As "her spine resides in the romance of mirrors", Frida's spine condition is a permanent part of her and greatly effects her, ultimately residing in her portraits, her, "romance of mirrors". Later on, "Lenin, Marx, and Stalin" are mentioned in the poem refering to Frida being a devout communist influencing her life as an artist. Frida lived an unhappy marriage with Diego, "Diego's love a skull in the circular window" symbolizes how their love has died. Both Frida and Diego had separate affairs throughout their marriage and the description of the skull in the circular window signifies that on the outside, they are projected as a happy couple, but on the inside, their lives are dark and secretive as their love is gone. Both lines "with one black wing perched over her eyes" and "the thumbprint searing over her immutable brow" pertain to Frida's prominent unibrow. Althought often subject to ridicule, it served as a trademark of her boldness and her independence as a woman; it was one of her most defining features.
ReplyDeleteIn "Nestor's Bathtub" Rita Dove addresses the problem of men being held at a higher stature than women. While Nestor is off doing something else, Nestor's wife is at home, doing the essentials. Without Nestor's wife, not only the bathub, but the whole house is ruined. This house, is called Nestors, not Nestors and his wife. When the poem says "Legend, as usual, doesn't say." I think it means that Dove is trying to say legend had it all wrong. This is not Nestors house, yet his wifes, but him being a man overshadows the woman due to peoples views. I would also like to adress how in the poem, it says lover. I think this lover is not Nestor, as Nestor was always gone. I think this is important because it shows that the house may be this lovers house more than it is Nestors. The last paragraph talks about a great fire. I think this is ironic because the only this left is Nestor's bathtub, and all of the wifes things that she has worked so hard at perfecting are gone, and all that remains is the object of someone who is never there. Dove wrrites this as a way to address that women, have been left out of the limelight for too long, and people will be too quick to give a man this heroic stature.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the poem, “Tou Wan Speak to Her Husband” it took me a while to realize what the wife was saying. At first I thought it was the wife showing her husband what she was going to build in her house, but after reading the ending a several times, I realized that the husband was dead! When Rita writes, “a suit to keep the shape of your death----” I realized that she wasn't showing him like if he was physically there, but showing him as a spirit, and talked to him as if he was there listening to her. The wife takes him on a tour of her arrangements for, (at first I thought it was a funeral) I believe a house of death for him, when she says, “I will build you a house” and also what made me think it wasn't a funeral is because later in the poem the wife is saying that when darkness comes around, “I will set you a lamp” which overall gives the idea that she’s gonna have the body and take care of him.
ReplyDeleteAt first i was also confused on the state of the husband. Once realizing that he was dead, I began to see why Rita used some of the syntax she used. For example, " for the privilege to stay alive, a year, together..."(Dove). Knowing this context and seeing Rita's syntax makes the poem have a much more solemn tone
DeleteThe first thing that one must notice is the fact that the poem is titled “Nestor’s Bathtub”. However, the poem speaks of his wife, not he, who cared for and cleaned the tub “until the small room steamed”.
ReplyDeleteNestor was away quite often, “But where was Nestor…” which means that his wife was frequently left alone at home. Many believe that his absences lead to her taking on another lover, “her white hands scraped the dirt from a lover’s back”. Suppose that she didn’t, however. I believe it possible that it describes the actual bathtub as opposed to another person. Why would she scrape the dirt off with a scalpel when she could easily give him a bath? On he other hand, cleaning out the inside of a bathtub is not nearly so simple, typically requiring a lot of scrubbing and hard work. Perhaps she does so because it is Nestor’s bathtub and she wants it to be especially clean and well maintained for him.
This entertains the idea that Nestor’s wife is a woman who cared deeply for him, despite the amount of time that he has spent away from her.
Amidst explosions and ruins of the house, only the bathtub stood. This could portray how, under the care of his wife, Nestor’s tub was saved. I believe the tub to be a symbol of her devotion to him and no matter what may happen to potentially destroy it (his absences) her love will always stand.
The legend the poem refers to could be the notion that his wife was unfaithful and lazy. According to the ideas I found portrayed in the poem, however, this is not true.
In Rita Dove’s poem, Catherine of Siena Rita splits the poem into two sestets to mimic the journey of Catherine of Siena’s life. At youth, Catherine was renown as very spiritual. Rita writes that Catherine walked all of Italy to mention how she went to extremes to pursue what she wanted to. Also, Rita alludes to Catherine’s choice of spiritual commitment by writing, “You struck the boulder at the roadside” (Dove). This relates to in the Bible where Moses struck the rock which led to his demise. In the same way, Catherine’s extremes, “striking the rock” leads to the second stage of the poem, Catherines demise. Late in Catherine’s life, she loses health and the ability to walk from dangerous fasting. Rita writes that she is like woolens stacked on cedar, praying until tears streaked the sky. Catherine’s life is deteriorating and from the agony, Catherine gets a stroke and dies. Rita mentions this in the last sentence through the mentioning of Catherine sleeping, which actually means she is dead.
ReplyDeleteThe title "Canary" caught my attention and I pondered of how it could be related to Billie Holiday. Canaries are colorful and melodious African birds and they are like Billie, because she has a beautiful voice and she's African American. Also, canaries are domestic animals, so they don't have much freedom, just like the last line that says "If you can't be free, be a mystery". Rita connects the canary to the last line to show that Billie, along with other women at that time, lack for freedom. The use of the word "you" lets out a tone of advise especially for women who goes through oppression in their daily lives. At the second line, where Billie's voice "had as many shadows as light" brought interest to me because it was also related to the last line. The word "shadow" created the mood of creepyness because shadows created the sense of the unknown. Therefore, the use of simile creates a tone of mystery. Billie's mysterious voice tells the readers to not give up if they can't be free. There's another way and it's to be mysterious. It looks like the poem shows that Billie Holiday feels like she's locked up in a cage and made to sing just like a canary bird because she's a woman, but she has found another way to cope with her restrained life.
ReplyDeleteI like how you broke down the title of the poem and totally connected it to the meaning throughout the whole poem. I agree with you that the title very much does connect with Billie and was described perfectly by Dove.
DeleteIn RIta Dove's poem, "Sonnet in Primary Colors," she uses very interesting sound devices to affect the tone of the poem. The sound device that stood out to me the most was the repetition of the letter, "P." For example, lines three and four are, "among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant, who painted herself a present."
ReplyDeleteThe letter P when repeated frequently has a very sharp and intense sound to it. I think that Rita used the repetition of this letter to portray how sharp and intense the life of Frida Kahlo was. Throughout her entire life, Frida was faced with many struggles and hardships. For example, her unhealthy marriage with Diego or the crash that left her permanently injured. Rita wants the readers to feel the intense feelings that Frida felt. She does this through the repetition of the letter, "P."
In Rita Dove's poem "Tou Wan Speaks to Her Husband, Liu Sheng", Dove conveys Tou Wan's love for her husband in his death through language. I personally knew of his death prior to reading the poem but it is alluded to when she writes "a suit to keep the shape of your death-" Tou wan's love is shown through what she is building for Liu Sheng for his "house", which is his tomb. She places two bronze jugs in his tomb as an offering so he, and herself when she dies, will have food and water after death. Liu Sheng is the son of an Emperor and Tou Wan respects this by covering his body with two thousand jade wafers with gold thread to show his status and wealth. Finally the large amount of incense she burns shows that she believes that he is very powerful as the smoke of incense represents the dead's body. The more smoke there is, the stronger the body is in death. These aspects of the poem show Tou Wan's love as she portrays him as strong, wealthy and a legend in his death.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem Canary by Rita Dove we the readers see that Dove uses detailed imagery to explain and portray Billie Holiday and her world renown voice and well known story/stereotype. "Burned Voice" & "Shadows as lights" here Dove uses the voice as a person or a heat as if it could really burn, her voice was something to be felt not just heard, and again when she says as many shadows as lights well in the brightest of light we don't see too many shadows the point being made is there isn't darkness when her voice enters a room. Dove is using her art to describe another woman's. To end this poem Dove writes "If you can't be free, be a mystery" this shows that Billie Holiday was trapped by addiction and a rough upbringing yet she still made a choice to be a mystery to those around her and still being the bright and talented woman that she was.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Dove uses detailed imagery to describe Billy Holiday in this poem. But I have a different opinion on the line "burned voice" and "Shadows as lights" these quotes could represent the feeling of Holiday's amazing vocals, but I also thought it could symbolized her drug addiction. From researching Holiday, I have found that because of her childhood with drugs, her voice could be tricky at times for her and had some issues when performing which could be the "burning voice" and also "Shadows as lights" could mean her past playing a role in the present day and career. Other than that I agree everything else you have mentioned.
DeleteIn her poem "The Situation Is Intolerable", Rita Dove uses an angry tone to portray how the African-Americans felt about their lack of rights during the Civil Rights movement. The ironic use of the word "intolerable" is used to show how the racist arguments of the anti-civil rights workers was used against them by the civil rights workers. In the first line of the poem, the use of intolerable is used to imply that the white Americans thought the building civil rights movement must be stopped. In the last line of the poem, the same word is used to imply that the truely intolerable aspect of the situation is the way the African-Americans were being treated. The poem is clearly told in the voice of an African-American attemptig to rally ithers to support the civil rights movement. The narrator uses the twisted meaning of intolerable to rally the other African-Americans to rebel against the unjust treatment. Dove uses battle imagery to set an angry tone to the piece. The African-Americans are angry that they are being treated so unfairly for something they had no control over, "So what if we were born up a creek/and knocked flat with a paddle/if we aint got a pot to piss in/and nowhere to put it if we did." (Dove 15-18). The narrator is arguing that even though the African-Americans did nothing to cause they racism, they still need to fight against it. Also notable is the change in tone in the middle stanza. The middle stanza has a peaceful, quiet tone ehich starkly contrasts the angry, urgent tone of the other teo stanzas, "tiny, missionary stars-/on high, serene,studding/the inky brow of heaven." (12-14). This suggests that the narrator finds peace and inspiration in God and heaven. The narrator also implies that God is on the side of the Civil Rights movement and has not abandoned the African-Americans, no matter how unjustly they are treated on Earth. Althoughthe narrator is being treated unfairly, she will rise to the occasion and God will help her fight for her rights.
ReplyDeleteI think that the use of the word intolerable meant that the African-Americans were sick of being treated unfairly and they were ready to finally take action to achieve human rights. In lines 12-14, "tiny, missionary stars-on high, serene, studding the inky brow of heaven.", it give a tone of hope. It can be interpreted as literally looking at the heavens and finding hope and strength to fight for their beliefs. The African-Americans were tired of sitting around and letting something so inhumane to happen, so they had to take action. Although they did not have much money or power stated in the lines 17-18, "if we ain't got a pot to piss in and nowhere to put it if we did?", they did have numbers of people who were willing to fight on their side.
DeleteIn Catherine of Alexandria, dove shows Catherine’s love for Jesus through very intimate and sexual imagery. In the first stanza it mentions her sainthood but slowly the story becomes less pure than someone would suspect a saint to be presented. This poem clearly shows Catherine’s lust for god’s love. In the 3rd and 4th stanzas, Dove describes Catherine pleasuring herself to Jesus; this brings a hushed feeling to the story and an ominous tone.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, Claudette Colvin Goes to Work, Rita Dove uses the life of Claudette Colvin to describe what the African-Americans went through during the Civil Rights Movement. Colvin was a pioneer for the African-American civil rights movement. She was the first person to be arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks later followed her that year. Dove uses the tone of sympathy to portray Colvin’s life. When Claudette Colvin would walk around the street, people would mock her and comment rude things about her appearance: “ ‘Hey Mama’ souring quickly to ‘Your Mama’ when there’s no answer- as if the most injury they can do is insult the reason you’re here at all, walking in your whites down to the stop so you can make a living.” (19-23). They would basically tell her that she was worthless and she did not deserve to be alive. However, Colvin ignored then and still went to work and made a living. She tried to stay headstrong but, she also wondered why she was being treated horribly… “What do we have to do to make God love us?” (25) This line gives a sense of hopelessness, like there could be nothing done to fix the situation. Also lines 31 and 32, “And I don’t curse or spit or kick and scratch like they said I did then,” explain the non-violent actions that the civil rights activist took in order to gain their freedom.
ReplyDeleteRita Doves does use interesting diction that caught my attention and when she says, "so ugly, so fat, so dumb, so greasy". Why do you think the civil right activist weren't more violent, why did they hold their violence back?
DeleteI agree with your interpretation. I also think that in this poem, Dove used the hopeless tone to help readers sympathise with the civil rights workers. The tone contrasts with the angry, fighting tone of many of the other poems, which Dove uses to demonstrate the many stages of fighting a moral battle such as this. Dove uses this poem to inspire people to fight for what is right, even though it often looks like all hope is lost.
DeleteI agree with you and Hannah! I think Doves tone in this poem is very important because, like Hannah says, it does help the reader sympathize with the workers. I didn't know that someone before Parks. How come Rosa had such a more public reaction and emotional response?
DeleteI completely agree with the tone that is set by Dove's diction but one particular line caught my attention: "Sometimes I wait until it's dark enough for my body to disappear"(13-14). Claudette's dark skin complex makes it easier for her to blend in with the darkness around her. However, a person in today's society would use that trait to hide away from the world. It goes to show that her life isn't going well at the time. The darkness conveys misery and Claudette would rather surround herself in misery and darkness rather than go out in the world and achieve her objectives. The poem allows the reader to experience what African-Americans felt at the time. Unfortunately,they were made to feel worthless and that their existence wasn't needed in a world where Whites were dominant.
DeleteIn response to you, Morgan, the question of why weren't civil rights activists more violent in their pursuits has been debated for decades. There's no one true answer but several theories. For one, a good majority of protesters fell under the leadership and guidance of Martin Luther King Jr., who famously discouraged violence against oppressors. He believed that if the African American community were to use brute force they would be no better than the bigoted whites. A major goal of the movement was to educate peacefully. Another reason the African American community wasn't more violent in their protests was because it was an extremely racist and hateful time in the world. If protesters were to be accused of being violent or irrational (which many, many protesters were wrongly accused of being) white law officials would arrest them, hose them, gas them and even sometimes kill them. And these law officials would receive no punishment, but rather a pat on the back for a "good day's work".
DeleteI agree with Katie about why during the civil rights movement there were many non violent protests; I also think that another reason is that non-violent protest is often more impactful to the outside viewer than violent protest. This is because if you see rioting in the streets and you are already biased towards the white law enforcement, you will be way more willing to side with them in their violent acts against protestors. If they had used violence, they would have lost many white supporters. Malcolm X for example preached violence against the white man, and this lead to hatred of his group, not only by white people, but by other African-Americans, who didn't want to earn their rights through bloodshed. The whole idea of this movement was equality, and violence isn't the most effective way to achieve that.
DeleteI absolutely agree with Katie. Another reason why African Americans don't protest in a violent manner is because it's not as effective as nonviolent resistance. For instance, Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat to a white person inspired African Americans to not give up and peacefully resist. Rita putted a small section of the "Boycott Flier" to let the readers see how Claudette has a peaceful mindset since she was a young girl and grows up to peacefully resist by refusing to give up her seat to a white person. It shows that a black person doesn't have to be given a speech by Martin Luther King to be persuaded into using peaceful resistant methods, but they can be peaceful as a nature.
DeleteIn the poem, Belinda’s Petition, Rita Dove uses interesting diction and imagery to portray an African slave’s struggle for freedom. Throughout the poem Dove puts emphasis on words to establish the focal points of the story by capitalizing them at odd times. These words include: Life, Time, Advantage and Condition along with many others. This poem Dove also compares the freedom of America to the freedom Belinda wishes to have“…severed the Binds of Tyranny. I would hope you would consider the Same for me”. I thought this was interesting and important in the story because it shows Belinda’s desire to be free at last. Another thing I found interesting about this poem was the line “I have known of Men with Faces like the Moon,” This clearly is describing a white man’s face being as pale as the moon but I also thought it represent the foreignness of the man just as foreign as the moon is to earth and how Belinda must have felt that. This story is amazing with its unique diction and the way it portrays the strength of the young woman set in the time of slavery.
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ReplyDeleteRosa Parks who is famously known for sitting on a bus and refusing to give her seat up to a white person. The poem “Rosa” emphasizes the historical background of Rosa Parks and how impactful she was involving race equality, by standing up for herself and other African-Americans. In line three, “so wrong it was ready” explains that Rosa was annoyed with the racial segregation and decided to take a stand for what she believes is right. This also represents the line in the third stanza, “doing nothing was the doing”; she did not, refusing, to give her seat to a white person. Throughout the poem, Dove paints a picture of Rosa Parks as a humble and quiet women, but also very strong and powerful. This is also shown in the second line of the third stanza when Dove uses ‘flame’, meaning that the fire inside Rosa helped her stand her ground and provided strength for many people who were afraid to stand up for themselves. She figuratively stood up for what was right.
I agree with you analysis of the poem "Rosa", I as well thought the oxymoron of "so wrong it was ready" showed Rosa's fire for the civil rights movement and her drive to do what was right even if it meant serious consequences. Throughout the poem it shows her burning flame for justice.
DeleteI agree with this a lot. I had some of the same ideas but I also thought that in the line "doing nothing was the doing," meant way more than actually nothing. I thought that it meant everything that she has done and how she made this such a impactful historical event. Something that also caught my eye, was the last stanza... what do you think it means? I thought the first line meant the complete opposite because she never actually stood up until the very end. She stood up for what she believed in and for every African American that had to give up a right. Also, who do you think bent down for retrieve her purse or is it a completely different meaning?
DeleteI think the last two lines can indicate that a gentleman picked up her purse, because during that time men were known for opening doors for women, grabbing their coats, etc., but we don't know exactly who. That was my impression.
DeleteIn the poem "The situation is intolerable", Rita Dove contrasts the lives of white and black people through vivid imagery and through asking the readers obvious questions. The first stanza mentions the word civilized, and gives imagery of how african americans are just as civilized. The tone of this stanza is confusion, the narrator of the poem comes from point of view of not understanding how one race is more civilized than another. The second stanza goes on with a more soothing tone using "Hush, now" in the first line and vivid imagery by describing the stars as "the inky brow of heaven" this imagery gives way to the issues and looks at the beauty that still exists. The last stanza comes back to the issues of equal rights and shows strength of the narrator through powerful diction. "Our situation is intolerable, but what's worse is to sit here and do nothing." This shows how much passion and drive Dove portrays in this poem.
ReplyDeleteFollowing this logic, the perspective is clearly from an African-American and that is part of why it has a strong impact on the reader but do you think that if the perspective was changed to be from a white man with the true belief of equal rights, would the impact be as strong? For example, if the 2nd line was changed to "Aren't they civilized, too?" would it give the same meaning as it currently does?
DeleteI think that Rita Dove was trying to put the reader in the shoes of a black person during the civil rights movement. The whole poem could be interpreted as a black person having an internal conversation with themselves about whether they should fight back, or stay quiet. The first stanza is the person questioning his or her surroundings and starting to realize how unfairly he or she is being treated. The second stanza opens up by saying, "Hush, now. Assay the terrain." This is the person telling themselves to be quiet and asses the world around them. The person is thinking that they couldn't possibly change the way society was. The third stanza is the person questioning themselves again and finally coming to the conclusion that their situation is intolerable and it has to be changed. Rita uses first person because she wants the reader to feel the same passionate emotions that people were feeling back then.
DeleteI agree with Matt. I believe that Rita Dove is trying to convey the harshness that blacks had to endure during the Civil Rights Movement and tries to communicate to the reader the inequality blacks were submitted to. The first stanza though, sounds like it's pleading to the reader to see the inequality blacks face when Dove writes, "Aren't we civilized too? (2)". It's like one is trying to reason for equality and is fighting against the notions of blacks being uncivilized. To add to your interpretation of the third stanza, it also seems to refer back to that first stanza and gives the demand of what can be done to stop this discrimination; that there is nothing worse than "to sit here and do nothing (20)".
DeleteMatt and Tera both bring up a good point that main intention of using the perspective of a black person during the civil rights movement is to point out the obvious flaws in the difference in treatment, however, also can see how the putting the poem into the perspective of a white man could be impactful. The character would be undergoing a realization and is now able to see the protestors side. The character could be seen as a connection between both races that would give hope for negotiation rather than conflict.
DeleteThe poem, Rosa, is clearly stated under the Civil Rights Movement to portray the historical event of Rosa Parks. For those of you that do not know what happened, in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1st, 1955, Rosa refused to listen to the bus drivers command on giving up her seat in the colored section of the bus, to a white man, after the section was already full. At this time, racial tension was very high. Because this is a well-known event Dove does not go into full detail about it. The first three lines set the tone of the poem, it is simple but powerful.
ReplyDelete“How she sat there,
the time right inside a place
so wrong it was ready”
I think that this section has so much meaning and could be interpreted into a couple different ways. In my opinion, it is showing us that in that time period, on the bus, she made her decision to stand her ground, and show what she believes in. Dove is referring to one thing in each of her words. She used a paradox in the third line by saying “so wrong it was ready.” This is meaning that it was shown as the wrong thing to do but, Rosa did not let anyone come between her and what she believed in.
“That trim name with
its dream of a bench
to rest on. Her sensible coat”
In this stanza, Dove uses enjambment in the fifth line carrying the thought into line six; Dove uses this technique a lot. I think that in lines four and five it is showing a literal meaning. The word “trim” makes me think of carving or cutting her “name” into the “bench” of her “dream.” So the bench is what she sat on and the dream is the embankment of what she stood up for. Does anyone else have a different interpretation? Also, “her sensible coat” describes Rosa as a calm, quiet person that made an enormous impact on Civil Rights.
“Doing nothing was the doing:
the clean flame of her gaze
carved by a camera flash.”
First thing that caught my attention was “doing nothing was the doing.” Obviously nothing has a much more major meaning that just nothing. Dove is showing that nothing actually means everything that Parks has done. This means Parks refusing to give up her seat and standing up for not only herself, but every African American. The next two lines, I interpreted as the “flame” being her spark or will power to stand up for herself. And the “camera flash” could be the attention and concern she aroused from the public and everyone around her.
“How she stood up
when they bent down to retrieve
her purse. That courtesy.”
In the first line I noticed that it says “how she stood up” but Parks never stood up. She “stood up” for what she believed in. This is saying the complete opposite of what happened. I am not exactly why Dove did this, but, I think she was trying to show a more in depth meaning to it because the tone of this line is kind of intense. In the last two lines, I think it is showing as she was standing up someone picked up her purse, possibly a gentleman, and I think they also were “standing up” with Parks of what she believed in. This may be a symbolic or literal meaning. The last line mentions “That courtesy” and this could refer to herself of the person that picked up her purse. Does anyone have and different interpretations?
The "Lady Freedom Among Us" stood out to me because it showed that the Statue of Liberty isn't just a statue for tourist attraction, but people overlook its' symbolism of liberty. How Rita Dove described the statue of liberty using informal diction like "oldfashioned", "trinkets", and "hand-me-down" shows that the statue of liberty is no more important to everyone. These three diction creates a tone of insignificance, meagerness, and humbleness and shows that people of the lower class own these items. The purpose of these informal descriptions is to show that people no longer look at the statue of liberty in a meaningful and awestruck way. Also Rita used personification such as "she fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap and spruced it up with feathers and stars..." to add a realistic, lively, and emotional character to the statue of liberty to relate her more to people. One example of how the statue of liberty shows emotion is when "her stained cheeks" are mentioned and it sounds like her cheeks are stained with tears. The statue of liberty has tears on her face because Rita wanted to show that the meaning of the statue is fading away and people now see it as just a normal statue. Rita wrote this poem to emphasize the irony of how people built the statue of liberty to represent America, since America is famous of its' freedom and liberty, yet people still discriminate and treat each other with injustice. Lastly, this poem makes the reader feel like the statue of liberty is the mother of America and she is feeling deep sorrow for the wrong ways that Americans are treating each other. How "she has risen among us in blunt reproach" makes me feel like a mother scolding her child. Despite how poorly dressed the statue of liberty is, the last seven lines bring the mood of respect and admiration because it shows that the statue of liberty is powerful and firm, just like a mother would be.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation of this poem. I found it interesting as well how Dove personified the statue when "she fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap and spruced it up with feathers and stars..." to symbolize the realistic meaning of the iconic figure. As Dove exemplified the statue's disappointment and sorrow towards America nowadays with "her stained cheeks," it does seem to relate to a mother as you stated. The figure is there to look after the country and because of the discrimination and hatred her "child" portrayed, her cheeks are tear-stained.
DeleteIn the poem "Freedom Ride", Dove uses vivid imagery of what is seen from a Freedom Bus ride to express hope for the end of segregation and contrasts it with the harsh reality. Dove writes," As if..the view would veer onto someplace fresh..But there's just more cloud cover, and germy air condensing on the tinted glass, and the little houses with their fearful patches of yard rushing into flames" (1-11). In the beginning of the poem, there is a sense of desperation to see something new happening in the world. The rider wants to see 'someplace fresh' where there's no racial injustice or problems: somewhere friendship and companionship knew no color, somewhere with no violence or lynching, somewhere elsewhere. Although there's desperation, the reader acknowledges that there is still hope for things to change where the poem is set. After all the wishing, the rider realizes that there's 'more cloud cover' and 'germy air'. The dark imagery created by Dove signals a reality crash. The weather isn't clear and the air isn't fresh but it is in fact, the opposite. The dark weather symbolizes the effects of segregation in that time's society. Nothing was pleasant anymore, but instead, there was an eerie and heavy feeling to what was going on. Freedom Rides were created to promote equal opportunities for all people and most of the buses were attacked because of anti-racist beliefs. The White race wanted to promote racism and the primary goal was to destroy what was in their way. When stated that "their fearful patches of yard rush[ed] into flames", Dove was portraying the rider's fear: the fear of having the bus burned down while all the freedom riders were still in it. She later emphasizes that the windows were 'tinted' and that was done on purpose. The riders wanted privacy while on the road, and tinting the windows would provide privacy and also lower the chance of sudden attacks. Although the rider yearned for change in society, the harsh reality dominated the hopeful dreams of having equality among all races.
ReplyDeleteI too noticed the juxtaposition of positive and negative imagery in the first stanza. I agree that the purpose of this was to sharply contrast dreams, hopes, and aspirations for equality with the cold reality of the time. I thought it was also interesting how powerful the diction is to the tone of the poem. References to fire and flames is repeated several times and words like “fearful,” “gauntlet of stares,” “stale dark,” and “scorched brick, darkened windows” collectively amount to an unhappy, uneasy, and gloomy feel, which emphasizes the oppression and desperation of those on the freedom rides.
DeleteIn her poem "Freedom Ride", Rita Dove writes about the danger of racism and the Freedom Rides. The Freedom Rides were a group of African-American's attempt to see whether states would follow up on the statement saying that segregation on buses and rail stations were unconstitutional. She writes about a "fire" which represents the dangerous storm of racism. She writes "at every corner the same scorched brick, darkened window" which shows the spread of racism and how it is everywhere. This is apparent in the Freedom Rides as almost every city from Washington DC to Mississippi showed the riders hostility. Dove writes "but where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits" to say that regardless of whether one decides to protest or not, racism will occur almost everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis for "but where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits” A poem that I think is connected to this poem is “The situation is intolerable” because in “The situation is intolerable” it talks about the struggles and the differences between societies, and in “Freedom Ride” it talks about the dangers of the outcome of racism. Which both fall in the same concept of the good & bad of racism.
DeleteI agree about how threatening Racism was. Rita Dove also writes about the tedious process that the Freedom Riders used to protest. Rita writes, "Pull the cord a stop too soon, and you'll find yourself walking a gauntlet of stares. Daydream, and you'll wake up in a stale dark of a cinema"(13-17). Rita uses a pun when saying to pull the cord a stop too soon. Stopping protests too soon, or getting off the buses a stop too soon, would render their movement a confusion and racism would persist. Protest too long this way and the effect will die out and become stale.
DeleteI also find your entry very intriguing. I love how in this poem you can make metaphoric connections to what actually happened during the freedom rides. I think this poem is so powerful as it shows that they felt unsafe no matter where they went. It would be weird to have no sanctuary and she portrays that well. Love your analysis!
DeleteRita Dove's poem "Climbing In" is extremely powerful, even though its not a long poem. The speaker uses short, brief lines to convey a sense of curtness, and danger. The very first line in fact is "Teeth.". That by itself is pretty strong and the rest of the stanza adds to its intimidating nature "Metallic. Lie-gapped./Not a friendly shine" By using end-stops in the first two lines, the speaker creates a harsh, threatening mood to the first stanza. Then the juxtaposition of "a friendly shine" coming from the dime in the speakers hand emphasises that threatening mood.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think this poem is making a comparison between the classic children's story of Red Riding Hood, and the experience of a African-American using segregated public transportation. In the third and fourth stanzas, the speaker says "these are big teeth,/teeth of a wolf//under Grandmother's cap" (lines 9-11). That leads to the story of Red Riding Hood where a wolf dresses up in Red Riding Hood's grandma's clothes, and Red realizes upon inspection of the Wolf's "sharp teeth" that it is in fact not her lovely little grandmother but a huge rabid wolf. That same sense of danger lurking below the surface was prevalent during the Civil Rights Movement, and especially in situations where African-Americans were publicly segregated from whites. The title, Climbing In, gives the reader a sense of an ominous situation, as if you are climbing into darkness.
I agree with your analysis. But I was wondering why she wrote " I clutch the silver pole/ to step up, up". Why do you think this line contrasts with the title. Maybe for emphasis? And also, the words "Lie-gapped". What do you think she meant?
DeleteWhen I first read the poem "Lady Freedom Among Us" I originally thought that Dove was writing about the statue of liberty. So I googled lady freedom and found out that she is a statue to represent the freedom triumph in war and peace in 1855. She was placed on top of the capital dome, and was taken down to be restored, then it was hoisted back up. (Miller). In this poem, Dove is trying to show how in society, people focus on their own life and they forget about their own freedom, and what things truly stands for. For an example when Americans say the pledge of allegiance, look at the flag, or even the statue of liberty, all they see are objects, or "another item to fit on a tourist's agenda"; instead of what they truly stand for:freedom. When when writes, "don't mutter oh no/ not another one/get a job fly a kite/ go bury a bone" she is showing how people complain about their lives and forget that there are other people in third world countries who would love to be in their position. We take freedom for granted in our lives and we sometimes forget objects that represent freedom. The fact that I had no clue who Lady Freedom is proves that we or at least I was ignorant of how much we took for granted. One thing that I didn't really understand about this poem is why she didn't use any capital letters, or punctuation. Maybe its to show how forgetful we are?
ReplyDeleteMiller, Katya. "Lady Freedom - Her History." Lady Freedom - Her History. US
Capitol Historical Society, 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
I really like your observations. I also noticed the lack of punctuation and capital letters, which makes this poem in particular different from all of the other ones. The lack of proper punctuation and capitalization in its own way adds characterization to the poem, and it almost gives it a rushed feel. Maybe Rita Dove did this on purpose, to portray American society in the characteristics of this poem's structure alone?
DeleteThe poem "Lady Freedom Among Us" really stood out to me. It depicts The Statue of Liberty and compares the original ideology behind her to America's current perspective. Throughout history we have always lived in a racist civilization. Anyway you slice it, whites have always found a toy they liked, stolen it from the previous owner, stuck a flag on it and called it theirs. America is no different. Whites were not the original inhabitants of America. Every white person in America was an immigrant at one point. Yet white people have always thought they owned this land and have always thought they had the authority to say who deserved to be here and who didn't and who had rights and who didn't. That's what this poem is about. In theory, America is a big melting pot, where everyone, no matter the demographic, can live peacefully. That is, obviously, not the case. Practically all non-white immigrants and people of color have been subjected to racism and have been stigmatized. In the second stanza it says "oh no not another one, get a job, fly a kite, go bury a bone" and this is exemplary of the racist behavior in our modern society. The Statue of Liberty is muttering not another immigrant, not another person of color, go bury a bone and make use of yourself. This has become a very common position among Americans. And the message of the poem becomes all the more powerful when these discriminatory words are coming out of the mouth of such a prominent American figure. In the fourth stanza The Statue of Liberty goes on to murmur "all of you even the least of you" meaning she represents all Americans with the "least of" being people of color. Dove uses such bold word choice in this poem and is so blunt in her statements so the audience becomes uncomfortable while reading. America is "supposed" to be a loving, culturally diverse country, but racism is still very prevalent in our society, and whites still see themselves as more worthy than immigrants or those of color.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Civil Rights" group of poems by Rita Dove, the poem that most stood out to me was "Climbing In". The use of sharp imagery creates a sense of danger and unsettlement in the reader. Upon first examination, I actually interpreted it as a story about a prostitution in the way that the wolf portrayed man and the narrator was a girl only looking for money, but upon further examination of the context and themes of the other poems I realized that I was way off. The "metallic teeth" being referred to are the steps of the bus. The poem is narrated from the point of view of a young negro girl boarding a bus, and she sees and describes it as ominous as it represents one of the things that defines her race as beneath whites, as black people were forced to sit in the back of a bus. When Rita Dove uses refrences to a wolf in a grandmother's cap, she is actually refrencing the story "Little Red Riding Hood", comparing the bus to the wolf in the way that they are both seemingly nice on the outside, but filled with darker intention on the inside. When she says that she "pays him to keep smiling", she is talking about paying the bus driver with money as well as metaphorical obedience. If she disobeyed the rules of the bus to bring awareness to this issue of color on the bus, the "wolf", or bus driver, would reveal his anger and bring the law down upon her.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great interpretation! I initially got the Little Red Riding Hood comparison as well, but not the symbol of that wolf as the bus. It took me a few times reading it and really looking at the title to get the true meaning. This poem is a great example of how important a good title is to convey the overall message of a poem and now important it is to pay attention to that.
DeleteThroughout the poem, "Freedom Ride," I constantly noticed the repetition of the word, "fire." Rita Dove describes the patches of yard as rushing into flames and describes the brick as scorched. She also says, "There's fire back where you came from, too." and, "where you sit is where you'll be when the fire hits." After reading this poem a few times to understand its meaning, I was really reminded of the, "Hunger Games," series. I know that this series is way over used and starting to sound repetitive, but it has similarities that could easily be compared to this poem. Both of the writings use fire as a symbol to describe the retaliation of oppressed people. For example, in the Hunger Games, President Snow keeps referring to how it only takes a spark to create a fire. He was trying to say that small acts of rebellion will eventually lead up to a large rebellion that could be harmful. In the civil rights movement, small acts, like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, caused an entire bus boycott that forced bus companies to let black people sit where they wanted on the bus. Both authors use the symbol of fire to represent a movement that is growing. African Americans, women, and other people who were fighting for rights can be compared to the people in the districts while white people could be compared to the people living in the capital. I'm not saying that the whole series is based off this one poem, but the symbol of fire helps make them comparable.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison is really insightful! I completely agree! I also think that the use of the heat/ fire imagery is used to illustrate the violence of the alot of the boycotting at the time and also to show the passion and drive of the African Americans to earn their rights and stand up for what they believe in. Fire was also a very important aspect int he Freedom Riders rebellion/ boycott which seems to be what the poem is about.
DeleteIn Rita Dove’s “Lady Freedom Among Us,” I found the use of imagery, interesting diction, and personification to be incredibly powerful in conveying the overarching message of freedom and also very effective in regards to tone. When Dove writes, “with her oldfashioned sandals / with her leaden skirts / with her stained cheeks and whiskers and heaped up trinkets,” her purpose in using such imagery is to bring the Statue of Liberty to life and make the reader think of her as a real person or character. Her symbolic meaning of freedom has touched all Americans in some way, shape, or form, and has become an intimate part of their lives. Therefore, Dove feels the need to depict Lady Liberty as more than a simple object. In the lines, “she has fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap / and spruced it up with feathers and stars,” it is important to note the mix of imagery, personification, and diction. The statue is personified to further emphasize the sentiment that it holds so much significance, it should not be looked upon as a meaningless, inanimate object. What struck me was the description of the “hand-me-down cap.” This diction makes the reader think of something that is old and has been passed down over the years. This symbolically draws a connection to freedom, as it has been passed down and improved upon through multiple generations. I found the line “consider her drenched gaze her shining brow” to be quite impactful as well in terms of diction because it creates the image in the reader’s mind of glistening sweat trickling down the face of Lady Liberty. The beads of sweat represent the challenges that were faced and the immense amounts of hard work experienced by many who fought to attain freedom. I thought the particular diction in the last two lines of the poem, “for she is one of the many / and she is each of us,” conveyed the important message that the Statue of Liberty is a single representation of all Americans as a whole, connected or tied together by the similar desire for freedom. Through the use of imagery, personification, and diction, the overall tone of triumphant exhaustion is achieved.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Rita Dove’s poem, “The situation is intolerable” I overall got the idea of the poem referring to people as civilized, but were not. I also got to see the struggles that people were going through, like poverty for example, and in the last stanza, it shows to us the struggles that were going on, and show how they felt useless when it says, “Our situation is intolerable, but what’s worse is to sit here and do nothing.” I also, personally felt that Rita was angry or annoyed, when she writes, “Intolerable: that civilized word.”
ReplyDelete"In the Lobby of the Warner Theatre, Washington D.C." was a very distinct and interesting poem that caught my eye in Dove's "Civil Rights" collection. Rita Dove uses sensory imagery and vague details of this woman in the Warner Theatre to make the reader infer and use their background knowledge to visualize the scene. This sonnet is focused on the topic of the iconic figure, Rosa Parks, as she is attending the premier of Amistad in 1997. With the theme of civil rights, this film and event is symbolic to the movement and equality for African-Americans around the time.
ReplyDeleteDove uses subtle descriptions for the reader to imagine the scene in their own perspective, for example, "we couldn't wait but leaned out to catch a glimpse, and saw that the smile was not practiced at all- real delight bloomed there." The crowd was anxious and eager to see such a famous figure at the premier, and Dove reflected Rosa's sincere and genuinely kind personality with her smile that wasn't "practiced." In this passage, Rosa Parks' name is never actually mentioned, which is an interesting technique as she is described so highly and well-known at this movie premier based around civil rights.
Another example of the way Dove portrays Rosa Parks' positive reputation at the time is stated, "but it was only right (wasn't it?) that she be wherever history was being made- after all, she was the true inspiration, she was living history." Because Rosa was so historically renowned at the time, she was seen as a very important guest to attend the premier. The perspective this entire poem is written in is from an outsider's view, possibly just a fan awaiting to view the film as well. I believe Dove used this perspective to capture the main highlights of Rosa's attendance at the theatre and to portray how esteemed and appreciated for her inspiration she was at the time.
Ah, I was looking for someone who did this poem. I didn't know it spoke in accordance to the premier of Amistad in 1997. That's a nice piece of allusion. I also enjoyed how Dove managed to make Rosa more of a person than an iconic figure or symbol when it described her, as you pointed out, as a person with a "smile that was not practiced at all".
DeleteIn " Freedom Ride" Rita Dove writes about the Freedom Riders civil rights movement in which African Americans boycotted segregation of public buses by riding from the north to the south, then lighting the buses on fire. The repetition of the word "fire" is used to convey this message as well as heat/ fire imagery. However in this poem 'fire' means many different things. One could see it as literal fire, or as passion or drive that light the flame of the civil rights movement. I think the organization of this poem is also very interesting. Dove seems to explain the motivation for the Freedom Riders movement in the middle stanza, rather than the beginning. This allows for reader to sense the mystery before it becomes clear what the poem is about.
ReplyDeleteRita Dove’s poem, Lady Freedom Among Us, can be looked on from the perspective of one of the whites during the Civil Rights movement. From this perspective, the person observes a specific women who is fighting for freedom with persistent vigor and some of the lines in the poem can be interpreted differently. Rita uses imagery to describe Lady Freedom’s efforts. Rita writes, “consider her drenched gaze her shining brow” (19), and, “she rests in her weathered plumage bigboned resolute”(24,25). Rita describes how Lady freedom is sweating because of her endless work. The onlooker can see this and describes her rest in a way where her set determination still shows through her resting demeanor. Also from the perspective of a white person during the Civil Rights movement, Lady Freedom’s beginning is described as, ”she has risen among us in blunt reproach” (11). The onlooker explains that through the injustice brought upon African’s, this visionary has been awoken.At the end of the poem, the onlooker realizes the truth of Lady Freedom’s beliefs. The onlooker says, “crown her with sky for she is one of many and she is each of us” (33-35). The onlooker praises Lady Freedom and comes to the realization that she is what the Civil Rights movement has been the whole time and that her belief of gaining freedom is what humanity strives for.
ReplyDeleteIn "Climbing In", the motif of teeth elicits a cold and biting tone in the poem representing the discrimination against blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. The poem is about a black person boarding on to the bus and handing money to the bus driver.
ReplyDeleteThe first stanza begins with the word "teeth", suggesting that teeth will be the main subject of the following lines. The teeth are described as "metallic. Lie-gapped (2)". Metallic gives a sense of coldness and sharpness. This produces the image of a cold demeanor and an unfriendly appearance from the bus driver. This lie-gapped smile infers that the black person is unwelcome on the bus and is readily dismissed. Immediately following after, the person compares the smile to "the dime cutting into my palm as I clutch the silver pole to step up (3-6)". Again, metallic imagery is used to enhance the cold and harsh tone of the poem. The metal of the dime represents the inhospitable bus.
In the third stanza, the bus driver's teeth is described like the "teeth of the wolf' (10)". The poem becomes an allegory to the classic fable of "Little Red Riding Hood". In the fable, the wolf dresses up and pretends to be Little Red's grand mother in order to eat Little Red. This can be compared to the bus driver in the poem because on the outside, he/she is friendly towards the black person, but on the inside there is hatred and disgust. Many people during the Civil Rights Movement acted like this and considered blacks inferior. However, since not all blacks could fight the law, many of them were submissive in terms of being subjugated which is why "Pay him to keep smiling" refers to how blacks know that a white person's outward demeanor towards them may only be a facade and that blacks must follow the harsh rules of discrimination (going along with the wolf pretending to be the grandmother) in order to avoid danger or threats.
In the concluding stanza, in reference to the "Little Red Riding Hood" story, Dove writes, "down the clinking gullet" to pertain to Little Red getting swallowed by the wolf in the end and how a black person must except his/her circumstance, even if it is wrong, hence, they have been eaten by the "wolf" (society).
I really like your interpretation of this poem! The metallic imagery in this poem provokes a lot of emotion to the readers and I also thought that Dove's allegory to Little Red Riding Hood gives a lot more dimension and relatability to the poem, making it easier to understand.
Delete“Claudette Colvin Goes to Work” is a poem, written by Rita Dove, about the everyday life of civil rights movement activist Claudette Colvin. Though unfamiliar to many people, Colvin was the original women to stand up against bus segregation. She made her protest nearly nine months before Rosa Parks made her stand. Colvin, however, was deemed a bad choice for leader of the movement because she was only a teenager at the time and she had become pregnant without being married. Rita Dove tells of a night in Colvin’s shoes to point out the treatment of African Americans through the juxtaposition of light and dark imagery.
ReplyDeleteIn the first two stanzas, Rita Dove juxtaposes light and dark imagery to show the contrasting views of whites and blacks in society. The first stanza begins with dark imagery; “Menial twilight sweeps the storefront along Lexington/ as the shadows arrive to take the places/ among the scourge of the earth”(1-3). The darkness is personified through the verbs “sweeps” and “arrive” to compare the darkness to people with black skin. The darkness is described as “menial” and, in the next stanza, “bad light,”(11) and placed in “the scourge of the earth” to show the mistreatment of people of color. The difficulty of life is described in the second stanza when Dove writes, “one drop of sweat/ is all it would take to dissolve an armchair pillow/ into brocade residue”(11-13). This metaphor for Colvin's life shows that even the smallest missteps can lead to the destruction of everything that she has worked for. Dove is also trying to say that people only see what is on the outside and that they don’t realize that the “armchair” is still useful even if it looks different. In the last few lines of the first stanza, light imagery is used to contradict the prior dark imagery. It is described as, “lightbulbs coming on/ in each narrow residence, the golden wattage/ of bleak interior…”(4-6). The light is overwhelms the darkness. It stands out with adjectives like “golden” or “brilliance” compared to the “bleak” darkness. The juxtaposition of light and dark imagery shows the poor treatment of blacks by whites throughout Claudette Colvin life.
"Lady Freedom Among Us" is a very powerful peice of writing. It represents that no matter how tarnished something or someone is, they can still stand up for what is right and still be the voice of a movement. I also find Dove's writing style in this poem like a riddle. As you first read, you may be conflicted on what it is about. But, as you read the last lines, you can reallly make a wholesome prediction on what it is about. I could see this poem representing one women standing alone, or America's passion for freedom itself, and how that fire for freedom will burn forever lasting. I also love that she really personificates lady liberty. She really turned her from the metallic green to a skin tone and I could feel the warmth escaping from the poem. She makes lady liberty this real life person which I think is so cool. Dove did very well at mixing America and its fight for freedom, and how women fought for it too.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you described Rita Dove's writing as a riddle. I think she really tries to make the reader conflicted about what the meaning of her writing could be about at first, so that they can read it multiple times and get new insights on it. You can read a poem multiple times, especially Rita Dove's, and still find new meanings, interpretations, or just words and metaphors you didn't know where there before. So the fact that you made that point about her writing I think is very true and should be recognized more.
DeleteThe poem Climbing In by Rita Rove was really interesting to me when I read it. This poem I think is from the view of Rosa Parks as she goes onto the bus, maybe not even specifically Rosa Parks. The discrimination and unwelcoming feeling when African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement felt when going in segregated areas is something she portrays here. She repeats metallic imagery in the readers head throughout the poem, especially in the beginning by using the words, "metallic", "dime", "silver". I think she does this so the reader gets a cold feeling. Then she goes on to describe this bus driver as the wolf in the tail of Red Riding Hood. This is a interesting metaphor, yet powerful. It shows that behind the forced "happy" and "welcoming" face that this man has to have to show that segregation in public systems work is all fake and he is really a wolf under that disguise. Rita Dove writes, "Not quite a grin. Pay him to keep smiling,". This shows perfectly what was happening, the government wants them to seem welcoming and all but in reality they completely not okay with this. The last three lines say, "as the bright lady tumbles head over tail down the clinking gullet,". This shows the reader that this man isn't going to stop this lady of falling down the trap and into racist and discriminatory times or down the gullet or throat of the "wolf". I find this poem super intriguing and a powerful statement of the African Americans "Climbing In", as the title describes, into this pit of racism and cold shoulders and people just standing by and letting it happen.
ReplyDeleteI was drawn to the title “Freedom Ride” because I remember learning about it in APUSH, but I also needed to look it up because I had forgotten the details about the event. In this poem, Dove incorporates a lot of negative imagery to describe the situation in the South during those times. In the first stanza, Dove describes the environment as “cloud cover, / and germy air / condensing on the tinted glass.” This description immediately makes the reader imagine disgusting weather and a very polluted environment, and it gives off a musky tone. The polluted air symbolizes the unrest in the south due to racism in the time period when the Freedom Riders were advocating against segregation. Additionally, in the second stanza, Dove begins with, “Pull the cord a stop too soon, and / you’ll find yourself walking / a gauntlet of stares.” This portrays how the whites showed so much superiority towards the blacks. They paid attention to every move that the blacks made when they were in the whites’ vicinity because they were viewed as “unclean” and inferior to them. Dove is emphasizing the oppression faced by the blacks. Dove also talks about the dream that blacks have for achieving freedom by writing, “someplace fresh” and “Daydream, and you’ll wake up / in the stale dark of a cinema”, which suggests that the blacks are constantly thinking about when they can escape this horrible time in their life and enter into a new stage in their lives where they are free to do whatever they desire without any restraints. Furthermore, these lines in the poem demonstrate the hope that freedom will one day come for them and rescue them from their horrendous situation. In this poem, Dove includes momentous Civil Rights leaders: Dallas, Bobby, Malcolm X, and Memphis (Martin Luther King Jr.) who led many significant Civil Rights movements and had a lot of impact during that period of tension, but all died from murder done by people who were against their actions. I wonder what purpose Dove had of putting Dallas, Bobby, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. into the poem? I’m also not very sure on what Dove means by “but where you sit is where you’ll be / when the fire hits”. What does Dove mean by the “fire”, which is repeated throughout the poem? Is it the outburst of violence?
ReplyDelete“QE2. Transatlantic Crossing. Third Day” speaks of the relaxed state of the area she inhabits. There is a constant cloth motif found throughout, “Dingy percale…” and “...no selvage to catch…” all contain words which are used when one whishes to describe cloth or bed sheets. Bed sheets or cloth, of course, are often associated with comfort and being at ease or at home.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem, the idea of “going home” is stating, meaning that the speaker wants to feel safe and secure.
Those of color were neglected, scorned, and segregated, so the author wanting to feel at home would make sense, if viewed from that perspective.
The poem talks about there only being “chips and signatures”, which are associated with gambling. However, it can also be used or shown for a form of identification. Perhaps the speaker means that people are only in the world if those people can be identified?
There’s a moment where it talks about being “ between the silver spoon and golden gate”. The silver spoon is commonly used as a symbol for wealth. There are two possible interpretations for golden gates, however. One would, obviously, be the Golden Gate Bridge. The other option would be the Golden Gates of Heaven. In the Bible, it states that “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God”, so if one were to use the latter symbol, perhaps the speaker want to reach that blissful perfection where they have enough wealth to be satisfied, but not so much that they would avoid entering Heaven.
It is possible, though, that the speaker is not actually speaking for themselves, but rather for others since the speaker seems to only be “some Negro actually looking for misery”, as opposed to actually being in misery.
One poem I really liked, and one that was easy to visualize was "In the Lobby of the Warner Theatre, Washington, D.C." This poem is about an elderly Rosa Parks, at a movie premier at the Warner Theatre. In this poem, Rosa Parks is never referred to by name, but by using context clues like the line "like the history she made for us sitting there" is used at the end of the poem to show who this is about. One interesting symbol I found in this poem, was the symbol of sitting down. The fact that Rosa Parks is sitting in a wheelchair, just like she was sitting down on the bus is quite fitting. A message I think was conveyed in this poem was that you can have a major impact on society even if you aren't the biggest, most intimidating person. Rosa Parks took a stand (or rather a seat) and changed the entire country. She was not the biggest, smartest, richest, or best person in the world, but she stood up for what she believed in, and that made a huge difference. Also, Rosa in this story is in a wheelchair, but she is still looked up to by all the people in the theater, even though physically, she is sat below them. The line "The audience descended in a cavalcade of murmuring sequins" I thought was a great use of imagery. This let the reader picture the audience members, looking upon Rosa in their fancy dresses and suits and them talking among each other about the living legend Rosa Parks. The main message of this poem I thought was that even small acts, by seemingly average people can make a huge impact and change the world.
ReplyDeleteThe Poem Belinda's Petition by Rita Dove uses very blunt, honest thoughts to drive the reader to listen to the hurt/ anger that Belinda feels. "I will not take much of your time, but to plead and place my pitiable life unto the Fathers of the Nation." This completely grabs hold of the audience from the start. The repetition of the P's in the last sentence with such vivid words that the reader WANTS to hear about her pitiable life. We want to know what she thinks about the Fathers of this country. This is because from the start Dove uses blunt unpopular viewpoints in this section of her works titles "Slavery" To give everyone a glimpse of her heritage. With this women that is being written about having been a slave since she was twelve years old we can see that to write her poems about slavery any other way would be wrong. Blunt and Honest one of the freshest things that a person can read in the midst of all the mumbo jumbo Dove pulls out what people generally don't want to hear and turns it into something they would want to stand up for. That is the power in the poetry.
ReplyDeleteIn her poem "Parsley", Rita Dove uses the repitition of the idea of "green" or "freshness" to convey a sense of irony. Greeness and freshness are often used to refer to newness or freedom. The reocurring use of these terms portrays a sense of irony at the Hatians suffering and lack of freedom. The people were dying and suffering while the world around them was growing and moving forward, paying no mind to the destruction and decay. This juxtaposition of green and suffering is seen cleary in the third stanza, "we lie down screaming as rain punches through/and we come up green." (Dove 7-8). This sense of irony shows how the Hatians felt as if the entire world was turned against them and was turning a blind eye to their suffering. The juxtaposition gives a cruel, tragic tone to the piece, which helps the reader feel compassion and sympathy for the Hatians. This also causes the reader to feel angry that this tradegy could ever be allowed to happen. The juxtaposition of green and death also gives the reader insight to the general's backround and reasoning for his cruelty. The reader is given backround knowledge on the general's mother, and is told, "how she died in the fall/and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming/four-star blossoms." (23-26). The reader can understand that the general blames the Hatians for his mother's death and wants revenge. While the reader may not agree with the general's abusive and cruel actions, they can see that they are not totally without reason. Dove uses the same juxtaposition of greeness and suffering to describe both the Hatians and the general, which gives the reader a sense that they are more connected and have more in common that what might meet the eye.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that it is ironic how "green" or the parsley is considered fresh and healthy, but instead it leads to the Haitians death. I had never really thought about how the Haitians felt like the entire world was against them. This poem also brings up the question, why did Dove write this? How does this relate to her? As we saw earlier, the sets of poems, Mothers and Daughters, Historical Figures, and the Civil Rights Movements, all related to her in some way. How did Rita Dove get the inspiration to write about Politics of History
DeleteWell I feel like it sort of connects with Civil Rights because of the fact that the Haitians were discriminated just like the African American. I think Dove wants to remind us that there is evil in the world we live in and to remember that there still is evil today.
DeleteIn the poem, Parsley, Dove uses parsley as a much deeper meaning than just an herb. Parsley is used to determine whether or not the Haitians are killed by the General. In the poem it says, “El General has found his word: perejil” (13). Perejil means parsley. I find it interesting how the Haitians grew and used parsley in their everyday lives. In the excerpt, The Farming Bones, a Haitian native said, “We used parsley for our food, our teas, our baths, to cleanse our insides as well as our outsides.” The natives used parsley basically in everything they did. Like the quote said, it was used to cleanse their bodies. The one thing that was used to signify life for the Haitians was also “used” to kill them. It is ironic that parsley can be used to symbolize life as well as death in the poem. It makes the audience feel sorrow as well as sympathy for the Haitians.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis. The fact that the Haitians use the parsley in their every day life creates a twisted sense of irony. This almost makes the cruelty they suffer seem worse, because something they rely so heavily to thrive is being used against them for destruction.
DeleteI found it sad how they use parsley to torture them instead of actual physical torture. This provided the aggressive, angry tone in the poem and allows the reader to feel what they are going through when Rita uses a lot of vivid imagery.
DeleteI did not think of it like this! I defiantly agree with your analysis and it s very interesting how ironic it is. I agree is Morgan on how sad it could be. Yes both are horribly wrong, but using something that they used in there everyday life just was like a shove in the face but way worse. It was part of there life and something that they loved so it made the reader feel sorry and emotional for them. I think that Hannah is also right on how it can make the suffer seem way worse.
DeleteI agree with all of you!!! I also think that its ironic that El General is using something that like Alisa said, was used to cleanse their bodies, in order to in his mind, cleanse the population of the Haitian people. It was not only an intimidation tactic, but a threat to foreigners to stay out of the Dominican.
DeleteThese are really good points, but I must add that I found it to be a symbol of purification for both the Haitian people and the Dominican people. The Haitians were cleansing their body, and the Dominicans were cleansing their world of the imperfect people.
DeleteI found it interesting that in the poem “Parsley”, Rita uses some Spanish words such as “El General” and “perejil” to help readers understand the context of the story more and how it is about the Mexican Revolution. I found it strange that in the poem it explains that the people can’t roll their R’s, which can be seen in the line “God knows mother was no stupid woman; she could roll an R like a queen”. Rita takes out the R’s in the line “mi madle, mi amol en muelte”, which is then translated in the next stanza, “My mother, my love in death”. But why can’t they roll their R’s and why do you think Rita uses “l” in replace of the “r” in the Spanish line?
ReplyDeleteThe reason for dove replacing each of the "r"s with "l"s is to show the reader that the Haitians can't pronounce the letter. This is very similar to the German language and the "th" sound. It doesn't exist in their Language so German people can't pronounce it in other languages. (Fun Fact, in German, Siddhartha is pronounced Siddharta.) It is interesting that Dove replaced the "r"s with "l"s because Haitians can pronounce the letter "r." Haitians just pronounce the letter the same way Americans pronounce our "r"s; they just can't role the "r." this doesn't mean their "r"s sound like "l"s.
Delete“to haunt us, and we cut it down. El General
ReplyDeletesearches for a word; he is all the world
there is. Like a parrot imitating spring,”
In the poem Parsley, there are many things that stuck out to not only me, but I am sure everyone else. There is so much repetitiveness, imagery, and interesting dictions. The section above, right off the bat stuck out to me because it gave everything else a meaning and helped the readers understand the rest of the poem. It gives a background touch and foreshadows in the next section The Palace.
The first line of this stanza says, “To haunt us, we cut it down…” Rita uses the “us” part to talk about the Haitian migrant workers and I know this because of the reading before the poem. “we cut it down” must mean something related to manual labor and that brings in the “haunt us.” The labor the workers are put through awful conditions and were most likely unbearable. Not only did they have poor conditions, it was all ruled under a general that obviously had some built up anger that was being released on the wrong people. The second line, mentions that the general is “searching for a word;” Dove portrays this word to be parsley. The background story makes this line obvious because the one person that could roll the letter “r” would be “safe” and the person who could not would be executed. When it states “he is all the world” it is describing the general and how much power he has over these people. When people disobey, or in this case, not roll the letter “r” they will be executed or beat. Having this much fear over someone the general, like in this poem, “has all the world.” This last line is so similar throughout the entire poem! “Like a parrot imitating spring,” one thing I did notice between the first and second stanza is, in the first stanza Dove writes “There is a parrot imitating spring” and in the second stanza says, “Like a parrot imitating spring.” What do you guys think this means? My ideas were Dove could be showing a comparison between the two but I am not exactly sure.
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DeleteI think that the use of the parrot is used to show the narrators appreciation of the consistent way the parrot never changes what is said. The parrot can only mimic and never recreate or create. I think the use of spring is used to contrast the fall or autumn, which was the time of the mother's death.
DeleteI thought of what "there is a parrot imitating spring" could possible mean and this is what went through my mind. So there are the people (Haitians) who couldn't correctly pronounce the word "perejil", so they were slaughtered. But there were those who could correctly say the word "perejil" have their lives spared. And the people who could live were mostly Dominicans and they represent the parrot because they were all repeating the same words in order to live. Rita used "spring" because the people who could say that word live and spring represents life. Like a parrot who can only imitate one to a few words, people during the parsley massacre had their lives depend on that one word, so it was all people said in hopes to live. Although why the general Trujillo used that word out of all the words.
DeleteI think the usage of the parrot motif is quite significant when considering its shifting symbolism throughout The Cane Fields. In the beginning, a parrot is described to be living in a palace and “imitating spring.” This creates a positive feel and makes the reader think of freshness, luxury, and beauty. As the conditions of the Haitians is explained the further into the poem the reader gets, the parrot’s symbolism changes from beauty and positivity to sadness and enslavement. One can see this by noticing the way in which the parrot motif is paired with figurative language in the second, third, and fourth stanzas. In the last stanza, the tone is violent and the line “For every drop of blood / there is a parrot imitating spring” shows how the bird is now communicating its symbolism of enslavement or captivity.
DeleteIn the poem, Parsley, and even in her other poems, Rita Dove discusses the theme of how people hate/discriminate to feel better. In the poem, the general deals with his grief by using his power to inflict pain on others. The speaker in the second part mentions his mother in the majority of the stanzas. This shows how he is somewhat human afterall. By showing his grief towards his mother's death, Dove gives the general a human quality to allow the reader to feel the tiniest bit of pity for him. No one can blame this general for not getting over her death, but how he overcomes it shows the depth of the love in families one has. The only way for him to feel better is to kill thousands of people. This idea reminds me of the Holocaust. In both these situations, we wonder how this became possible. How people could let this happen. In the poem, Dove uses the symbol of the parrot to represent how people follow others. She constatly repeats the phrase, "parrot imitating spring". I think it represents how people mindlessly follow others. and by using this comparison, Dove shows how this enables others to gain power. Like the analogy of the sheep and shepherd, the majority of people mindlessly follow a leader which gives that leader power. Throughout her poems, Dove shows how important it is to stand up for what is right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that this repeating theme of hate and discrimination is used in a lot of her poems. Do you think that the sadness the dictator felt about the death of his mother was what drove his to kill all the Haitians? I bring up this question because that's what I honestly think. Because after the thought of her enters his mind of "Who can I kill today" so he is showing his power and domination through killing which obviously is a really messed up way to deal with your feelings.
DeleteI find your analysis very interesting. I can see how Dove tries to personify and make the reader relate to the possible dictator/speaker in the second half of the poem. She embeds the tiny morals within the poem, like the example you gave how important it is to stand up for what is right. Because of the intense diction, these lessons and morals seem to be hidden within the context.
Delete" Like a parrot imitating spring"
ReplyDeleteIn Rita Dove's "Parsley", the parrot is used to symbolize how the narrator feels about the changes in a language and how the consistency of the parrot behavior is conforting to he/she. It is important to understanf the historical context first. In 1957, a dictator named Trujilo ordered the death of 20,000 Haitians would couldn't roll their 'R's". The narrator show their emotions toward this in their feelings about the parrot. Parrots can cannot say anything original, only mimic what they have heard. So unlike the way many different languages are changed a mortified, a parrots language remains consistent and is not a recreation of anything, but an exact copy. This show the frustration of the narrator and helps to convey the ridiculousness of death sentence.
I agree with your analysis, as always haha. Anyways, I would like to add more to your analysis. I also noticed that since parrots mimic speech, it relates to how the Haitians also had to 'mimic' their speech as well. The Haitians had to try and replicate the pronunciation of "perejil". On the second to last stanza , El General frustratedly thinks, "Even a parrot can roll an R! In the bare room the bright feathers arch in a parody of greenery, (61,62)". The parrot's wings are interpreted as a parody, as if they were a crude mocking. This mocking, representing that of the Haitians. Some of them were able to imitate the sound of the 'R' in "perejil", but not all of them could. The imitation was unnatural and fake to them, just as how parrots don't actually have an intricately complex language, they only copy the sound of the words.
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ReplyDeleteThe parrot in the poem "Parsley" by Rita Dove, embodies multiple symbols to illustrate the brutality of the Parsley Massacre and the tyrannical dictatorship under Rafael Trujillo. One of the symbols the parrot represents is beauty. Throughout the first part of the poem (a villanelle), the parrot is repeatedly mentioned as, "a parrot imitating spring". Spring is usually associated with life and birth; a time of thriving. The parrot imitates spring as it is associated with the beauty of spring. In the first stanza, the parrot's plumage is described as "parsley green, (2)". This directly refers to the massacre of the Haitians for they couldn't pronounce the 'R' in "perejil" (parsley). Here, irony is used of the parrot's beautiful green plumage because it is compared to parsley, the symbol of death among the Haitians. The irony of the parrot's beauty is further consolidated when "for every drop of blood there is a parrot imitating spring, (17,18)". The parrot is associated with violence, demonstrating the irony of beauty being compared to death.
ReplyDeleteAnother symbol of the parrot is that it represents the enslavement of the Haitians. As demonstrated before in many past works of literature, birds represent freedom and independence. The beautiful green parrot in the poem is "in a brass ring, (29)" in the palace. The bird is locked in a cage symbolizing the inability of the Haitians to escape. Birds ought to be free and flying; not locked in a debilitating cage. Similarly, the Haitians are forced to work in the sugar cane fields and ruthlessly killed. They must hide from the "El General" (Trujillo).
On a side note, it is speculated that parsley is poisonous to birds. This adds further meaning to the story and creates a deeper connection between the parrot and parsley. As mentioned above, the parrot is compared to parsley as being vibrantly green and full of life, comparable to spring. Parsley is a nourishing garnish and like the parrot, is considered 'pretty'. However, if a parrot ingests parsley, it could be potentially fatal for the parrot and it could die, thereby further establishing the connection between the parrot and the parsley throughout the poem. This connection depicts the contrast of the parrot and parsley's beauty with death, and exemplifies how one harmless pretty plant can be used as a symbol of violence and genocide.
I really liked your comparison of the parrot to the parsley. When I was reading the poem, I couldn't really figure out why the parsley and the parrot reoccurred so many times, but your analysis of it really helped me understand the relationship between the two!
DeleteI noticed that between both the excerpt from "The Farming of Bones" and the poem "Parsley" had a similar theme in the way that parsley is used. In both stories, parsley is used as a symbol of purification. In the excerpt, the narrator claims that they use parsley for " our food, our teas, our baths, to cleanse our insides as well as our outsides." This means that the Hiatian people actually used parsley to clean and purify their bodies physically. In the poem, the general describes how they killed the people who cannot pronounce parsley, because it is deemed imperfect when they cannot pronounce the 'r' in the word for parsley; perejil. This means that in a way, they use the word to "purify" themselves from those who were imperfect. The way that parsley is use as a symbol for purification can leave different effects, as well. The way it is used by the Haitian people gives a peaceful tone to the reader, as it gives a sense of comfort in purity of the body. However, in the poem, the way the word is used gives a tone of dread hen it is used, because the reader knows that this simple word may be the reason for someone's death.
ReplyDeleteI noticed this as well! When I think of parsley, the first thing that comes to mind is how it is used in ethnic food to add more flavor to what is being cooked. My connotations with the word are very comforting and relaxed because, after all, it is just a plant. It is very terrifying to think that this little plant was the cause of thousands of deaths. There have been genocides that were caused by religious or dominance beliefs, but I have never heard of killings caused by just a plant.
DeleteI enjoy how you noticed the idea of the people "purifying themselves" in regards to the usage of parsley. Both in the good and healthy sense, as well as the dark and morbid fashion. You also managed to clear up the poem for me a bit further. My mind has been rather addled as of late, but you have made things a smidgen less opaque.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I first read ‘Parsley’ by Rita Dove I originally had a rather different interpretation as to what happened than to what Dove herself said when she was interviewed in the mid-80s (http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dove/interview.htm). My original interpretation was that this was about slaves during the first wave of European colonisation who had escaped en masse from a plantation in French Haiti into the neighbouring Spanish colony of Hispaniola and had hid themselves in plain sight amongst the Dominican slaves. ‘El General,’ himself a former slave though now a freeman, has hunted them down to the plantation where they are hiding and has rounded them all up, Dominicans and Haitians alike. In order to determine who is Dominican and who is Haitian, he thinks back to his mother, a Haitian slave, and how she sang ‘Katalina, Katalina mi madle, mi amol’ with the other slaves as she cut down sugar cane. He thought back to how she, along with many others, could roll an r as easily as the Spanish, but how she chose not to in order to avoid sticking out from the crowd who said ‘Katalina’ rather than ‘Katarina.’ Remembering this, he comes up with a shibboleth: say ‘perejil,’ ‘parsely,’ like a Dominican and you live; say ‘pelejil,’ like a Haitian and you die.
ReplyDeleteOf course this is completely heterogeneous to what Rita Dove had intended with the writing of ‘Parsley’ as Rita Dove had written it about the Parsley Massacre by the Dominican government against Haitian homesteaders living on the border in 1937. Perhaps this was intentionally done to draw parallels to slavery, with the repetition of certain words like ‘lash,’ ‘cane,’ ‘sugar,’ ‘machete,’ ‘field,’ ‘ivory,’ and the seemingly intentional ambiguity as to the character of El General, the nature of the murders, the reason for the murders, and the time in which they take place.
In Rita's "Parsley" poem, she writes "The Crane Fields" in the Haitian's point of view. When I read this part, I expected it to have a resentful tone accompanied with angry and violent diction since it's the victim's point of view and they are likely to despise Trujillo, the person responsible for the deaths of around 20, 000 Haitians.However, the tone has equanimity in it, and because of that, it makes the reader feel even more sorrow and pity for the victims of the massacre. There are parts that arouses pity such as "we lie down screaming as rain punches through and we come up green". Also, the victims' inability to "speak an R" makes the reader feel their helplessness and desperateness. Along with the sorrowful feelings, the reader also feel hatred towards the general because he is described as powerful and spiteful tyrant. He has so much power that "he is all the world there is" and his spitefulness is shown when "he laughs, teeth shining out of the swamp". The second part of the poem "The Palace" shows the general's point of view and reveals a more human and emotional side to the oppressive ruler. Despite his cruelty, he is weak on the inside and uses his personal problems as a reason to hurt the innocent Haitians. Every time he thinks about his mother's death, he thinks "Who can I kill today". Also, Rita put in the part about the candies of the "Day of the Dead" to show that he used to celebrate that holiday like a normal person. The purpose for the second part is not to arouse pity for the general, but to show that he has emotions just like everybody else and he resents the Haitian for his mother's death.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker in the poem Parsley not only uses the parrot and parsley as a symbol, but also a cane. In the Dominican Republic, they grow a large amount of Sugar-cane, and its often farmed by Haitian immigrants. In the poem, in almost all of the stanzas in the first part, The Cane Fields, the last line of each stanza is "out of the swamp the cane appears". Each time its written differently, sometimes capitalized, and sometimes in all under case letters. Interestingly the very last time this ending is used, is in the last stanza, when Dove uses an end-stop. This could be emphasizing that threatening feeling created by the repetition of such an ominous statement.
ReplyDeleteThe cane itself is almost like a threat to the Hatians. It is associated with El General, and his punsihment for those who cannot "speak an R-". Canes are usually connected to old age, or wealth, and the General, seems to be a very powerful man, so he probably has a little of both. The swamp referenced, could be an allusion to the swamp the victims create after spewing the parsley that is shoved down their throats as punishment for not being able to pronounce Perejil. As it says in the second stanza lines 8 and 9, "and we come up green. We cannot speak an R-/ out of the swamp, the cane appears". Another interpretation of this image of a cane appearing out of a swamp, is that perhaps the speaker is saying that the General is omnipresent, and those who he deems punishable, never see his punishment coming. Overall, Rita Dove uses repetition and imagery in this sentence to create a threatening intimidating mood.
I found it interesting that the first part of Rita Dove’s poem “Parsley,” is written in the form of a villanelle. This form emphasises two lines, the first and last lines of the first triplet, through repetition in each other triplet and finally combined to make the ending couplet in the quatrain. It also interested me that the repeated lines, “there is a parrot imitating spring,”(1) and “out of the swamp the cane appears,”(3) can not be fully understood until the reader has read both parts. Upon reading the first part only, the cane seems to symbolize the Dominican army. The image of rows and rows of cane can be personified into the rows of a marching army. The character also describes their fear and hatred for the cane by “cut[ting] it down” and comparing it to “El General”. In the next part of the poem, the cane symbolizes the general’s love for his dead grandmother; “he planted her walking cane at the grave and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming four-star blossoms”(24-26). When the reader learns about the general’s view of the cane, they are left with conflicting views and contradicting viewpoints. Dove does this to show the tension between the two sides of the genocide though it is ironic the general, who ordered the killing, is the one who feels love and the people who being killed are the ones filled with rage.
ReplyDeleteSomething that really stood out to me in Rita Dove's poem, "Parsley," is the change in the point of view from the first half to the second half. The first half, called, "The Cane Fields,", is from the perspective of a Haitian worker, while, "The Palace," is in third person. I think that Rita Dove did this for a couple different reasons. I think that the reason fro the first half being from the perspective of a Haitian field worker is that Rita wanted to put us in their shoes and make us feel what they were feeling. A first person perspective makes us more emotionally attached to the poem because it helps us develop empathy for the person who's perspective it is. She puts the second half in 3rd person to make us look down upon the general. If she would've written it from the general's point of view, we might feel more sympathy and understanding for the anger that he has. By putting it in third person, the reader gets an unbiased view of what the general is going through and instead of feeling pity for him, the reader is able to look down upon his behavior. The third person view lets the reader disconnect more from the emotions a character is feeling.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting indication in Parsley by Rita Dove is the General's affection towards his own mother. Dover writes that "the general thinks of his mother, how she died in the fall and he planted her walking cane at the grave and it flowered"(22-24). The General is reminiscing of his mother's death which sets a very melancholic mood to the stanza. He specifically associates he death with the fall so that importance is given to his mother's death date. Every fall, her death would be remembered and her memory would be cherished as a result thereof. His true emotions are revealed as "someone calls out his name in a voice so like his mother's, a startled tear splashes the tip of his right boot" (60-63). His own mother's death had a great impact on his mental state as he is still sensitive to her memory. The reader is able to connect more with the General because, even if his actions were terrible and wrong according to mankind, he still had feelings within him. The loss of a loved one can be very harsh if the person doesn't know how to deal with it and have the ability to move past it. The General's excessive reaction of crying, which was triggered by a memory of his deceased mother, sets a very dark mood as the General's weakness is displayed. He, who killed thousands of Haitians based on the ability to pronounce a word, became weak when a sensitive topic was reminisced. This goes to show that everyone is sensitive in a unique way and some may have thinner boundaries than others.
ReplyDeleteIn The Cane Fields of “Parsley,” by Rita Dove, I found that the use of figurative language and the parrot motif communicates an overall ironic tone. In the very first line of the first stanza, a parrot is introduced. The reader gets a sense of beauty, wealth, and luxury, as the creature is described as having feathers the color of parsley green and living within a palace. First off, it is important to note that parrots are talkative birds. This motif emphasizes through contrast the tragic difficulty some of the Haitians experience with the pronunciation of the “r” sound. In the lines, “Like a parrot imitating spring, / we lie down screaming as rain punches through / and we come up green,” a metaphor is used to compare the Haitians to “a parrot imitating spring,” which conveys a fresh, positive tone. The way the sentence is set up with a positive sounding tone makes the reader think the rest of the sentence will also be positive. However, that is not the case. When Dove writes, “ we lie down screaming as rain punches through,” the tone switches to violent with this case of personification. After this mid-sentence shift, the tone quickly reverts back to fresh and vibrant with the line that follows, “and we come up green.” In the sixth stanza, the lines, “For every drop of blood / there is a parrot imitating spring,” the parrot motif is paired with the visualization of blood. The creature no longer seems to communicate its symbolism of beauty, but rather its symbolism of enslavement. The tone changes to sinister and the irony is evidently felt because “ a parrot imitating spring” is a line that makes one think of positivity. The purpose in these juxtapositions of tones, which are conveyed through the employment of figurative language and the parrot motif, is to illustrate the tragic fates of many Haitians who were subjected to such awful treatment.
ReplyDeleteThe arithmetic tone that Rita Dove implements through her poem, Parsley, by using line breaks and certain diction really adds a lot of emphasis on the historical feelings brought on this poem and events. In the poem Rita Dove writes in a third person view which usually doesn't show much emotion on certain aspect levels. But the way that she uses powerful juxtapositions, repetition and line breaks in her poems make the reader feel things about this mortifying political topic. One of the more obviously repetition parts of this poem is in the first part. Rita Dove kept repeating in almost every stanza, "there is a parrot imitating spring". This adds a more poetic rhythm to the poem but more importantly what does it symbolize and show. The parrot is taught to imitate and that is all he is known to do. I think that could symbolize Trullijo and how he has always been just taught to kill and hide down his emotions from his mothers death. And that is why this gruesome section about the authority of El General ends with the Haitians blood and the parrot imitating spring, as symbolism. I find it interesting tat Rita Dove put that saying in every stanza because parrots repeat the same thing over and over and how it made the passage more poetic really.
ReplyDeleteFrom the section "Politics of History," Dove displays the poem "Parsely" with a strong liberated and determined tone by telling the compelling story of the Haitian and Domican Republic conflict. The poem is split into two separate passages, "1. The Cane Fields," and "2. The Palace." This creates the distinct separation of setting and mood as Dove uses detailed imagery to identify and compare the importance of each place within the event. In "The Cane Fields," the metaphors and similes Dove contributes to the scenery make a dramatic effect on the emotion the poem beings with. "The children gnaw their teeth to arrowheads," was a line that stood out to me because of the reflection of how the young children of the fields are ready to battle and are tough enough to sharpen the arrowheads they have with their teeth. The simile that is repeated within the first section of the poem, that has been previously discussed, is "like a parrot imitating spring..." This includes the important symbol of the parrot as the bird is referred to towards the end of the poem, "Even a parrot can roll an R!" I believe Dove foreshadowed the symbol of the parrot to reflect the description of the mother at during the final lines, as a parrot is a beautiful and common bird of the tropical area. With the use of metaphors and similes with vivid imagery of the setting, the poem flowed well together as the two separate passages eventually connected within the symbol of the parrot.
ReplyDeleteThe poem, “Parsley”, has a very violent tone throughout the whole poem. In this poem, the motif of killing is present throughout expressing cruelness of the general. While murdering humans for the mere fact that they cannot pronounce the “r” in parsley, is a very inhuman act, in the case of the general, it can be somewhat justified. The reason that the general killed the Haitians is because he believed that they were responsible for the death of his mother. The Haitian slaves working in the fields grew sugarcane, and baking sugar cookies led to the death of his mother. Throughout this poem, he was mourning his mother’s death, and even though his actions were completely unacceptable, it was out of extreme love to the point of loving his mom so much that he was going insane that he committed these atrocious acts. The reason why the general chose the word “parsley” was because he remembered the men in his village wearing capes with parsley on them to honor the birth of their sons (68-70). In this way, he wanted the Haitians to pronounce the word correctly to show his honor to his mother even now that she had passed. For the ones who could not say parsley, they were killed because they were seen as a disgrace to his mother. The word “parsley”, in a way keeps the bond between the general and his mother.
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