While reading the poem “Parsley” by Rita Dove I immediately noticed the repetition of the line “out of the swamp the cane appears”. This line could represent the working conditions of the surviving haitians in the sugar cane field or it could be a reference to Trujillo’s mother’s cane that is buried with her. I think that it is a reference to the General’s mother’s cane because the line reads “the cane” meaning a specific cane not just another cane in the field. Because this cane represents the General’s mother it shows the source of his anger and possibly one of the causes of the genocide. A cane is also a tool that was used when beating or punishing someone. The process of caneing was very popular in the early 1900’s. The use of the word cane further shows Dove’s interpretation of the Haitian’s punishment. In the first stanza of the second part of the poem the phrase “in the fall” is repeated twice. The genocide of the Haitians mainly occurred in the fall as well as the death of Trujillo’s mother. This further shows that the death of Trujillo’s mother could have been part of the cause of the genocide.
(My reply to Olivia's blog post): Olivia, I completely agree with your analysis! I also noticed the repetition of parsley right off the bat. At first I thought that Dove was just hinting towards the nickname of the massacre, but after reading the excerpt from “The Farming of Bones” I learned that parsley was part of the Haitian’s everyday lives from meals to medicine. Food and health are typically things that are taken care of by a mother figure: something that Trujillo no longer had. Due to the loss of his mother Trujillo felt the need to mock the Haitian people by turning their symbol of home into one of fear and tragedy.
(Also a reply to Olivia's post) I agree that parsley is an important symbol in this poem. Its importance stretches beyond the obvious reference to the Parsley Massacre, because parsley also is an ironic juxtaposition in the context of the Parsley Massacre and this poem. Parsley itself is probably the most anodyne and inoffensive herb there is, mostly used to provide color to chain Italian restaurant’s fettuccine alfredo. If parsley went extinct tomorrow, pretty much nobody would notice or care. However, in the Parsley Massacre, parsley was quite literally the most important thing in the world to some people, because their pronunciation of the word would determine whether they lived or died. The irony of this is what makes parsley such a good symbol, because it immediately stands out in the reader’s mind as something normally unimportant that the poem makes a big deal about.
In the poem “Parsley” by Rita Dove, I found it interesting how Rita Dove in the beginning of the poem showed General Trujillo’s terrorizing side, but then in the second part of the poem shows his vulnerability. I also felt as though General Trujillo was afraid of death and to get over the death of his mother he needed to kill others to balance out his fear. Near the end of “The Palace” the line “The knot in his throat starts to twitch; he sees his boots the first day in battle … I never thought it would sing the soldier said, and died” is General Trujillo reminiscing on his earlier career as a U.S. Marine before having control of the Dominican Republic. To add on to that, my interpretation was the Trujillo’s own soldier had died right before his eyes, either by getting shot by the enemy or shot for wrong doing. This shocked Trujillo and forever gave him traumatic memories of death. To refer back to the quote, the beginning states, “The knot in his throat starts to twitch” gave me the reason to believe that he was having a flashback to this horrible time. Usually when someone gets emotional and is holding back tears, their throat begins to feel uncomfortable due to one restraining themselves. In this Trujillo is trying not to show his vulnerable side to death because he is supposed to be one who is stern and put emotions aside. Lastly, to help him cope with this, Trujillo felt the need to be on the other side and be the one to kill, therefore he started the “Parsley Massacre”. To numb the pain of his mother and former soldier’s death he had to block out the bad by replacing it with something worse. In my opinion I felt as though he greatly believed in karma, which translated into him getting revenge on mankind because of the death of people in his life.
The first thing I noticed while skimming over Parsley was that it was broken up into two separate poems. I am not sure if this is common, but we have not encountered a poem like this so far in our poetry unit. In the third stanza, there is a line that states "We cannot speak an R- out of the swamp, the cane appears". This might be a reference to when the General forced the Haitians to work in a field and could tell if they were Haitian by their pronunciation, for they could not pronounce the R. Overall the entire first poem seems like it is referencing the forced labor in the fields. The fifth stanza says the word perejil, which is just parsley in Spanish, and it says that those who say it live, which describes how the general forced the Haitians to attempt pronouncing it. the repeated references to a parrot imitating spring makes me think of screaming, as my uncle had a parrot and it seemed to love to be loud. Overall, the first poem creates a feeling of desperation and helplessness. The second poem explains why the general is doing what he is doing. It is out of grief for his dead mother. His blood lust is ingrained in the readers head throughout the use of harsh diction such as "a little knot of screams". Sweets are commonly associated with children, and innocence. The fact that he cannot stand the sight of sweets since his mother died almost represents his loss of innocence. He might have lost his innocence through exposure to violence, as it explains in the fourth stanza of the second poem, that he was once on the front lines. The fifth stanza describes him hearing the Haitians swing their "great machetes" which suggests that he faced them in a bloody conflict. This might explain his hatred and that now since he is in a position of power, he is being so aggressive in his attacks. He sees the Haitians as inferior when he references that "even a parrot can roll an R!". Overall, I think this poem is about the General losing his innocence in a violent and traumatic manner and finding a way to get revenge on those who did it to him.
After reading the American Smooth poems, I was very interested by “Fox Trot Fridays” out of all the poems. In this poem, Dove uses several literary/poetic devices to create a musical, dancing feel to the poem. One example of this is in the third stanza. Dove wrote, “quick-quick with a/ heel-ball-toe. Smooth”. These words have rhythmic qualities that sound like dance shoes tapping a floor. Dove uses this to create a musical, rhythmic tone. Additionally, words used in this stanza are primarily one syllable words, which illustrates speed in the rhythm because the foxtrot is a fast dance. In the next stanza, alliteration is used to convey the elegance of dancing. The stanza says, “as Nat King Cole’s slow satin smile,”. The repeated s sound in this stanza creates a graceful tone. My first impression when I read this stanza is that Dove employed the alliteration to create a smooth rhythm to convey that dance is an elegant art. Additionally, the juxtaposition of the sharp diction of the previous stanza with the smooth s sound conveys the idea that even though dancing may be very rhythmic, it is also elegant and graceful. Furthermore, Dove uses repetition to create a melodic feel in the poem. In music, phrases are repeated often, and Dove employs anaphora to create this lyrical quality. In the fifth and sixth stanza, Dove wrote, “one day at a time: / one man and / one women,” . The repetition of the “one” at the beginning of the lines makes the poem sound like a song that people might be dancing to. This elicits a tone of calmness although dancing may not always be slow or peaceful. I believe this is used to show how dancing may be therapeutic or healing to some. This idea is illustrated in the following stanzas. Dove wrote, “rib to rib /with no heartbreak in sight- / just the sweep of Paradise/ and the space of a song”. In these lines, Dove produces a tone of serenity and peacefulness. It seems in these lines that Dove is communicating that dancing is taking the speakers mind away from something. This poem was very interesting in my opinion in the way it personified the qualities of dance.
I completely agree with the points that you made. The sound and rhythm of "Fox Trot Fridays" is similar to that of an upbeat dance. I thought Dove was trying to use the idea that the therapeutic nature of dancing to remind the reader of the importance of having an escape, which is conveyed in the first and second stanza. "Thank the stars there's a day/ each week to tuck in/ the grief, lift your pearls, and/stride brush stride." Tucking in grief and "lifting your pearls" is an obvious reference to forgetting your problems getting ready for a fun night of dancing. I think Dove personified dancing in a way that is relatable to most in order to emphasize the positive effects of simple pleasures. This makes sense when considering why she wrote "American Smooth" in the first place (she was in mourning over her lost house/poems). Like I said earlier, she wanted to remind readers of the importance of having an escape, even something as simple as dancing.
I also found the contrasting structures of the two sections of this poem very interesting. In "The Cane Fields," the repetitive nature of the villanelle form emphasizes the unending, cyclical horrors experienced by the Haitians under Trujillo; because this form could also be considered very restrictive in structure, it may also represent the oppression of the Haitains. This part of the poem uses only first-person plural pronouns, so the speaker may be a symbolic figure who represents the unified Haitians. In contrast, "The Palace" portrays Trujillo from a close-focus third-person perspective, which suggests to the reader that he acts as an individual -- unlike the Haitians, who are described collectively. The concept of Trujillo's autonomy is reinforced by the fact that this section of "Parsley" is written in free verse; on the other hand, the lack of structure may also represent Trujillo's unstable mental state. Overall, the two verse forms used in "Parsley" contribute significantly to the contrast in tone and perspective between its two sections.
In "Parsley," Rita Dove uses the motif of "the cane" to represent the psychological aspects and instability of Trujillo's regime through the repetition of several symbolic images. In "The Cane Fields," the phrase "Out of the swamp the cane appears" is repeated several times as part of the villanelle form; this image can be interpreted literally as that of the sugarcane harvested by the enslaved Haitians, but it also suggests a rod used for physical punishment (possibly one of the Haitians' most immediate fears). The "swamp" may represent the world of societal isolation and poverty in which the Haitians live and work -- this world is constantly disrupted by Trujillo's anti-Haitian cruelty, represented by the intrusion of the cane. Later, in "The Palace," Dove describes how Trujillo "planted her [his mother's] walking cane at the grave/ and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming/ four-star blossoms". The bizarre image of a "flowering" cane may refer to the successful rise of Trujillo as a dictator; the "four-star" blossoms suggest an idealized image of a four-star general who rises to power like a flower blooms toward the Sun. In addition, both sections of "Parsley" refer to the sugarcane as "lashed by rain and streaming", an image that appears in both the Haitians' dreams and in Trujillo's memory. In "The Cane Fields," this phrase follows a negative description of Trujillo ("He laughs, teeth shining out of the swamp"), so it may refer to the Haitians' desire to bring down Trujillo's regime -- hence, the destruction of the burdensome sugarcane crop by a storm, a just and convenient act of God. On the other hand, the image of Trujillo himself envisioning the "streaming" sugarcane could represent his fears of losing power. This idea is reinforced by the repeated mention of autumn and death, concepts that clearly signify the end of an era. The somewhat unnerving descriptions of Trujillo's mother's "skull-shaped candies for the Day of the Dead" and the parrot's pastries "dusted with sugar on a bed of lace" further suggest that the sugar derived from the slave-harvested sugarcane represents the power Trujillo has derived from murder. Thus, Dove uses the various images associated with the word "cane" to symbolize different effects and stages of Trujillo's rule during the Parsley Massacre of 1937.
When I first read this poem, something else that stood out to me were the parallel descriptions of "teeth gnawed to arrowheads" in "The Cane Field" and "The Palace." Other than the general "savagery" involved in massacres, what do you think this phrase means?
While going through the American Smooth packet, I was most interested in "American Smooth." "American Smooth," as stated in the first few lines, is about ballroom dancing (“We were dancing--it must have/been a foxtrot or a waltz”) and comes from the perspective of the female partner. The second thing I noticed was the repetition of using oxymorons to describe the dance. "Such perfect agony one learns to smile through, ecstatic mimicry being the sine que non of American Smooth." Sine que non is defined as something that is absolutely necessary. Ecstatic mimicry refers to the leader/follower style of the dancing being talked about. In other words, Dove describes the “perfect agony” of smiling through the mimicry of ballroom dancing as being essential for the dance itself. Since I interpreted ballroom dancing in this poem as a representation of the relationship between men and women, I thought Dove used oxymorons to show the contradictory nature of this relationship. In her poem, Dove depicts the stereotypical ‘follower’ role of women as “perfect agony,” which seems to mock the idea that women must follow in order to create harmony.
I totally agree with all the points you made. I also never saw how many oxymorons there really were. The only ones I noticed were "perfect agony" of smiling and ecstatic mimicry. I think the woman is forgetting how many measures she has danced and who she is dancing with because of a long week or just a tough life in general. In a couple other poems, they described dancing as an escape from the negatives of each week. I also think that she is struggling to dance because of how tired she is, "I was distracted by the effort of keeping my frame" but no matter what, she continues to smile and enjoy herself despite the pain.
When reading through the American Smooth poems, one that stood out to me was the poem "Fox". I think this poem is a bout a woman who is very confident is how she is, but lacks attention or love from people around her. This poem illiterates how you can still love yourself, even if you are not loved by others. After it talks about how she loves what she has and that is enough for her, it says "...which was more/ than any man/ could handle", it shows how she doesn't need approval from man to feel good about herself and that she is so confident that she doesn't think a man would be able to take it. At first I couldn't think of why the poem would be named fox. I starting thinking that the woman might have similar traits to a fox or that the fox could be slang for the word "foxy", and the term foxy usually means that the woman is attractive or sexy, so this woman could think of herself as attractive, but she doesn't think any man could handle her beauty or confidence.
Miranda we are on the same page! I agree that the woman described in the poem is very confident, and knows what she's capable of. She clearly loves herself, but in my opinion almost seems too content. The poem says "she loves nothing more than what she had, which was enough for her." I wonder if deep down she appears this way, but may actually desire an experience of love with another person. Also, I was wondering if foxes tend to be independent. If they do than that could explain the title, or it could also mean "foxy," as you said!
found the poem, "American Smooth" to be rather intriguing. The poem takes the role of a female dancer, who is ballroom dancing to a type of jazz. The rhyme scheme of the poem is very much like ballroom dancing, where it varies from slow-slow-fast-fast to slow-fast-fast-slow in the pace that it is spoken. I found this to be what Dove was attempting to do with her rhyming. It begins the poem by describing the woman working as hard as she can to perfect her steps and her form as she dances. It states they danced in, "precise execution", further solidifying this idea. It then states that she dances in," such perfect agony". This statement is representative of the tireless effort that this woman puts in to further allow her dancing to be perfect. It is painful for her to do this but she must continue doing it to be seem normal in society. This is commentary by Rita Dove on the oppression of woman in society. Woman are constantly forced to live up to this standard of perfection. They always need to be graceful and womanlike with no faltering, for fear of being ostracized if they are not. Woman need to work tirelessly, as hard as they can, much like the dancer referred to in the poem, to simply be normal. The poem continues, as the woman works so hard she realizes that she forgets her partner's presence. This further emphasizes my point, as woman today can hardly focus on anything else other than living up to these standards that they become oblivious to the world. This is a truly terrible ideal that must be changed. Rita Dove comments on this issue in society today to bring it to attention in hope that something can be done to stop this atrocity.
As usual, the first few times I read through Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays," I had no idea how to interpret it. Then, I remembered that the "Fox Trot," is a style of dance that is very smooth and progressive. In the third stanza, the "quick-quick," and "heel-ball-toe," describe the elements of the dance. Nat King Cole (mentioned in the fourth stanza) was a man known for his local jazz, swing and traditional pop. Dove used the elements of the dance to help the poem flow. It was also evident because of "one man and one woman, rib to rib," which describes how close two are when dancing like this. The first time I read through that line, I thought it had some biblical reference, however now I realize that rather than being a biblical reference, it's a reference to the dance. The title of the poem relates to the first line where it says "thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and brush strode quick-quick with a heel-ball-toe." The day when this occurs is obviously Friday, which is given away in the title. This poem describes the rhythm of the fox trot in order to make it more clear, and to show the reader how much people enjoyed it.
I completely agree that the poem presented rhythm that characterized the fox trot, thus presenting a feeling of jive and excitement in the reader so that the reader may share the same passion of dancing with the author. Going back to your comment concerning the "rib to rib" as a biblical reference, I would like to expand on that. I also interpreted this poem as a somewhat feminist advocation as well as a characterization of fox trot dancing. The next line after that exclaims, "with no heartbreak in sight-." This line is ironic because, in the bible, Eve essentially "betrayed" Adam and God, in which she defied God's orders and left Adam to follow her path and become enticed into ruin. In addition "lift your pearls" in the second stanza refers to retiring after a long work day and having the opportunity to be yourself. If the relationship between the man and woman were actually biblical, then there is evidence that the poem may tie in to feminism and remarks the rights of women to enjoy life and have fun after long hours of work like men.
In Rita Dove's poem "Fox", she comments on how women in society need to wake up. This poem describes a woman who "knew what she was", although it is not described in the poem, it is hinted at. "There for the taking" implies either being single or a prostitute (not an impossibility, prostitution has always been present for as long as anyone can remember). "She imagined nothing" implies that the woman doesn't really think of what she could become, because she doesn't want any more than "what she had". Dove claims that women need to want more. The chains of societal expectations are "more than any man could handle". Men would not hold up well under expectations of being a second-class citizen. Yet this woman "loved what she was", a sign that perhaps some did not want to follow the obstreperous second-wave feminists of the 1970s, while maybe willing to associate themselves with more moderate viewpoints. The hyperbole "was capable of anything anyone could imagine" also illustrates how far dreams can stretch, which contradicts the next part where Dove says the woman imagines nothing. In this, Dove explores both sides of the ongoing issue, and points out that we need to be aware of what people think of themselves as opposed to what we think people should think of themselves. Generalizing about a group of people and saying that they all demand the same thing is, most of the time, inaccurate. Some people who we believe need to turn their lives around actually like what they are.
I have a slightly different interpretation of the poem, William. Although I can see how you thought this could be a wake up call to women, I interpreted it as a confident woman. The repetition of the word was indicates to me that she is very sure of who she is and what she can accomplish. Additionally, I didn’t feel the line, “for the taking” as prostitution, but as an idea of open mindedness. Lastly, I do like your explanation of the last few lines of the poem; I also feel that it is sort of a rebellion against the norms of society.
after reading the packet, the poem that stood out to me the moist was "fox". this stood out to me beacuase when i was analyzing the poem i noticed that there was no imagery. the poem is split into two stanzes, each having ten lines. the first stanza is mostly focused around imagination as every sentence in that stanza ended with imagine. the second stanza seemed to focused around nothing ad the stanza repeated nothing the most. i also noticed that every sentence in the poem started with " she". this was interesting as it was emphasizing what "she" thought and what she could do. the second sentence in each stanze started with "she loved", which shows that the women who is the main focus of the poem is very confident and independent. this sentence makes me think that it was about a strong independent women who refused to let a man control her, which is evident in the last three lines being " which was more than any man could handle". closes analysis makes me wonder if this poem was meant to create the exact opposite feeling towards the women. when someone isnt confident about themself, they try to convince themself by repeating the good about her, which can be seen with the repetition of "what she was". i think Rita Dove wrote this poem about an insecure women who tried to make herself seem confident by repeating "what she was". anyone have similar thoughts?
Makynzi, I agree with your interpretation of this poem. To expand on the imagery with the way the stanzas were written, The Fox Trot is a dance that is characterized by long, continuous flowing motions. It is a big dance with a big band. When Dove wrote the poems in American Smooth, she related the poems to the way the dances where performed. So the big, long continuous stanzas flow with the way The Fox Trot dance is performed.
In the poem "Fox Trot Fridays", I believe Rita Dove is trying to illustrate how dancing is the narrator's escape from their life. The title shows how this is going on on a Friday, and Friday's are normally the end of the work week. When I first read the poem, I interpreted "there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride" as taking off a necklace (hence the pearls) and going to bed after a long week of work. But after color marking, I noticed how it represents freeing yourself from the confines of society and the oppression of women, taking off the necklace symbolizes leaving stereotypical femininity behind and just being yourself. Rita Dove writes "one man and one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight". The no heartbreak in sight part is talking about how she can dance with any man and then go on to another man or go home without having to worry about maintaining a relationship. Also, the description of the Fox Trot as, "the sweep of Paradise" illustrates how it is a sort of release from hard work and letting the rhythm take you away.
Makynzi McGrawNovember 4, 2014 at 5:28 PM after reading the packet, the poem that stood out to me the moist was "fox". this stood out to me beacuase when i was analyzing the poem i noticed that there was no imagery. the poem is split into two stanzes, each having ten lines. the first stanza is mostly focused around imagination as every sentence in that stanza ended with imagine. the second stanza seemed to focused around nothing ad the stanza repeated nothing the most. i also noticed that every sentence in the poem started with " she". this was interesting as it was emphasizing what "she" thought and what she could do. the second sentence in each stanze started with "she loved", which shows that the women who is the main focus of the poem is very confident and independent. this sentence makes me think that it was about a strong independent women who refused to let a man control her, which is evident in the last three lines being " which was more than any man could handle". closes analysis makes me wonder if this poem was meant to create the exact opposite feeling towards the women. when someone isnt confident about themself, they try to convince themself by repeating the good about her, which can be seen with the repetition of "what she was". i think Rita Dove wrote this poem about an insecure women who tried to make herself seem confident by repeating "what she was". anyone have similar thoughts?
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Nate MannNovember 4, 2014 at 5:44 PM In the poem "Fox Trot Fridays", I believe Rita Dove is trying to illustrate how dancing is the narrator's escape from their life. The title shows how this is going on on a Friday, and Friday's are normally the end of the work week. When I first read the poem, I interpreted "there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride" as taking off a necklace (hence the pearls) and going to bed after a long week of work. But after color marking, I noticed how it represents freeing yourself from the confines of society and the oppression of women, taking off the necklace symbolizes leaving stereotypical femininity behind and just being yourself. Rita Dove writes "one man and one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight". The no heartbreak in sight part is talking about how she can dance with any man and then go on to another man or go home without having to worry about maintaining a relationship. Also, the description of the Fox Trot as, "the sweep of Paradise" illustrates how it is a sort of release from hard work and letting the rhythm take you away.
Miranda we are on the same page! I agree that the woman described in the poem is very confident, and knows what she's capable of. She clearly loves herself, but in my opinion almost seems too content. The poem says "she loves nothing more than what she had, which was enough for her." I wonder if deep down she appears this way, but may actually desire an experience of love with another person. Also, I was wondering if foxes tend to be independent. If they do than that could explain the title, or it could also mean "foxy," as you said!
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Jared EdbergNovember 4, 2014 at 4:48 PM found the poem, "American Smooth" to be rather intriguing. The poem takes the role of a female dancer, who is ballroom dancing to a type of jazz. The rhyme scheme of the poem is very much like ballroom dancing, where it varies from slow-slow-fast-fast to slow-fast-fast-slow in the pace that it is spoken. I found this to be what Dove was attempting to do with her rhyming. It begins the poem by describing the woman working as hard as she can to perfect her steps and her form as she dances. It states they danced in, "precise execution", further solidifying this idea. It then states that she dances in," such perfect agony". This statement is representative of the tireless effort that this woman puts in to further allow her dancing to be perfect. It is painful for her to do this but she must continue doing it to be seem normal in society. This is commentary by Rita Dove on the oppression of woman in society. Woman are constantly forced to live up to this standard of perfection. They always need to be graceful and womanlike with no faltering, for fear of being ostracized if they are not. Woman need to work tirelessly, as hard as they can, much like the dancer referred to in the poem, to simply be normal. The poem continues, as the woman works so hard she realizes that she forgets her partner's presence. This further emphasizes my point, as woman today can hardly focus on anything else other than living up to these standards that they become oblivious to the world. This is a truly terrible ideal that must be changed. Rita Dove comments on this issue in society today to bring it to attention in hope that something can be done to stop this atrocity.
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Brooklyn KaslerNovember 4, 2014 at 4:53 PM As usual, the first few times I read through Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays," I had no idea how to interpret it. Then, I remembered that the "Fox Trot," is a style of dance that is very smooth and progressive. In the third stanza, the "quick-quick," and "heel-ball-toe," describe the elements of the dance. Nat King Cole (mentioned in the fourth stanza) was a man known for his local jazz, swing and traditional pop. Dove used the elements of the dance to help the poem flow. It was also evident because of "one man and one woman, rib to rib," which describes how close two are when dancing like this. The first time I read through that line, I thought it had some biblical reference, however now I realize that rather than being a biblical reference, it's a reference to the dance. The title of the poem relates to the first line where it says "thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and brush strode quick-quick with a heel-ball-toe." The day when this occurs is obviously Friday, which is given away
a rhythm is established to help soothe and focus the thoughts of the one chanting. This seems fitting since this a book that will center on the life of a young man who is the son of a holy man in the Buddhist religion. In the first passage, it is written that, "In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank. . . , in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up. . .". This very long sentence, if being read out loud, would require the reader to control his/her breath in order for the melodic nature to be heard; this too is similar to meditation which is mentioned later in the paragraph. It is almost as the though the author/translator wants us to see that everything, nature, ritual, family life, and spiritual life in Siddhartha's world, has a set pace and rhythm. What also strikes me in this passage is how intertwined nature imagery is with the religious/spiritual diction as if to emphasize the religion's attitude toward cycles which can be found extensively in nature. The light and dark imagery present in the beginning with the shade and sun references leads to the "glow of the clear-thinking spirit" at then end reminding the reader that the goal of Buddhists is to find enlightenment and to become one with the universe. The first passage begins with one sentence (written partially above) that is passive. After that, the structure turns active, with the sun and shade as the subjects of the sentences. The last three sentence feature Siddhartha as the subject of the sentences which also contain active voice. With the exception of the initial passive sentence, the second passage follows this pattern as well. When looking at this pattern in the first passage, I thought this sentence structure to be purposeful. In a way it reflects how children live their lives having their lives controlled by others and having thing happen TO them. Upon reaching adulthood, people are finally able to take charge of their lives, actions and choices. This sets up the reader for Siddhartha's rebellion and stubbornness toward his father which occurs later in the chapter.
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Alisa TranSeptember 22, 2014 at 6:23 PM At the end of the chapter Samsara, when Siddhartha leaves due to being unsatisfied with the life he was living, Kamala does not try to go after him. On page 85 it says, “She was not surprised when she learned that Siddhartha disappeared.” So why did Kamala let Siddhartha go? I find this passage interesting. Although she loved him very much, Kamala made no effort to make him come back even after she realized that she was with child. I think that she did not go after him because even when he was with her, she could tell he was looking for something more. She knew that Siddhartha was not fully happy with being with Kamala. Although he was rich, partied every night, had women around him all t
ime across Siddhartha’s eyes” (Awakening, pg. 39).
The reason this particular passage stood out to me was because the diction and imagery the author employed created a lighthearted, pleasant tone. At this point, Siddhartha has left the Samanas and the reader sees and is able to conclude that the knowledge Siddhartha has been seeking all this time has always rested within him. He finds no adequacy in the teachings of other’s because he desires to learn from himself through personal experiences rather than learning from others. He is the only one who knows exactly what he is searching for and he finally realizes he can be enlightened through the process of self-realization. When he leaves the Buddha as well as his dear friend Govinda behind and embarks on this personal, spiritual journey without company, Siddhartha marvels at the natural world around him and the reader realizes he is beginning to revive his old, deadened senses, which were caused by years of aesthetic life. He takes in his surroundings as if he were a blind man who was just given sight. Beauty and meaning lingers in everything he sees and it is all new and flavorful to him. The author’s use of the words “blue,” “yellow,” and “green” cause the reader to imagine the vibrancy and positivity of these colors. The overall tone of this passage is light, breezy, fresh, and happy as Siddhartha has been awakened and is observing the world from behind a different, more enjoyable lens. The author combines natural scenery as imagery and color words in this passage so that when read, it feels like the reader is taking deep, cleansing breaths of fresh air along with Siddhartha. It puts the reader at ease and allows them to imagine and experience the scenery from the main character’s point of view. The “rebirth” of Siddhartha is also important dynamic characterization because it signals to the reader a change in the character’s insight, understanding, motivations, and values.
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Audrey LeongSeptember 29, 2014 at 9:56 PM I had understood the use of the imagery, but you managed to take it one step further and delve down into a deeper understanding.
I think another part involving the colors, aside from the obviously bright and happy connotations, is what each color is associated with. The color blue is often related to birth (and is the color of boys’ baby blankets), which aids the idea of Siddhartha being reborn. Yellow is also occasionally guilty of producing a feeling of cheerfulness and sunshine, which lends to the vibrant feeling of the passage. Yellow is also connected to intelligence, possibly providing an image of him obtaining new knowledge of the world. Green is easily linked to nature, growth, and harmony. I believe that it helped show how Siddhartha matured or “grew” as a character and found a new form of peace with nature.
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Melanie HoSeptember 22, 2014 at 8:25 PM At the end of the first paragraph in chapter five (Kamala), Hesse conveys foreshadowing by using animal imagery. He writes, " Siddhartha saw a group of apes moving through the high canopy of the forest, high in the branches, and heard their savage, greedy song. Siddhartha saw a male sheep following a female one and mating with her." (Hesse 44). The use of animal imagery enables the reader to visualize the scene and hints about Siddhartha’s future. This scene foreshadows Siddhartha's life due to the fact that he meets Kamaswami, who is greedy, and is represented by the ape
Eric NguyOctober 14, 2014 at 11:54 PM "I knew it. You never force him, never beat him, never order him, because you know that soft is stronger than hard, water stronger than rock, love stronger than love... Do you not bind him in bonds with your love?" (Hesse 105)
In this passage, Siddhartha is being told by Vasudeva that he potentially loves his son too much and that Siddhartha may push him away if he tries to contain his son. In this moment, Siddhartha is put in a similar position as he put his father in at the beginning of the book. A choice of allowing his son to go where he pleases or contain him where Siddhartha can watch over him at all times.Siddhartha ultimately allows his son to live his life in the modern world of the city as he believes that whatever mistakes his son makes are his own choices. Siddhartha believes that to reach an awakened or enlightened stage, one must experience suffering first and Siddhartha is allowing his son to do this. This is important because it parallels to Siddhartha's own father early on and he takes similar actions. Without his father inadvertently influencing his decision, Siddhartha may have simply attempted to coddle and protect his son his whole life.
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Saul FarfanOctober 15, 2014 at 9:57 PM It never came through my mind that Siddhartha would ever try to kill himself, I honestly believe that no one ever actually did think that Siddhartha would want to kill himself. At the beginning of the book, Siddhartha is referred as brilliant, amazing, he was even compared to a god, and through out his journey, he goes through rough things but never did I believe that he would want to get rid of himself. When I read the quote from the chapter, By The River, the quote "Siddhartha leaned his shoulder against it, laid his arm over the trunk, and gazed down into the green water that flowed endlessly by, gazed down and found himself wholly and completely filled with the desire to be rid of himself and sink beneath this water." After reading this quote it really shocked me. It also helped me realize that no one just because their life's seem awesome, amazing, and wonderful, it doesn't mean that they will have or be that forever. This book really made me realize that everything isn't what it seems.
In American Smooth I found the poem "Fox" to be pretty interesting. I think it's the first poem by Dove that I've read that seems to have a relatively obvious meaning. It seems to be about a young women who is beautiful and confident, and happy with her life. However something I found interesting about this poem was the structure. It's a fairly short poem, but it's interesting how Dove put so few words in each line. I think the purpose of this could be to give the reader an image of thinness. This supports the idea that the girl in the poem is pretty, as we generally relate thin to a trait of attractiveness. It could also go along with the title of the fox, which I picture as sly and sort of scraggy. Another interesting part of this poem is the sarcastic tone, specifically at the end of the first stanza. I think Dove uses this tone to support the fact that the young woman in the poem is more independent or confident. She's sassy, or foxy, which is also related to the title.
I agree with your interpretation. I noticed that the lines were short as well and connected this to emphasize her thinness and beauty.I did not connect it to a specific dance but just that she believes in herself and is confident in how she is and does not care to change. I connected the title to an animal that is tough and takes care of itself and is not dependent on others. An example of her wanting to stay independent is the last three lines, "which was more that any man could handle." She knows that she can take care of herself and does not need or want anyone to do everything for her. I did not recognize the sarcastic tone in the poem when I originally read the poem but I do see where that is relevant and significant to her self-confidence. I also agree that this poem has a straight forward interpretation and was easier to understand than some of Rita Dove's other works.
Throughout "Fox Trot Fridays," I felt that the poem advocated dancing as a form of escape for women. First of all, I noticed plenty of assonance embedded throughout this poem, especially with the lines "Thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in." The long "a" sounds and long "e" sounds symbolize how the author's routines are boring, long, and monotonous. This contrasts with the short assonance sounds and repetition of words in the poem such as "quick-quick...one man and one woman...rib to rib.". The short assonance and word repetitions throughout this poem reminded me of the effervescent and flowing yet quick steps of the fox trot, symbolizing the author's glee when dance time comes after a long week. There was also alliteration in the line, " slow satin smile." I felt that the author implemented diction through the word "satin" to imply that she does not have the same personality she has at work than she does on the dance floor, with the alliteration adding a sinister "s" sound to attach a deceptive feeling to the author's behavior, thus symbolizing her contrast from outside work to dancing. The stanzas are each only two lines long compared to Dove's other works which comprised of several lines per stanza, characterizing the quick and precise nature of the fox trot, and also characterizing the author's cheery gleaming attitude while dancing. The occasional spondaic meter such as "quick-quick" and "heel-ball-toe" produces a tone of glee and excitement, which is exactly what the author feels when dancing as an escape from the boring life experienced in stanza one.
In the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" I noticed Dove's use of s sounds. The repeated s sounds made me think of a noise a dress makes when it moves. The sharp st sounds at the beginning of the poem sound like the clicks of heels and men's dress shoes. This would go along with Corvyn's hypothesis that the poem is about female liberation due to the references of pearls and satin later in the poem which are objects typically connected to women. I also noticed the capitalization of the word paradise in the second to last stanza. I immediately thought this could be referencing the name of a popular night club or dance hall, but as I read the poem again I thought there could be a possible connection to the bible's garden of Eden which is also referred to as a paradise. Looking back up the page to stanza six the line "one man and one woman" is a connection to Adam and Eve. In stanza seven Dove also talks about the couple being "rib to rib" while this is a typical position in couples dancing in the bible God created Eve from one of Adam's ribs. In conclusion, Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays" takes one of the world's oldest stories and makes it relevant to today's society.
That is a very interestig perspective. I had not originally thought of that when I first read this poem. I saw it as a poem describing the beauty of dance and the escape it provides from the real world. I can see where you are coming from with this analysis, though. I think it is very interestig to see how many sides there are when it comes to interpreting this poem. But after reading your analysis I agree that Dove has been able to cleverly include one of the oldest stories of all time into a relatable form.
I found "Fox Trot Fridays" do be a fascinating poem about the implications of the faced-paced lifestyle of modern society. Poem structure, hints of alliteration, assonance, and enjambment provide the poem with quick instances of action. For poem structure, each stanza has only two lines, not counting the final line, which seems to represent the enjambment very well in this instance, such as "Thanks the stars there's a day each week to tuck in....the grief" which spaces the line with a separate stanza in order create a different meaning with the use of tuck in, and grief being separated to create one meaning of tucking which could be used to relax and smooth out, but when added with grief, it seems to represent the hiding of a depressing emotion instead of relieving stress. A noticeable use of alliteration would be on line eight where it mentions "slow satin smile", with the premise of the smile being made of satin, a silk material used for formal dresses, which is associated with the premise of the overall poem. Describing a smile as slow makes me wonder if it meant the action of the smile or the way satin is fabricated, having a glossy luster associated with the juxtaposition of the smile. For assonance, I found that sound of the poem contained many "a", "i", and "e" sounds which could represent the excitement of the fox trot, the movement of the dancing, and the sharp sound it makes convey a tone of quickness and precision to the effect of a temporary ailment of emotional sadness.
I like your interpretation of "Fox Trot Fridays" and the mention of the alliteration of slow satin smile makes me wonder though. In a fast paced life, what slows it down? I understand that relaxing "each week to tuck in" is a way to slow down life but is there Kore than just that day? I feel like the alliteration of "slow satin smile" says that life is smooth and slow when you're enjoying life and smiling. But I would like to open that question, is there anything in this poem that hints to making life go by slower?
I also noticed that the poem was spaced in stanzas with no more than two lines - it reminded me of the way there are two slow steps, then a sidestep followed with a quick closing step in a fox trot. I think that overall, as I read the poem, it seemed to move slower and slower, which also correlated with the diction in each line. For example, it beings with "Thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in..." which a reader would need to read all at once, but near the end the "one man and one woman," stanza can be easily taken apart and read aloud slowly. It shows that the persona in this poem is at being captured by the rhythm of the dance, falling into a more comfortable pace as they sink into the dance.
Going off both of Josiah and Flloyd's comments, I think that this poem tries to capture both the fast-paced life of modern society and the idea that people need to slow down and enjoy life as it passes. The lines "... stride brush stride / quick-quick with a / heel-ball-toe. Smooth / as Nat King Cole's..." create a fast paced rhythm for the poem because of all the one syllable words and repetition. These lines also have a lot of consonants with short, hard sounds that are reminiscent of the short, fast steps in the fox trot dance. On the other hand, there are other lines juxtaposed with these that have more of a smoother and slower rhythm. Lines like "slow satin smile" and "just the sweep of Paradise / and the space of a song" slow down the pace of the poem to convey the theme of slowing down one's life and taking everything in. These lines are full of "s" sounds which creates a soothing tone that represents the relaxation one is rewarded with when he or she takes the time to enjoy things in the moment.
I found the poem “Parsley” to be interesting because of how it humanizes the dictator portrayed in it. Before I read the poem, I read about the Parsley Massacre and about the dictator, Rafael Trujillo, on Wikipedia. After learning about the genocide of Haitians carried out by Trujillo, I definitely did not go into the poem with a positive view of Trujillo. However, the poem paints Trujillo in an almost sympathetic light. At first, the refrain of “a parrot imitating spring” confused me. However, the poem then tells the reader that Trujillo’s mother is dead, and that it has had a significant impact on Trujillo, even making him dislike sweets, as evidenced in the poem: “Ever since the morning his mother collapsed in the kitchen… the General has hated sweets.” Dove then writes, “The knot in his throat starts to twitch;” illustrating the sadness Trujillo is enveloped in due to his mother’s death. Once I began to see Trujillo as a brutally depressed man as opposed to just a brutally violent man, the refrain began to make sense. The “parrot” is Trujillo, and “imitating spring” refers to the façade Trujillo puts on to hide his sadness. A parrot is an animal famous for its ability to mimic, and Trujillo is parroting the dictator he thinks he should be: brutal and violent. Dove uses metaphors and symbolism to help paint Trujillo as a more sympathetic character than history texts make him out to be.
As I read "Ta Ta Cha Cha," I noticed the repetition of long and short "o" sounds. Dove interchanges between short and long sounds throughout the poem, using words such as "moon" contrasted against "cold," "bold" with "shoe," or "afternoon," "vagabond," and "buffoon." Just like the first line of the poem, the alternating sounds seem to represent confusion and indecision. When I read the poem multiple times, I almost had to pause before saying a word with "o" in it because I started to mix the two sounds together. Just like the first line of the poem, where Dove writes "One, two--no, five doves scatter before a wingtip's distracted tread," imagery present in the poem, such as the "distracted tread," "It's Venice, I'm American," as well as "scavenger" and "vagabond," as well as the repetition of the word "lost," show a general feeling of openness combined with vulnerability, as if the persona has been exposed to an entirely new world. Similarly, since the assonance is present throughout, it almost gives a scattered feeling, which further illustrates a feeling of a wanderer, unsure where to step next. However, in a Cha Cha dance, each step is carefully planned, and footwork must be exact. I think that Rita Dove uses this dance in the title of the poem to show that while one might seem to be extremely organized and know what the future holds, there will always be constant interruptions of the “dance” with feelings of uncertainty and doubt.
I really liked your interpretation and it was very well thought out. Something else I noticed in the poem "Ta Ta Cha Cha", was Dove's use of bird oriented imagery and diction throughout the poem. The language used in her poem focused around words such as "wingspan" and "pluck", along with various parts of imagery about "doves". Rita Dove used the allusion of birds to convey the peacefulness within the dance as well as personally relate it to herself. Since "Dove" is a part of her name she could possibly be using the symbol of the dove to represent herself in the poem. The doves are always on the outside oblivious to the narrator's stream of consciousness about dance, representing Dove during the time that she had just initially began involving herself in ballroom dancing.
In American Smooth, there wasn't just one than caught my eye. The two that caught my eye were "Fox Trot Fridays" and "Fox". It made me wonder, why are there two poems mentioning fox? Now I know fox trot is a type of dance but I still can't pass the fact that they have the same word in their title. So seperating these first, "Fox Trot Fridays" seems to be self explanatory. But I feel like it's also a comment on divorce. I feel like she's trying to say that marriage is something you should fall back to and gives you a rush. "Thank the stars there's a day / each week to tuck in". This seems like out of all men, there is one that you can go to for security. And her marriage comment comes when she says "one man and / one woman, / rib to rib, / with no heartbreak in sight". A man and a woman should be close and not break each others heart. Now, "Fox" I think says that women should love themselves for who they are. This seems more of a commentary on the growing belief of starving yourself to be good looking. And that they thought they couldn't so much since they were so put down as weak. "She knew what / she was and so / was capable". Dove seems to tell them that they should believe in themselves for they know their strengths and weaknesses. So I think the connection is that their husband should love the woman more than the woman loves themselves because the husband doesn't know what the woman is thinking
I also noticed the multitude of poems referring to foxes. The fox seems to be symbolic of something to Dove, and that something is women. “Fox Trot Fridays”, as you said, talks about marriage and how it provides a quiet haven from the hectic world outside. “Fox” talks about a woman who is universally admired and desired for being nothing more than herself. Both of these poems also could describe the fox. The fox, at its core, is a private creature, one happier curled up in its den than interacting with other creatures, much like the woman in “Fox Trot Fridays” who wants to spend her Friday night “rib to rib” with her husband. However, people respect the fox, reclusive as it is, because it is unabashedly a fox. Nothing else is a fox, and the fox doesn’t pretend to be something else. Just looking at those poems, I’m pretty convinced that the fox represents women in these poems, although I could definitely be wrong.
Out of all the "American Smooth" poems, "Fox" stood out to me the most because of its structure and its meaning. The poem describes a girl who is confident, strong, and independent. The independence particularly stuck out, since this contrasts with many of the other subjects Rita Dove uses for her poems. Dove uses a lot of anaphora in this poem, starting every sentence with a subject-verb beginning: "She knew," "She loved," "She imagined," and "She loved" again. This suggests that confidence and independence does not require complexity like most people are led to believe. It's common to assume that a person who is confident is a person that is hard to know and relate to. However, Dove challenges this assumption by using anaphora to create a simplistic tone to emphasize the surprising simplicity of confidence and independence. Another effect of the anaphora I noticed was that it introduced an interesting juxtaposition of themes between the two stanzas. In the first stanza, Dove creates a theme of limitlessness and infinity by repeating the word "imagine." She supports this theme by inserting the words "anything" and "anyone" which are emphasized by the consonance of the "n" sound. On the other hand, the second stanza carries an opposing theme of nothingness and finality. This theme is supported by the repetition of the word "nothing" and less enjambment. I think Dove incorporated the juxtaposition of these polarizing themes to illustrate how the idea of independence has no boundaries but also how obtaining independence creates an irrefutable sense of self. Also, if you turn the poem on its side, it looks like mountains which could represent the obstacles that stand in the path to confidence and independence. Dove shows these obstacles in an indiscrete manner because when people see a person with confidence, they often overlook the struggles that that person had to overcome to get to where they are now.
The poem that I enjoyed out of American Smooth is "Fox." I enjoyed this poem because it is about a woman who is comfortable in her own skin and does not want to change or have to depend on anyone other than herself. I noticed the repetition of "she" throughout the poem. I thought that the significance of this was to represent her self-confidence and enjoying the life that she was given and not wanting it to change. I connected the last three lines of the second stanza, "which was more than any man could handle," to the title. I did this by imagining a fox as an independent animal that is confident on its own and is not looking for someone to look after them, which is similar to her believing that there is no man that can take care of her better than herself. I saw the repetition of her saying she had enough in her life to mean that her life is in no need of a change.
I also found "Fox" very interesting, mostly because it shows two contrasting sides of a woman's identity. The anaphora emphasizes the idea that the woman described in this poem is a universal figure, possibly an idealized hero. The first stanza describes the role that the subject is expected to fulfill; she is described as "there for the taking," destined to belong to a man. However, the repetition of the word "imagine" in "she...was capable of anything anyone could imagine" and "there for the taking, imagine" suggests that the subject is refusing to accept a role in which she is intended to see herself. The second stanza begins with "She imagined nothing"; the division between the stanzas conveys a sense of decisiveness, a turning point, a change of heart. The subject, who "loved nothing more than what she had," may have refused the advances of a wealthy suitor in favor of pursuing her own goals and independence, regardless of the advantages she might lose. At the very end of the poem, Dove describes the subject as possessing something that "was more than any man could handle" -- this phrase resembles the first sentence of the poem. In fact, the entire structure of "Fox" is mirrored (each stanza contains similar ideas, the second in reverse order), creating a story of a woman's confidence lost and regained.
The poem that was very interesting to me "Ta Ta Cha Cha". As many others have already stated, the American Smooth series of poems are about dances. I found online, and was able to listen to, Rita Dove reading the poem "Ta Ta Cha Cha". Rita Dove used lyricism, which comes from her musical background. She uses movement and rhythm in her poems that contributes to her background as a competitive ballroom dancer. The stanzaic structures are well crafted to reflect the poems' moods. The poem starts out "One, two-..." This is what is in the head of every dancer while doing the Cha Cha, "one, two, cha cha cha". Upon doing some research about this poem, I discovered that there is a dance that was created, and ironically named the same as the title of the poem, called the "Ta Ta Cha Cha". It is to remind people of a system that was created 20 years ago called Buddy Check. The idea of Buddy Check is to a buddy system that help remind women to get checked for early detection of breast cancer. So then I reread the poem and found a lot of similarities relating to breast cancer. In the fist stanza of the poem, it talks about "five doves". Doves symbolize love and peace, which reminds me of death. In the first line of the next stanza, "Who, you?" is italicized. The Buddy System's slogan is "Who's your buddy?" This could be a direct relation to that question. Also when reading the line "the nearest scavenger skips three times to the side, bobs to pluck his crackerjack prize." To me, this sounded like someone that just got some good news at the doctor's office. The poem also talks about "early warning code" and "buffoon messenger", this sounded, to me, that it could be referring to a doctor delivering news. Does anyone agree or does anyone else have another interpretation of this poem?
Rita Dove’s poem “Quick” stood out to me among this grouping of poems because the similarities of its content to the hit Norwegian comedy song “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by Ylvis. Dove uses imagery to convey a sense of wonder about the mystic elusiveness of the fox, much as Ylvis do in their hit song. Dove writes, “waving its flamboyant afterthought, she disappears: red swish or gray, too quick to tell,” evoking a feeling of intrigue and curiosity. The fox is renowned for its ability to disappear in an instant, like the ghost of the forest (if Bigfoot is taken out of the picture, of course). Dove taps into this vein of intrigue with her poem, much as Ylvis do in their song. The hook of the song—“What does the fox say?!”—is a humorous question, but also a valid one, because the sound a fox makes is not common knowledge. Humans make onomatopoeias for common animal sounds, like “woof” or “oink” or “meow” or “ooo ooo ah ah”. There is no such onomatopoeia for the sound a fox makes. Ylvis make almost the exact same point in the song’s bridge that Dove does in “Quick” by singing, “The secret of the fox, ancient mystery. Somewhere deep in the woods, I know you’re hiding.” These two lines also make the reader feel even more enchanted with the myth of the fox than they already were. In both poems, the authors use imagery to convey the quiet mysticism of the fox, nature’s most elusive predator.
I totally agree with you Nolan, and find your interpretation quite humorous. I do wish to add some further meaning to the fox symbol that is in the poem. The fox is symbolic of the American dream for the lower class. Like the fox it is attractive to these people and is something they want (to know more about). Unfortunately, also like the fox it is elusive to these people. The American dream is almost unattainable for those who are in the lower class and simply provides hope for the unreachable which further places them into mediocrity. Dove is trying to comment on this problem, in hope that it can be resolved in America society today as it is a very serious and important issue.
While reading your response I found this very humorous considering that I had no idea what the poem meant. At first glance I thought that your interpretation was going to be just a funny way of looking at it but it actually helped me understand the poem on a better level. Before reading your entry I would have never looked at that song in the way that I do now. I really liked your connection of something modern to Rita Dove’s poetry and what it metaphorically symbolized. I now will always think of IB English blog posts if I ever were to hear “What Does the Fox Say”, which I hope isn’t soon.
Among the poems in this selection, I found "American Smooth" most interesting because of its vivid literal imagery, lyricism, and hints of metaphorical meaning. In "American Smooth," Rita Dove provides detailed first-person descriptions of the experience of ballroom dance; for example, the speaker's pose includes "the leftward lean, head turned just enough to gaze out past your ear and always smiling, smiling". This image, combined with the description of a technique as "such perfect agony one learns to smile through," suggests that Dove has used the emotional aspects of dance as part of a metaphor for her life or a universal "woman's life," especially because this poem focuses on the delicate relationship between the dance partners. Throughout the poem, Dove depicts how the speaker's mood changes as the dance is executed. The false smiles and stiff posture described in the quote above suggest that the speaker, "distracted by the effort of keeping my frame", is somewhat uncomfortable with her partner, straining to complete each step -- this could represent the oppressive roles and expectations involved in a romantic relationship. In contrast, near the end of the poem, Dove describes the completed dance as "flight, that swift and serene magnificence", implying that the speaker has found some fulfillment in her life and is temporarily satisfied. Interestingly, Dove prefaces this positive description with "I didn't notice how still you'd become until we had done it" -- the speaker appears to care much more about the dance than her partner. Finally, Dove finishes the metaphor with a bittersweet reminder that the female speaker cannot escape her role in society: "the earth remembered who we were and brought us down." Overall, the complex dance depicted in "American Smooth" can be interpreted as a representation of the joys and difficulties experienced by women as they explore both relationships and their independence.
Here's a question: why do you think this poem is the title poem of the collection? Why is it called "American Smooth"? It seems symbolic. Does it represent the "smoothing over" of problems in American life?
I find your interpretation to be very thorough and well thought out! As for the title "American Smooth" I found it to be more of an absence of problems while dancing instead of a smoothing over. When they leave, the problems may resurface, but for that moment in the dance, they are gone, everything is smooth.
When reading American smooth, the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" stood out to me. I noticed that this poem has a sing song sort of pattern to it through use of lines such as "heel ball toe" and "stride brush stride". This creates a light hearted tone and gives the impression of there being music. I also noticed how Dove describes Fridays as "a day each week to tuck in the grief". This portrays Fridays as a day of relaxation and escape from the troubles of the world. I also noticed the line "rib to rib with no heartbreak in sight". This again shows that dance was a way to escape to the real world and was something happy without any struggles or pain. She also describes it as a "sweep of Paradise" again showing the importance and happiness associated with dance. Overall the placement and choice of words in this poem create a sense of rhythm which mimics the feeling and rhythm experienced when dancing which I found very clever and interesting.
The poem that stood out to me the most from the group in American Smooth was The Fox. Normally, Rita Dove doesn't iterate as to what perspective the poem is from, but in this poem from the uses of she, her, etc, for description, it is clear that it is a woman. So often, female protagonists are portrayed as weak or reliant, so when this poem flat out stated, "which was more than any man could handle" I found myself intrigued. The symbol of a fox is often seen as cunning, cunningness a form of intelligence. Often seen in the stereotyping of women, they are seen as the lesser in many things, intelligence sometimes one of them. By relating the woman to a fox, Rita Dove pushes aside this mold. Another thing I found interesting, was the similarities between the titles of Fox Trot Fridays, and The Fox. I found this to be possibly because of how a dance such as in The Fox Trot, a woman will often lead, this is related in the female protagonist in The Fox. Since all the poems related to dancing somehow, I would be interested to hear how you interpret this poem related to dance.
After reading Katie's post I was interested in researching Rita Dove's collection, American Smooth. From researching, it was fascinating to discover what the significance of this type of dance is. American Smooth is a type of dance where partners are not required to have physical contact and are allowed to release from each other and dance simultaneously. This is significant because this allows both of the partners to be independent throughout the dance all while working together to create the beauty of it. Understanding this aspect of Dove's poems gave me a new perspective on her poem, "American Smooth". From the beginning the narrator has a faint recollection of certain details about the dance as she says, "We were dancing--it must have been a foxtrot or a waltz, something romantic but requiring restraint...precise execution...". The lack of memory about the specifics of the dance and more on the execution of it, suggests the narrator was focused solely on herself and creates a tone of independence in the poem. Later it states, "...I was distracted by the effort of keeping my frame...I didn't notice how still you'd become...". Not only does the narrator pay little attention to the partner but it also elicits the reader to do the same and creates the effect that the narrator is almost dancing alone. However, the created selfishness surrounding the narrator further displays the theme and message of the poem. Dove purposely used this poem as the basis for her collection to portray her overall message of the importance of being independent and focusing on yourself, and at the same time, cooperative and reliant on your partner, during each movement to produce the "magnificence" of the dance.
I found the poem "The House Slave" very interesting. I noticed the use of imagery was very prominent in this poem. The line "the first horn lifts its arm over the dew-lit grass" is an example of this. It also uses personification of the horn. This line creates a sense of importance as if soemthing big is about to happen. It is almost comparable to the opening scene in a movie which usually involves sole sort of dramatic music. The use of similes also helps add to the meaning and impact of the poem. One simile is found where Dove compares the mistresses to ivory toothpicks. To me, this portrays the women as slender and elegant even when sleeping, but yet there's soemthing dangerous and bad about them since toothpicks are sharp. When I got to the end of this poem and read the line "I weep. It is not yet daylight", I realized that this is in fact a slave havig a nightmare about the average day of a slave. He or she weeps, most likely in relief, at realizing that it is not yet time to undergo those hardships once again.
I agree with your interpretation and the use of imagery and other forms of figurative language to accent the future events, and found your interpretation of an ivory toothpick very interesting. I personally found ivory to be a reflection of status. Also though toothpicks may be sharp to lesser objects, they are also easily broken. Could this possibly relate to a revolution?
I found "Belinda's Petition" to be criticizing of America's liberation of white males versus its oppression on blacks via slavery. Throughout the poem, Rita Dove's style presents an irony to contemporary popular thought, in which black slaves were deemed as ignorant and needed a dependent paternalistic relationship with their masters. The first two lines present the poem as a formal document addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives, implying that the slave in question (Belinda) is educated and literate. Initil letters of words that imply and identify Belinda's oppression are capitalized for emphasis, such as "Slave," "Condition," and "Binds of Tyranny.". The tone of these words illustrates Belinda's tendency to plead and beg, thereby drawing sympathy to the reader. I also found the references to American Independence to be highly sarcastic and mocking, demonstrating Belinda's great intellect, contrasting with the expectations of blacks from society. The last four lines give Belinda's reasons for being " ignorant." The "Men with Faces like the Moon" were white slave owners who appeared nice at first bit turned rogue and forced her into slavery, when all was most serene and peaceful. I found the alliteration in line 6 to epitimize this groveling tone, as the sound of "p" reminds me of "please," which I would use if I were begging for mercy. I have one question. The time stamp on the top right reads "Boston, February, 1782." The poem references the Senate and House (divided legislature) when the provision to do so didn't occur until the formation of the Constitution in 1787. Does this have any particular significance? Is it foreshadowing division, which draws parallels to when the South separates from the North during the Civil War?
Corvyn, I found your interpretation of “Belinda’s Petition” very interesting. I completely agree with your idea that the poem contained a lot of sarcasm; many of the lines of poem seem to be very mocking. I do disagree with your interpretation of the capitalization of certain words. My impression was that they contribute to the sarcastic tone by adding emphasis to certain words. Additionally, I like your interpretation of the alliteration in the sixth line. I also felt that it elicited a pleading tone that draws sympathy from the reader. I completely had not noticed the significance of the date on the poem before your comment. I’m not sure if this date has some importance or if it is just a mistake.
The poem David Walker juxtaposes the reality of slave life with the expectations whites have come to have of blacks. The first line, "Free to travel, he still couldn't be shown just how lucky he was" shows how paternalist attitudes of slave owners dominated Southern culture. They thought they were benefiting blacks, when they were really only benefiting themselves. The next line, "They strip and beat and drag us about like rattlesnakes", shows us the reality of what happened, in comparison to what whites thought of slave life. The slave worked "all day at the counter", while people perceive him as someone who is having a good life and is "full" to the point of barely being able to move. Abolitionist pamphlets read "Men of colour, who are also of sense", but the idea from the white perspective produces "outrage" because no one imagines such an idea. Blacks are perceived as inferior, as the "most wretched". Whites believed they were happy doing simple things like cleaning boots and shoes. The abolitionist press of course continues to print, which does not change the attitude of whites. They believe humanity should not consist of protect these "devils", these "most wretched" people. The slave continues the work at the counter, unable to go north, only able to look at the compasses "pointing north", towards freedom.
I found the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" more interesting than the rest of the poems we could choose from. Rita Dove's structure of the poem, the quick stops and the meter seemed to mimic the pattern of movement that occurs during the foxtrot. Some other people seemed to have completely different interpretations, such as sex, and some can agree with me when I think this poem was exclusively about the dance and why she likes it. The entire poem creates an image of the dance in the reader's mind. I didn't remember at first, but the part where she talks about the dancing helps alleviate her grief makes more sense after Ballard reminded me that she wrote this to cope with her house burning down and her losing a lot of poems. Ballard explained that she delved deeply into ballroom dancing after the fire and dedicated a series of poems to it. Overall, the diction and imagery creates a clear feeling of an intimate dance that has quick movements.
The poem, "The Abduction" from Rita Dove's "slavery" instantly grabbed my attention from all the others. What intrigued me about it was almost the thin line between dream and reality. The scene is set with the line, "The citizenry of Washington clotted the avenue." I found 'clotted' to be a very interesting word to be used to describe a crowd. Instead of just thinking about a claustrophobic places my mind instantly went to herding, almost like the leading of sheep to slaughter. Only a few verses later comes the starting line of the next section, "Why should I have doubted them?" This instantly brings a pessimistic tone or feeling to the reader, a preparation for more foreshadowing. The assonance of "flap" and "hat" has close to a childish sound. A sense of naivety is shown in the main character of this past tense narration. When his or her friends do, "a jig on a tightrope" and the, "pigs squealed invisibly" it's a warning call that they chose not to hear. Innocence is bliss, but it can only last so long. From the description of. "Then the wine, like a pink lake, tipped." it can be scene that the illusion is broken, that the wine's affect has worn off and the main character then finds themselves with the cold realization, "I woke and found myself alone in the darkness and in chains."
I agree that "The Abduction" involved a juxtaposition between dreaming and reality. The poem derives its meaning from the story of Solomon Northrup who, if you've watched "Twelve Years a Slave" (SPOILER ALERT) was a free black man living in the antebellum North who was deceived and abducted into being traded as a slave. As a result, this poem comments on Northrup's incredulity and naive mindset, implementing romanticism rather than realism. I find your interpretation about the crowd being like death row to sheep very interesting, fitting with your interpretation. I also agree that the jig on the tightrope and pig's sqealing demonstrate that the blacks refuse to listen to reason, which leads to their downfall. I felt that the sky swiveling in line 12 represents the world falling back into its usual place, and the wine tipping over is the transition from dream-like pleasures to reality. I also noticed from both the movie and the poem that Northrup held a violin. The violin is, in my opinion, the instrument that can play the saddest tones, which may also foreshadow the tragedy about to occur for Northrup.
Before reading Dove's poem "David Walker," I decided to do some research. David Walker was an abolitionist, or one who favored the abolition of slavery. He is known for his appeal, which was a very controversial anti-slavery document. David Walker's appeal caught Dove's attention because he was willing to show his outrage, and he had no intent of doing it in a polite way. The first line of the poem "free to travel, he still couldn't be shown how lucky he was," is a reference to how David was a free black man who could travel around the United States as he pleased. His journeys are what made him see how the country needed to change, and stop being racist. The poem has a similar intent as his appeal, because it was meant to give blacks hope that equality would some day exist. After the appeal was published, it quickly spread through out the south in just a few months. This relates to the beginning to the second stanza where it says, "On the faith of an eye-wink, pamphlets were stuffed into trouser pockets." It describes the huge impact and controversy that David Walker had. Then, in the next stanzas, the poem continues to expand on the impact of the work by discussing how several editions of his work were published. Shortly after the third edition was published, David died at the young age of 33. Dove references his death at the end of the poem; "A month— his person (is that all?) found face down in the doorway of Brattle Street, his frame slighter than friends remembered." I believe that the lines in italics are taken directly from the multiple editions of his work. The overall purpose of this poem is to tell the story of David Walker, and to emphasize how different he was compared to other people who fought for equality. Once again, Dove thought very highly of this man because of how he openly showed his passion and his raw emotion about slavery.
I completely agree with your analysis on Dove's poem, "David Walker". The story of David Walker and his actions towards abolishing slavery made a huge difference to African Americans at that time and Dove rightfully portrayed his contributions through her poem. Another aspect of the poem I noticed, that further emphasized the raw emotion felt by not only David Walker but all African Americans toward slavery, was the use of sarcasm throughout in the poem. Dove first uses sarcasm when she writes, "We are the most wretched, degraded and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began." This point of view about African Americans is obviously from a white man's perspective but it is said from the words of an African American. They are saying it to mock how awful and ridiculous it sounds. Sarcasm is more prominently used from an African American's point of view when it says, "'I'm happy!' he said. 'I never want to live any better or happier than when I can get a-plenty of boots and shoes to clean!'" The sarcasm shows the bitterness African Americans felt and also the reality of their life and how white people viewed them. Dove conveyed their constant sadness about their life through this aspect of the poem which further emphasizes the pain they felt and endured to the reader.
I found the poem “Fox Trot Fridays” the most interesting poem out of all of them because of how simple the poem was. I agree with Jacobs interpretation of this poem and how it was truly just about the dance itself and why she has a passion for it. As we can see in the beginning line “Thank the stars there’s a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride” made me connect this to her passion of it. It made me think of dance as the escape route to the anxiety of the world. Basically I thought of this as Rita Dove saying thank God for the creation of dance so that we may let our stresses escape our mind and be able to let loose and be carefree. What I also liked about this poem was the fast rhythm it naturally gave with 3 words in a line to show the relationship to the dance itself. For example “stride brush stride”, “heel-ball-toe”, “slow satin smile” and “rib to rib” all made me have a rhythm in my voice while reading aloud which made the poem more interesting and give a better connection to the Fox Trot itself. Lastly, although I really liked this poem I had one soul question for it: Why say “one day at a time” instead of one-step at a time? Wouldn’t it only make sense for her to say the casual saying that many people use on a daily basis for a poem about dance moves? The other thing I wondered however, was if she did this on purpose to show emphasis in some way? Anybody else find this interesting?
My favorite poem in this section was by far "The House Slave". It really enlightened me of the emotions of those enslaved during the 18th and 19th century in America. It provides a new perspective on slavery viewed through the eyes of a slave. It describes an average morning for someone who was enslaved during this time period. The reader really begins to feel the emotions of the enslaved people as they learn of the cruelty that they are forced to go through on a daily basis. The device I want to emphasize in this piece, is the water motif in the poem. It states it throughout the poem, for example: "dew-lit", "water gourds", "cries", "weep". Water is often representative of change or a turning point in something. In this instance, the change is emancipation for this enslaved people who are forced to endure the atrocities of slavery. A new era is on the horizon for these people, and the poem is simply a symbolic representation of their spirit and their want for change from this wretched state that they are in. Did anyone else have any varying interpretations of the poem?
Jared, it's interesting how you noticed the motif of water in this poem. I agree that it represents a turning point, however I don't think this poem has a very hopeful tone. The tone of this seems more pitiful in my opinion. They are describing their conditions, and how poorly they are treated, which makes the reader feel for them, as you stated. I'm sure deep down they are hoping and praying about being free, but what they are describing seems to have a more sorrowful effect. I also wonder if the line "while their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick," refers to. I think I had some reference towards the slave master, but it is weird because the poem is about the slaves. Anyway, I agree with you that water represents change, but I think the poem has a sad tone, rather than a hopeful one.
My favorite poem in thew slavery section was "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi". This is because it seemed the most exciting out of all the available poems. There are many well placed caesuras that help create dramatic pauses that intensify the work. The very first stanza is all italicized and in parenthesis as if it is a newspaper article. The way it is phrased also sounds like a way the media would. The first stanza states that the "Slave woman helped the Negro driver mount his horse". The second stanza immediately starts with "I don't know if i should have helped him up", which clearly shows that the narrator is that slave woman. It goes on to explain how she found him beaten and bloody in the middle of the road so she decided to help him, which ends up backfiring, as he leads the pursuers to her. In the last part of the second stanza, she says "He might have been a son of mine", which implies that she was separated from her child after giving birth, or she was raped many times, and just figured it probably is her son since they look similar. This was a common occurrence sadly during slavery. The third stanza describes the recapture of the man she helped earlier. The fourth stanza explains that the uprising was not in one spot, but several. This was a revolution. It talks about how they knocked out the slave driver and freed 60 slaves. When it describes the slaves as half-numb, it leads me to believe that they were emotionally destroyed from being a slave. Throughout the poem, there is a re-occurrence of violence from both sides, which shows the ugly price of freedom. The last stanza describes a man rushing in with a whip to try and control the situation, only to be overwhelmed by the clubs of the newly freed slaves. His shock and unfamiliarity with the roles reversed was clearly shown in the last italicized line: "Wait. You ain't supposed to act this way." Overall, I think this poem was literally about different slave transports being ambushed, with the aim of rebellion and hope for change. Does anyone think that there is a less literal meaning for this poem?
The poem that I found most interesting in "Slavery" was "The Abduction". My original interpretation of this poem was that it was about a slave dreaming of being free. It sounds like it's describing a slave who runs away and then meets two other runaway slaves, "Brown and Hamilton", who he forms a sort of band of performers with and they make a living off of this. He plays the violin, Hamilton dances on a tightrope, and Brown collects money in his hat. They have a good life and they're happy, but then in the third stanza the man begins to realize he is just dreaming as "the sky swiveled, clicked into place". He wakes up in chains. After some research I found out that the man is a real person, Solomon Northup, and he's the primary author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave". The real story that the poem is telling is the story of his kidnap. First he was enticed by two men, Brown and Hamilton, who were actually slave traders, to travel with them as a violinist in a group of traveling performers to Washington D.C., where slavery was legal. Once they reached D.C., they drugged him ("then the wine, like a pink lake, tipped") and shipped him to New Orleans where he was sold. I think Dove's purpose in retelling this story is to show that even after blacks began to get more freedom and rights in the US, they still had to live in fear and caution throughout their daily lives.
I'm going to be combining two posts on this one so it'll be long. One for Parsley since I haven't done it and one for a poem in Slavery.
In Parsley, there were two things I noticed. Multiple words were repeated and that both poems in Parsley are told in two different point if views. First, the two words I so repeated most were parrot and cane. I think the parrot was a symbol for the general who came and started to kill everyone. "A parrot imitating spring" can mean that the general is trying to show himself as a new beginning for those in the country. In the second part, it also refers to the general as the parrot. Maybe it could also stand for the characteristic if the general. Parrots are usually showy and copycats. The cane on the other hand can refer to many things. "The cane appears /in our dreams" means that it could be guns, appearing and scaring them in their dreams. It could also stand for the lost mother of the general in the second half. The second part with point if view may just give this poem more of a story and a reason for why the general acts like so. "We cannot speak an R" could be a reason why the general despises the people because of how easy the task is. And the general's mother dying could also be a reason why he kills so many of the people in the country
Now in Slavery, the poem that stood out to me was "The House Slave". The main thing that stuck out was the last line, "I weep. It is not yet daylight". I though this could've translated into two things, actual daylight or daylight as in freedom. As they are slaves, they have not experiences freedom. They continue to long for this freedom daily. Also, as slaves, they are forced to work early in the morning. It could be literal of when the daylight is not there yet. Also, this poem being set in the view of a slave within the house is interesting. I feel that she used to be a slave out in the fields and was later put into the house, possibly for her look as most slaves are chosen. I think having this in a house slave perspective makes it all the more meaningful because the house slave seems to recieve more benefits. They may believe they are close to freedom as a house slave and want their fellow slaves to feel the same.
I agree with your interpretation of "The House Slave" and how daylight could be actual daylight or it could be freedom. I thought that daylight was more likely to mean freedom. I thought this because she may have more benefits than working in the fields all day but her sister is still working in the fields. I thought that she is feeling guilty for no longer being able to experience the pain of working in the fields all day, everyday. She wishes that she could be with her sister to protect and comfort her. I think that even though she does have more freedom physically, being a house slave, but is feeling trapped with guilt and sorrow over her sister. As for becoming a house slave, I do not think that it was only for her looks. I think that she may have been injured to a point where she was no longer able to meet the physical demands of being a slave in the fields or she may not have been very good at the work, so she was moved. I think that your interpretation is also possibly correct and is a good explanation to the poem.
"The Abduction" is a short, but powerful poem about the nightmarish transition from becoming a free man to being pulled back into slavery in an instant. When I analyze poetry, I always look at sentence structure and how that impacts the meaning of the poetry. One thing I instantly noticed was the decreasing number of lines for each stanza, five lines, four lines, three, two, then one ending the poem. This may seem abstract, but the fewer lines per stanza could represent the amount of freedom our protagonist Solomon has, losing faith in humanity and others, leaving the poem on an eerie note of "I woke and found myself alone, in darkness and chains" to convey a tone of hopelessness having no escape. This poem may be related to the novel, but from what this poem is expressing, is shows the darker side of the story rather than the redemption and liberation of the novel and movie. The poem is split into two sections, one during his freedom, and the other is his transition into slavery. This is clearly shown by the way his environment is described, having "...floated on water that I could not drink" describing the saltwater, or ocean that he is currently trapped on in becoming a slave. The third stanza describes the actual abduction, with the windows rattling, the wine falling over, being "lifted" -- signifying leaving and being carried to a new destination, a destination filled with hardship and the will to survive under the oppression of slavery.
I found the poem "Climbing In" very interesting. Rita Dove uses a lot of sharp imagery such at teeth and metal throughout the poem. This creates a tone of fear and almost horror. This poem is describing a scene of someone walking into a bus. Dove portrays the people on the bus as vicious and frightening. This imagery helps the reader understand what an African American person felt daily when doing something as simple as taking the bus. They were never welcomed and treated well and this is clearly exemplified in this poem. Through this poem, one can see that the feelings go past simple discomfort or fear, but were must deeper and could almost be described as terror. The tone and use of imagery give the poem a very personal feel and makes it seem more emotional.
Rita Dove's poem "House Slave" stood out to me for various reasons. The poem is an obvious allusion to the daily lifestyle of a slave and the difficulties that they had to endure. The consistent use of three lines for each stanza creates a sense of repetition to this poem. The repetition represents the continuous harsh life of the slaves and how there was no change or hope for them at the time. The use of triplets, which is short for stanza length, could also represent the mindset of the slaves and their possible "one day at a time" attitude. Also, in this poem Dove uses profanity, which is significant to the portrayal of slave life. The quote, "Massa dreams of asses," shows the illiterate side to the slaves and conveys the realism of the poem. This profanity used when talking about their white master, shows the harshness of treatment they received. There is a tone of envy created by the views of the slaves in the poem. This envious effect is shown to the readers when Dove writes, "I watch them driven into he vague before-dawn while their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick." Referring to the mistress as an ivory toothpick is basically calling her a skinny, rich lady and shows the contrast in their lifestyles and the envy and hatred it creates in the minds of the slaves. These aspects of Dove's poem were purposely used to create the effect of realism, harshness, and envy throughout the poem and represent the reality of slave life.
Olivia, I really liked your interpretation of this poem and loved the connection of the lines in each stanza to slavery and how they felt like there was no hope for change. I also agree with you about the profanity used in the poem to convey the harshness of slavery. To add on to your thoughts I thought that it was interesting how this poem doesn't tell you about slavery as a whole but talks about the struggles from when they wake up to before daylight. It shows the struggle they faced in just a couple of hours, which then makes the reader think about how much abuse they would suffer for years.
The poem “Davis Walker” was very interesting in my opinion. I was first intrigued by its historical basis. David Walker was a free black abolitionist who wrote An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. He traveled and spread his pamphlet to gain awareness for this issue. His story is chronicled through this poem. This elicits a feeling of importance as it is telling the story of a historical figure. One of the most interesting aspects of the poem is Dove’s use of direct quotes from Walker’s Appeal. These direct quotes contribute to the feeling of importance because it emphasizes the oppression that African Americans at the time faced while also demonstrating the efforts done to improve this situation. Additionally, these direct quotes highlight what is occurring in David Walker’s journey at the time and the impact his words are having on the abolitionist movement by following the quote with the affect that it had on society. Furthermore, Dove also employs figurative that contribute to the story of David Walker being told through this poem. In the first stanza, in a quote from Walker, Dove included, “They strip and beat and drag us about /like rattle snakes.” This simile clearly illustrates the oppression that surrounded Walker even though he was free. By comparing slaves to rattlesnakes, he conveys that slaves are treated as nothing more than animals. Dove included this quote to illustrate the severity of the prejudice slaves faced. This creates a tone of sympathy and outrage, which helps readers understand why David Walker was so passionate about abolitionism. Another important piece of figurative language is written n the third stanza. Dove wrote, “Every half step was no step at all.” This paradox was the line that stood out to me most in the entire poem. Dove employed this paradox to illustrate that despite Walker’s and other abolitionists’ best efforts, they rarely had any rewards for their work; for every action that seemed like a success, little came from it. In his short lifetime, Walker wrote three editions of his appeal, spreading them throughout the country, but he never lived to see abolition. The paradox Dove uses to illustrate this point creates a tone of sorrow and makes the reader feel upset that no change happened immediately. Overall, all of the literary devices in this poem work to tell the story of David Walker.
Hayden I found your response to be very enlightening! I had also noticed the quotes in each stanza and wondered their significance. I had assumed that it had something to to with propaganda during this time period because of the repeated referencing of pamphlets in the second stanza. As well as the quotes, I noticed Dove's use of imagery to paint the African American people as outcasts in this tim in our history and to create a feeling of injustice within the reader. In the third stanza, "pressed his dark hand between heir gloves,". I perceived this as David Walker trying to breech the separation between african americans and whites. The line after it is "Every half-step is no step at all" expressing to the reader that Walker did not succeed.
Initial Post for "Parsley" Like many others, I was surprised at the way Dove decided to present Trujillo to the reader. Disregarding the atrocities Trujillo has committed, he comes across as someone who has experienced pain. “Ever since the morning/his mother collapsed in the kitchen/while baking skull-shaped candies/for the Day of the Dead, the general/ has hated sweets.” Everyone has waited in the kitchen while their mother is baking solely for the chance to lick the spoon. Dove recreates this feeling in the context of losing your mother to emphasize the devastation the the general feels. I think Dove gave Trujillo human qualities directly preceding the stanzas from the perspective of the innocent people he killed (“El General has found his word: perejil./ Who says it, lives.”) in order to remind the reader that violence can come from anyone.
Upon first reading "Belinda's Petition," by Rita Dove, I noticed that some of the words in the middle of some sentences were capitalized. I thought that the significance of this was to emphasize the significance of the words and their importance to the speaker. An example of this is, "Childhood," in the third line of the last stanza. I thought that this was important because the speaker's childhood was spent in slavery and they did not know what else they were supposed to do or the significance of what slavery was. Another example of this is, "Accusation," in the first line of the third stanza. I thought that the significance of this was to express what she was accused of and that it was an important part of her life. She did not want to be ignorant to the situation around her but everyone believed her to be because she was young. I noticed the repetition of "twelve years" and it reminded me of 12 Years a Slave, the movie. In both the movie and the poem, the main characters were not always slaves and once they had become slaves, they started to fight against slavery. I also noticed that until about the last three lines of the poem, she was telling the Senate and the House about her situation and how it has affected her. In the last three lines she ends with a poem. I thought this was her leaving the House and Senate with a question to think about in considering her and her situation and deciding what they thought would be best.
I didn’t make the connection between the movie and the poem, but that’s very interesting! I thought the nouns were capitalized because they represented things owned by the white people. Most of the words capitalized were under the control of the white population, including Belinda and all the other slaves. Also, since I didn’t make the connection between the movie “12 Years a Slave” and Rita Dove’s poem, I found a different meaning for the twelve years idea being brought up. At the beginning, Belinda states she has been a slave since she was twelve, and in the last two verses, Dove says, “I have known of the Men with Faces like the Moon, who would ride toward me steadily for twelve Years?” It was inevitable that she would become a slave, and it was only a matter of time before the white men got her.
The poem "David Walker" by Rita Dove, stood out to me in many ways, however one of the most intriguing one's was the symbol of the canary. In the third stanza Dove writes, “The jeweled canaries in the lecture halls tittered, pressed his dark hand between their gloves” For me, at first glance I immediately thought of the symbol of the canary. As we talked about many times throughout Siddhartha, the canary symbolized a person, or in this case a group of people that were locked up and waiting to be freed. Throughout this poem we see the struggle of African Americans and the fight for their freedom, and with the symbol of the canary, it fits in perfectly to connect both the bird and the African American’s battle for freedom. Another thing that I thought was interesting was Dove’s quote used in the first stanza, where she wrote, “We are the most wretched, degraded and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began.” The use of sarcasm in this line puts a great effect on the reader’s emotions. The quote is so powerful that we begin to feel sad for those who had to deal with slavery and you start to truly feel the effect that it had on these African Americans. To add onto that, I really liked the placement of this quote in this poem. I say this because the stanza before talks about the African Americans sending around a pamphlet that was An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. Their efforts were noticed by all but was not enough to achieve their goal of equality as we can see in the lines after the quote where it says, “Every half-step was no step at all.” To go back to my thoughts, the quote was perfectly placed here to show how the African Americans had lost their hope and turned to sarcasm to express their feelings.
I also thought the symbolic use of the canary in "David Walker" was very interesting, but I had a different interpretation. Throughout this poem, Dove subtly describes the obstacles to Walker's abolitionist struggle by introducing archetypical figures -- the "jeweled canaries" and "the man on the corner" -- to represent the attitudes Walker so strongly opposed. The "man on the corner", a shoe-shiner clearly satisfied with his position in life, symbolizes the lack of societal awareness and empowerment that Walker noticed in many slaves and free African Americans. This oblivious mindset stands out in this poem because one of Walker's greatest goals was to educate the public about the often-unspoken evils of slavery and racism. In contrast, the "jeweled canaries" represent the wealthy (white) men and women who attended Walker's lectures; their "tittering" and pressing of Walker's "dark hand between their gloves" suggests the audience's uncomfortable, distanced attitude toward abolitionism. Overall, the symbolism in this poem shows how David Walker's messages could not reach the most and least privileged classes of society, ensuring that "every half-step was no step at all" in his struggle for recognition and liberation.
In the poem “Belinda’s Petition”, I noticed several different things. One of those was the last two verses “I have known of Men with Faces like the Moon, who would ride toward me steadily for twelve Years?” At the beginning of the poem, the narrator (Belinda) states that she was twelve years old when she became a slave. The men with faces like the moon are white, rich landowners and steadily, for twelve years, they approached Belinda and made her a slave. Another thing I noticed is that Rita Dove capitalizes several random nouns, but I saw a pattern among those words. A majority of them are things that belong to the white people, like Belinda, life, the nation, Belinda’s childhood and so on. This is illustrating how they had control over the entire lives of the African-Americans in slavery, even intangible things like their childhood or behavior. The last piece I noticed was that the poem ends with a question when most pose the question in the middle so that it can be answered later on. I’m not sure why this is, the difference in structure from the rest of the poems stood out to me.
Nate, I thought your explanation of the seemingly random capitalizations was very insightful! When I first read this poem, I thought that the capitalizations were meant to place emphasis on certain things and show how all capitalized words are of equal importance. To Belinda, her "Life" and "Existence" should have as equal importance as the "Countrymen" and the "Travelers." Also, to go along your note of the question at the end of the poem, I think Dove did this to represent how the status of slavery was always open ended to the blacks. At the time, they never really knew if they'd ever become equals. Even the blacks who were technically free were only free to an extent because of the discrimination they faced. The poem ending with a question symbolizes how there wasn't an answer to slavery during Belinda's lifetime.
I also thought that the capitalization really characterized the whole idea that "blacks could be civilized" present in this poem. For example, he formality present throughout contrasts with the idea that slaves were crude and uneducated, which is a way Rita Dove employs irony here. The capitalization of almost all the nouns reminded me of the Declaration of Independence, where there was capitalization of more than just proper nouns. I definitely agree that there is an emotional attachment to some of the words, especially "Same," and "Ignorant," which were the only adjectives that were capitalized. The only noun that wasn't capitalized (that I found) was "nothing," which seems fitting because it should have "no meaning" in a sense. Overall, I really like this how Rita Dove played with the ideas of being "civil" and "crude" in this poem.
The poem "The House Slave" caught my attention as a vivid description of slavery from an interesting perspective. Before reading this poem, I never thought about how being a house slave may be different from being a slave who works in the fields. Rita Dove uses strong imagery, similes, and symbolism to create a bitter but helpless tone to reflect the emotions of the house slave. First, strong imagery like "I watch them driven into the vague," and "The whip curls across the backs of the laggards--" illustrate the reality of being a spectator, and a helpless one too. As a house slave, the narrator sees the struggle of his or her people and they have more empathy for them than other types of spectators, but they also feel more pain as a result. Dove displays this stronger sense of empathy through this imagery because pain like the whippings are so real to the house slaves that they can almost feel it themselves. In addition to imagery, Dove employs simile. She writes, "Their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick," which shows the bitterness of the house slave towards the mistress by explaining how fragile the house slave thinks she is. Finally, Dove also uses symbolism to show the helpless and hopeless side of the house slave. In the final line that goes, "I weep. It is not yet daylight," the daylight literally means daytime, however I think it metaphorically symbolizes freedom and a better life. The house slave weeps because everyday she wakes up, she must face the reality that freedom is beyond his or her reach.
The poem that caught my eye in this collection of Dove's works was "The Abduction". After reading the poem through a few times I noticed the similarities between the poem and the plot line of the film (and novel) "Twelve Years A Slave" that came out last December. In the film, which is based of the life of a real person, a african american musician leaves his family with two white men to play the violin in their show. Dove mentions a violin at the end of the second stanza. Brown and Hamilton are the two white men in the story. In the story the african american man, Solomon Northrup is deceived by these two men and sold into slavery for twelve years until he escapes and returns to his family. In this poem Dove depicts the beginning of the story: the capture of Solomon Northrup. The first stanza describes Solomon's happy life, before he was captured, when he thought everything was going well shown by Dove's use of exclamation point and s-sounds. In the second stanza Dove describes the captors. The use of monetary imagery shows the reader how Solomon was blinded by the potential profit and did not notice warning signs of his capture. In the last three stanzas Dove uses contrasting color imagery to show the contrast of freedom and slavery. "the wine, like a pink lake, tipped" shows freedom because this event occurred before he was captured and then "I woke and found myself alone, in darkness and in chains." to represent slavery.
One thing that really stood out to me while I read "The House Slave" was the consonance of "s" in every line of the poem. The recurring "s" sounds exemplified the cyclic nature of the house slave's life, which is fitting because the entire poem is essentially a generalized description of what happens each morning -- a cycle of torture that hasn't ended yet with the "daylight" that is freedom. It also resonates with the largely impersonal and very passive voice found in many lines, such as "children are bundled into aprons," "a salt pork breakfast taken," or "the whip curls across the backs of the laggards." It creates a message of helplessness because the house slave is powerless to do anything about the vicious cycle that he/she is trapped in, especially with the last line of "I weep. It is not yet daylight." No rebellion, no thoughts of anger or protest, simply someone who has surrendered to a hopeless situation, in which the only option is to wait for something better to come along.
I disagree with you, Belinda. I believe the consonance of "S" is symbolic of hope, for rebellion, and for freedom. "S" is a very sharp sound and creates negative imagery. This negative imagery is symbolic of the unrest of the slaves and the want to rebellion and ultimately freedom from the atrocity that is slavery. There is also a multitude of water imagery in the poem. Water is often representative of change, which is exactly what the slaves want. They want change from the situation that they are in and that is the message that Rita Dove is attempting to convey in this poem.
I completely agree with you, Belinda. Both the recurring "s" sounds and the passive voice used to describe such a tragic situation create a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. There are even indications of rape, a cruelty that never seems to inspire rebellion ("..and Mass dreams of asses, rum and slave-funk."). The use of the word laggard, which is defined as someone who moves slowly, also creates a feeling of hopelessness- people in unrest don't tend to move slowly.
Even the words "helplessness" and "hopelessness" repeat the hard "s" sound. I completely agree that the consonance of "s" in "The House Slave" gives a sense of despair (more "s" sounds in that word, too!) to the poem. The line, "sometimes my sister's voice, unmistaken, among them" has a large amount of "s" consonance in it, and describes the anguish the narrator feels when she hears her sister being whipped. If one thinks of a tire slowly losing air, it makes the hissing sound that a hard "s" also makes, and the feeling one gets when they get a flat tire is probably similar, if less severe, than the sadness felt by the slave in this poem.
In this selection of poems, Rita Dove's "David Walker" affected me most because of the way it dramatizes the contrast between Walker's ideals and reality. In this poem, Dove does not include a single line of Walker's spoken words or internal monologue; instead, quotations from Walker's works, juxtaposed with almost cinematic external descriptions of his life and surroundings, provide a subtle and indirect summary of his tragic struggle. The first line ("Free to travel, he still couldn't be shown how lucky he was") introduces the speaker as an outsider, a passive observer who does not acknowledge irony. This distance from the narrative is also demonstrated in the second stanza, when the speaker describes the public response to Walker's publications: "Outrage. Incredulity. Uproar in state legislatures". Dove frames all of these reactions as impartially observed facts, passing no judgment. In contrast, Dove uses Walker's own words to great ironic effect by inserting expressions of outrage among fast-paced montage imagery of an indifferent world -- for example, "They strip and beat and drag us about like rattlesnakes" is immediately followed by "Home on Brattle Street, he took in the sign on the door of the slop shop". The fact that the Walker quotations seem so disjointed from the literal descriptions in this poem emphasizes the silencing and oppression that Walker endured throughout his life. To bring the growing tension created by this silence to a climax, the final stanza initially increases in perceived speed, skipping over significant periods of time by simply listing "A second edition. A third." The final Walker quote ("Humanity, kindness, and the fear of the Lord does not consist in protecting devils.") evokes the outrage and eventual resignation that apparently preceded his early death. The description of Walker's body as "slighter than friends remembered" further suggests that Walker's spirit was ultimately greater than his strength. Overall, I found this poem interesting because of Dove's use of quotations to portray a strong, opinionated mind surrounded by an oppressive society.
I also noticed that the quotations in this poem include a significant amount of "r" consonance -- for example, the first line contains the strong, rough sounds of "strip", "drag", and "rattlesnakes". What do you think this means? I think it probably represents Walker's suppressed anger, suggested by a "growling" sound.
I found "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi" to be the most interesting. The background information is given before the poem even starts; a wagonload of slaves attempted to escape but were turned in by the driver who was helped onto a horse by a slave woman. The first stanza comes from the perspective the woman who helped the driver. "I don't know if I helped him up/ because I thought he was our salvation/ or not." The first two lines make it clear that she is still dealing with the confusion of what happened and the guilt that undoubtedly came with it. Later into the poem, the women justifies her actions. "I am no brute. I got feelings. He might have been a son of mine." Regardless of what she was thinking whens he was doing it, the fact that she regretted saving someone who reminded her of her son emphasizes the cruelty of the slave system. The absurdity of it all is obvious when you consider the perspective of the driver. The driver threw away his chance for freedom when he turned in the slaves that he was transporting. What has to happen to someone to make them do something like that?
after i read "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi" i noticed that Rita Dove would insert thoughts the subjects of that part of the poem. the first stanza included italicized thoughts of the women, the last stanza includes italicized thoughts of the baggage man. this allows the reader to understand the thoughts of those being involved with the slaves rebellion. i also noticed that Rita Dove uses a consonance of "t" to give the poem a harsh tone "Death and salvation.-- one accommodates the other." also the names of those who were trying to suppress the rebellion had a t in their name, "Petit" and "Atkins", which i think Rita Dove did that to have a harsher tone towards those who tried to keep slaves from escaping.
The poem that was very interesting to me was “The Transport of Slaves from Maryland to Mississippi”. This poem of Dove’s is more like a narrative story. Dove seems to have divided this poem into three different sections, telling a story of slavery from three different perspectives. The first section sets the scene of how “a wagon load of slaves broke their chains, killed two white men, and would have escaped, had not a slave women helped the Negro driver mount his horse and ride for help.” The voice of the first section is a compassionate slave woman. The next section in the poem reads more from an objective point of view. Giving details in this section describing how “Negro Gordon, barley escaping his life…” The last section of this poem is from the man who owns the slaves but can no longer control them. He believes the slaves that are running will surrender when he hits his whip and screams “Hold it” and is confused when no one stops. Dove does a great job in this poem retelling the story of August 22, 1839.
For the poem “Belinda’s Petition,” I did some research on it and found an interesting background story (I think most of you guys already know, though). Belinda was an actually existed women who presented her petition to the Massachusetts General Court. She requested a pension for her doughtier and herself from the property of her dead master. Surprisingly, the court approved it and Belinda received. After I read this story, my perspective of this poem greatly changed. I originally thought it is a sarcasm to the court, or the white people who supported slavery because of the capitalization. I thought capitalizations are there for emphasis, then I found that all these emphasis are on the words that associated with freedom. For example, there is emphasis on “Father of this Nation,” “…severed the Binds of Tyranny,” “…pure Air and Sole Advantage.” It is very sarcastic because these words are used to describe the court, the white people who support slavery. Also, the narrator, Belinda, calls herself “Ignorant,” but obviously she is not because she could write a formal petition to the court. This also is a sarcastic phrase that creates tone of both seriousness and humor. However, the actual story of Belinda is rather about a success of a slave women who received the pension from her formal master. I saw this as a victory of Belinda, which made me surprised because Rita Dove’s other slavery poems are focused on the sorrow and powerlessness of slavers. Then I thought this poem actually could be purely about a slave women who begging for her freedom, without any sarcasm. This poem represents the desperate effort of slaves to be freed, as Belinda tried so hard to find her right in front of the court.
I analyzed “The House Slave” in class on Friday and was immediately struck by one line in particular. The first line of the third stanza reads, “and Massa dreams of asses, rum and slave-funk.” This was a very strange change of tone for both the poem and Dove. Dove uses profanity sparingly, at least in the poems that we have read, so I was struck by the vulgarity of her language here. It also does not fit in with the rest of the poem. The rest of the poem describes the occurrences of a plantation from a house slave’s point of view in a relatively detached manner, albeit a sad one. However, this one line seems to pack in a lot of vitriol and accusation against the slaveowner, a spark of passion in a cloud of anesthesia. Is Dove saying that the slaveowner fetishizes his slaves? Does he abuse them in a sexual manner? Is he an alcoholic? All of these seem to be insinuated by this line. It is completely reasonable to suggest that that might be the case, as many slaveowners did rape their slaves and alcoholism is certainly not a recent development, but the way that Dove does this feels extremely heavy-handed and atypical for her writing style. Do you guys have any ideas as to why she wrote this line the way she did?
Ok first I just would like to state some overall impressions of "Taming of the Shrew", before I go into analysis. I was very surprised in how entertained I was from reading the first act of the play. I have never loved Shakespeare in the past, but I really enjoyed reading this play, and actually understood the old English which I didn't expect. So, one of the more interesting things that I noticed was this idea of woman as property. In more recent works, this idea would be frowned upon but I found it a bit amusing at how the men in the play see women. It is almost as if they see marriage as a way to becoming financially successful, rather than being something that it brought about by love. I found it a bit humorous as Petruchio states,"Signior Hortensio, ’twixt such friends as we Few words suffice. And therefore, if thou know ne rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife, As wealth is burden of my wooing dance, Be she as foul as was Florentius' love, As old as Sibyl and as curst and shrewd As Socrates' Xanthippe, or a worse, She moves me not, or not removes at least Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough As are the swelling Adriatic seas. I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padua." (I.ii.51-62). Petruchio doesn't seem to care AT ALL if he has ANY connection with Katherine or any interest in her at all as a person. All he cares about is that her father is rich, and that he will be paid a large dowry if he marries her. I think that this is maybe Shakespeare's way of commenting on the idea that women are often used and taken advantage of, for other reasons than simply love. It seemed very different and yet relevant, especially in American society today. Does anyone have any other ideas about what this might imply?
upon reading the first act, i was surprised that i could understand how Shakespeare writes and was proud that i could understand the act. i di not like how the play showed their idea of women. the act did show women as property which angers me, but i realize that is because back when Shakespear wrote the play, women had no independence and were look as and treated as property. i enjoy how the play portrays Katharina as mean , but strong and independent. this allows the thought that women should maybe have more to them than what society thinks that they should be portrayed. i find it interesting how the father decides that in order for his youngest to marry, that his oldest must marry first. this creates the idea of that the father does not care for the oldest daughter, but instead sees Katharina as neusense and something that he wants to be rid of. i also find it funny that the characters of Gremio and Hortensio and Lucentio all "fall in love" with youngest daughter. i think that they do not love her or want to love her, but that they are salacious men that only want to make love with her. they only "love her because of her beauty, which reflects how society believes that only beautiful women that are visually appealing are great wives. Anyone else have similar thoughts?
While reading the poem “Parsley” by Rita Dove I immediately noticed the repetition of the line “out of the swamp the cane appears”. This line could represent the working conditions of the surviving haitians in the sugar cane field or it could be a reference to Trujillo’s mother’s cane that is buried with her. I think that it is a reference to the General’s mother’s cane because the line reads “the cane” meaning a specific cane not just another cane in the field. Because this cane represents the General’s mother it shows the source of his anger and possibly one of the causes of the genocide. A cane is also a tool that was used when beating or punishing someone. The process of caneing was very popular in the early 1900’s. The use of the word cane further shows Dove’s interpretation of the Haitian’s punishment. In the first stanza of the second part of the poem the phrase “in the fall” is repeated twice. The genocide of the Haitians mainly occurred in the fall as well as the death of Trujillo’s mother. This further shows that the death of Trujillo’s mother could have been part of the cause of the genocide.
ReplyDelete(My reply to Olivia's blog post):
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I completely agree with your analysis! I also noticed the repetition of parsley right off the bat. At first I thought that Dove was just hinting towards the nickname of the massacre, but after reading the excerpt from “The Farming of Bones” I learned that parsley was part of the Haitian’s everyday lives from meals to medicine. Food and health are typically things that are taken care of by a mother figure: something that Trujillo no longer had. Due to the loss of his mother Trujillo felt the need to mock the Haitian people by turning their symbol of home into one of fear and tragedy.
(Also a reply to Olivia's post)
DeleteI agree that parsley is an important symbol in this poem. Its importance stretches beyond the obvious reference to the Parsley Massacre, because parsley also is an ironic juxtaposition in the context of the Parsley Massacre and this poem. Parsley itself is probably the most anodyne and inoffensive herb there is, mostly used to provide color to chain Italian restaurant’s fettuccine alfredo. If parsley went extinct tomorrow, pretty much nobody would notice or care. However, in the Parsley Massacre, parsley was quite literally the most important thing in the world to some people, because their pronunciation of the word would determine whether they lived or died. The irony of this is what makes parsley such a good symbol, because it immediately stands out in the reader’s mind as something normally unimportant that the poem makes a big deal about.
In the poem “Parsley” by Rita Dove, I found it interesting how Rita Dove in the beginning of the poem showed General Trujillo’s terrorizing side, but then in the second part of the poem shows his vulnerability. I also felt as though General Trujillo was afraid of death and to get over the death of his mother he needed to kill others to balance out his fear. Near the end of “The Palace” the line “The knot in his throat starts to twitch; he sees his boots the first day in battle … I never thought it would sing the soldier said, and died” is General Trujillo reminiscing on his earlier career as a U.S. Marine before having control of the Dominican Republic. To add on to that, my interpretation was the Trujillo’s own soldier had died right before his eyes, either by getting shot by the enemy or shot for wrong doing. This shocked Trujillo and forever gave him traumatic memories of death. To refer back to the quote, the beginning states, “The knot in his throat starts to twitch” gave me the reason to believe that he was having a flashback to this horrible time. Usually when someone gets emotional and is holding back tears, their throat begins to feel uncomfortable due to one restraining themselves. In this Trujillo is trying not to show his vulnerable side to death because he is supposed to be one who is stern and put emotions aside. Lastly, to help him cope with this, Trujillo felt the need to be on the other side and be the one to kill, therefore he started the “Parsley Massacre”. To numb the pain of his mother and former soldier’s death he had to block out the bad by replacing it with something worse. In my opinion I felt as though he greatly believed in karma, which translated into him getting revenge on mankind because of the death of people in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I noticed while skimming over Parsley was that it was broken up into two separate poems. I am not sure if this is common, but we have not encountered a poem like this so far in our poetry unit. In the third stanza, there is a line that states "We cannot speak an R- out of the swamp, the cane appears". This might be a reference to when the General forced the Haitians to work in a field and could tell if they were Haitian by their pronunciation, for they could not pronounce the R. Overall the entire first poem seems like it is referencing the forced labor in the fields. The fifth stanza says the word perejil, which is just parsley in Spanish, and it says that those who say it live, which describes how the general forced the Haitians to attempt pronouncing it. the repeated references to a parrot imitating spring makes me think of screaming, as my uncle had a parrot and it seemed to love to be loud. Overall, the first poem creates a feeling of desperation and helplessness. The second poem explains why the general is doing what he is doing. It is out of grief for his dead mother. His blood lust is ingrained in the readers head throughout the use of harsh diction such as "a little knot of screams". Sweets are commonly associated with children, and innocence. The fact that he cannot stand the sight of sweets since his mother died almost represents his loss of innocence. He might have lost his innocence through exposure to violence, as it explains in the fourth stanza of the second poem, that he was once on the front lines. The fifth stanza describes him hearing the Haitians swing their "great machetes" which suggests that he faced them in a bloody conflict. This might explain his hatred and that now since he is in a position of power, he is being so aggressive in his attacks. He sees the Haitians as inferior when he references that "even a parrot can roll an R!". Overall, I think this poem is about the General losing his innocence in a violent and traumatic manner and finding a way to get revenge on those who did it to him.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the American Smooth poems, I was very interested by “Fox Trot Fridays” out of all the poems. In this poem, Dove uses several literary/poetic devices to create a musical, dancing feel to the poem. One example of this is in the third stanza. Dove wrote, “quick-quick with a/ heel-ball-toe. Smooth”. These words have rhythmic qualities that sound like dance shoes tapping a floor. Dove uses this to create a musical, rhythmic tone. Additionally, words used in this stanza are primarily one syllable words, which illustrates speed in the rhythm because the foxtrot is a fast dance. In the next stanza, alliteration is used to convey the elegance of dancing. The stanza says, “as Nat King Cole’s slow satin smile,”. The repeated s sound in this stanza creates a graceful tone. My first impression when I read this stanza is that Dove employed the alliteration to create a smooth rhythm to convey that dance is an elegant art. Additionally, the juxtaposition of the sharp diction of the previous stanza with the smooth s sound conveys the idea that even though dancing may be very rhythmic, it is also elegant and graceful. Furthermore, Dove uses repetition to create a melodic feel in the poem. In music, phrases are repeated often, and Dove employs anaphora to create this lyrical quality. In the fifth and sixth stanza, Dove wrote, “one day at a time: / one man and / one women,” . The repetition of the “one” at the beginning of the lines makes the poem sound like a song that people might be dancing to. This elicits a tone of calmness although dancing may not always be slow or peaceful. I believe this is used to show how dancing may be therapeutic or healing to some. This idea is illustrated in the following stanzas. Dove wrote, “rib to rib /with no heartbreak in sight- / just the sweep of Paradise/ and the space of a song”. In these lines, Dove produces a tone of serenity and peacefulness. It seems in these lines that Dove is communicating that dancing is taking the speakers mind away from something. This poem was very interesting in my opinion in the way it personified the qualities of dance.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the points that you made. The sound and rhythm of "Fox Trot Fridays" is similar to that of an upbeat dance. I thought Dove was trying to use the idea that the therapeutic nature of dancing to remind the reader of the importance of having an escape, which is conveyed in the first and second stanza. "Thank the stars there's a day/ each week to tuck in/ the grief, lift your pearls, and/stride brush stride." Tucking in grief and "lifting your pearls" is an obvious reference to forgetting your problems getting ready for a fun night of dancing. I think Dove personified dancing in a way that is relatable to most in order to emphasize the positive effects of simple pleasures. This makes sense when considering why she wrote "American Smooth" in the first place (she was in mourning over her lost house/poems). Like I said earlier, she wanted to remind readers of the importance of having an escape, even something as simple as dancing.
DeleteIn reply to Makynzi's post:
ReplyDeleteI also found the contrasting structures of the two sections of this poem very interesting. In "The Cane Fields," the repetitive nature of the villanelle form emphasizes the unending, cyclical horrors experienced by the Haitians under Trujillo; because this form could also be considered very restrictive in structure, it may also represent the oppression of the Haitains. This part of the poem uses only first-person plural pronouns, so the speaker may be a symbolic figure who represents the unified Haitians. In contrast, "The Palace" portrays Trujillo from a close-focus third-person perspective, which suggests to the reader that he acts as an individual -- unlike the Haitians, who are described collectively. The concept of Trujillo's autonomy is reinforced by the fact that this section of "Parsley" is written in free verse; on the other hand, the lack of structure may also represent Trujillo's unstable mental state. Overall, the two verse forms used in "Parsley" contribute significantly to the contrast in tone and perspective between its two sections.
In "Parsley," Rita Dove uses the motif of "the cane" to represent the psychological aspects and instability of Trujillo's regime through the repetition of several symbolic images. In "The Cane Fields," the phrase "Out of the swamp the cane appears" is repeated several times as part of the villanelle form; this image can be interpreted literally as that of the sugarcane harvested by the enslaved Haitians, but it also suggests a rod used for physical punishment (possibly one of the Haitians' most immediate fears). The "swamp" may represent the world of societal isolation and poverty in which the Haitians live and work -- this world is constantly disrupted by Trujillo's anti-Haitian cruelty, represented by the intrusion of the cane. Later, in "The Palace," Dove describes how Trujillo "planted her [his mother's] walking cane at the grave/ and it flowered, each spring stolidly forming/ four-star blossoms". The bizarre image of a "flowering" cane may refer to the successful rise of Trujillo as a dictator; the "four-star" blossoms suggest an idealized image of a four-star general who rises to power like a flower blooms toward the Sun. In addition, both sections of "Parsley" refer to the sugarcane as "lashed by rain and streaming", an image that appears in both the Haitians' dreams and in Trujillo's memory. In "The Cane Fields," this phrase follows a negative description of Trujillo ("He laughs, teeth shining out of the swamp"), so it may refer to the Haitians' desire to bring down Trujillo's regime -- hence, the destruction of the burdensome sugarcane crop by a storm, a just and convenient act of God. On the other hand, the image of Trujillo himself envisioning the "streaming" sugarcane could represent his fears of losing power. This idea is reinforced by the repeated mention of autumn and death, concepts that clearly signify the end of an era. The somewhat unnerving descriptions of Trujillo's mother's "skull-shaped candies for the Day of the Dead" and the parrot's pastries "dusted with sugar on a bed of lace" further suggest that the sugar derived from the slave-harvested sugarcane represents the power Trujillo has derived from murder. Thus, Dove uses the various images associated with the word "cane" to symbolize different effects and stages of Trujillo's rule during the Parsley Massacre of 1937.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this poem, something else that stood out to me were the parallel descriptions of "teeth gnawed to arrowheads" in "The Cane Field" and "The Palace." Other than the general "savagery" involved in massacres, what do you think this phrase means?
While going through the American Smooth packet, I was most interested in "American Smooth." "American Smooth," as stated in the first few lines, is about ballroom dancing (“We were dancing--it must have/been a foxtrot or a waltz”) and comes from the perspective of the female partner. The second thing I noticed was the repetition of using oxymorons to describe the dance. "Such perfect agony one learns to smile through, ecstatic mimicry being the sine que non of American Smooth." Sine que non is defined as something that is absolutely necessary. Ecstatic mimicry refers to the leader/follower style of the dancing being talked about. In other words, Dove describes the “perfect agony” of smiling through the mimicry of ballroom dancing as being essential for the dance itself. Since I interpreted ballroom dancing in this poem as a representation of the relationship between men and women, I thought Dove used oxymorons to show the contradictory nature of this relationship. In her poem, Dove depicts the stereotypical ‘follower’ role of women as “perfect agony,” which seems to mock the idea that women must follow in order to create harmony.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with all the points you made. I also never saw how many oxymorons there really were. The only ones I noticed were "perfect agony" of smiling and ecstatic mimicry. I think the woman is forgetting how many measures she has danced and who she is dancing with because of a long week or just a tough life in general. In a couple other poems, they described dancing as an escape from the negatives of each week. I also think that she is struggling to dance because of how tired she is, "I was distracted by the effort of keeping my frame" but no matter what, she continues to smile and enjoy herself despite the pain.
DeleteWhen reading through the American Smooth poems, one that stood out to me was the poem "Fox". I think this poem is a bout a woman who is very confident is how she is, but lacks attention or love from people around her. This poem illiterates how you can still love yourself, even if you are not loved by others. After it talks about how she loves what she has and that is enough for her, it says "...which was more/ than any man/ could handle", it shows how she doesn't need approval from man to feel good about herself and that she is so confident that she doesn't think a man would be able to take it. At first I couldn't think of why the poem would be named fox. I starting thinking that the woman might have similar traits to a fox or that the fox could be slang for the word "foxy", and the term foxy usually means that the woman is attractive or sexy, so this woman could think of herself as attractive, but she doesn't think any man could handle her beauty or confidence.
ReplyDeleteMiranda we are on the same page! I agree that the woman described in the poem is very confident, and knows what she's capable of. She clearly loves herself, but in my opinion almost seems too content. The poem says "she loves nothing more than what she had, which was enough for her." I wonder if deep down she appears this way, but may actually desire an experience of love with another person. Also, I was wondering if foxes tend to be independent. If they do than that could explain the title, or it could also mean "foxy," as you said!
Deletefound the poem, "American Smooth" to be rather intriguing. The poem takes the role of a female dancer, who is ballroom dancing to a type of jazz. The rhyme scheme of the poem is very much like ballroom dancing, where it varies from slow-slow-fast-fast to slow-fast-fast-slow in the pace that it is spoken. I found this to be what Dove was attempting to do with her rhyming. It begins the poem by describing the woman working as hard as she can to perfect her steps and her form as she dances. It states they danced in, "precise execution", further solidifying this idea. It then states that she dances in," such perfect agony". This statement is representative of the tireless effort that this woman puts in to further allow her dancing to be perfect. It is painful for her to do this but she must continue doing it to be seem normal in society. This is commentary by Rita Dove on the oppression of woman in society. Woman are constantly forced to live up to this standard of perfection. They always need to be graceful and womanlike with no faltering, for fear of being ostracized if they are not. Woman need to work tirelessly, as hard as they can, much like the dancer referred to in the poem, to simply be normal. The poem continues, as the woman works so hard she realizes that she forgets her partner's presence. This further emphasizes my point, as woman today can hardly focus on anything else other than living up to these standards that they become oblivious to the world. This is a truly terrible ideal that must be changed. Rita Dove comments on this issue in society today to bring it to attention in hope that something can be done to stop this atrocity.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, the first few times I read through Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays," I had no idea how to interpret it. Then, I remembered that the "Fox Trot," is a style of dance that is very smooth and progressive. In the third stanza, the "quick-quick," and "heel-ball-toe," describe the elements of the dance. Nat King Cole (mentioned in the fourth stanza) was a man known for his local jazz, swing and traditional pop. Dove used the elements of the dance to help the poem flow. It was also evident because of "one man and one woman, rib to rib," which describes how close two are when dancing like this. The first time I read through that line, I thought it had some biblical reference, however now I realize that rather than being a biblical reference, it's a reference to the dance. The title of the poem relates to the first line where it says "thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and brush strode quick-quick with a heel-ball-toe." The day when this occurs is obviously Friday, which is given away in the title. This poem describes the rhythm of the fox trot in order to make it more clear, and to show the reader how much people enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the poem presented rhythm that characterized the fox trot, thus presenting a feeling of jive and excitement in the reader so that the reader may share the same passion of dancing with the author. Going back to your comment concerning the "rib to rib" as a biblical reference, I would like to expand on that. I also interpreted this poem as a somewhat feminist advocation as well as a characterization of fox trot dancing. The next line after that exclaims, "with no heartbreak in sight-." This line is ironic because, in the bible, Eve essentially "betrayed" Adam and God, in which she defied God's orders and left Adam to follow her path and become enticed into ruin. In addition "lift your pearls" in the second stanza refers to retiring after a long work day and having the opportunity to be yourself. If the relationship between the man and woman were actually biblical, then there is evidence that the poem may tie in to feminism and remarks the rights of women to enjoy life and have fun after long hours of work like men.
DeleteIn Rita Dove's poem "Fox", she comments on how women in society need to wake up. This poem describes a woman who "knew what she was", although it is not described in the poem, it is hinted at. "There for the taking" implies either being single or a prostitute (not an impossibility, prostitution has always been present for as long as anyone can remember). "She imagined nothing" implies that the woman doesn't really think of what she could become, because she doesn't want any more than "what she had". Dove claims that women need to want more. The chains of societal expectations are "more than any man could handle". Men would not hold up well under expectations of being a second-class citizen. Yet this woman "loved what she was", a sign that perhaps some did not want to follow the obstreperous second-wave feminists of the 1970s, while maybe willing to associate themselves with more moderate viewpoints. The hyperbole "was capable of anything anyone could imagine" also illustrates how far dreams can stretch, which contradicts the next part where Dove says the woman imagines nothing. In this, Dove explores both sides of the ongoing issue, and points out that we need to be aware of what people think of themselves as opposed to what we think people should think of themselves. Generalizing about a group of people and saying that they all demand the same thing is, most of the time, inaccurate. Some people who we believe need to turn their lives around actually like what they are.
ReplyDeleteI have a slightly different interpretation of the poem, William. Although I can see how you thought this could be a wake up call to women, I interpreted it as a confident woman. The repetition of the word was indicates to me that she is very sure of who she is and what she can accomplish. Additionally, I didn’t feel the line, “for the taking” as prostitution, but as an idea of open mindedness. Lastly, I do like your explanation of the last few lines of the poem; I also feel that it is sort of a rebellion against the norms of society.
Deleteafter reading the packet, the poem that stood out to me the moist was "fox". this stood out to me beacuase when i was analyzing the poem i noticed that there was no imagery. the poem is split into two stanzes, each having ten lines. the first stanza is mostly focused around imagination as every sentence in that stanza ended with imagine. the second stanza seemed to focused around nothing ad the stanza repeated nothing the most. i also noticed that every sentence in the poem started with " she". this was interesting as it was emphasizing what "she" thought and what she could do. the second sentence in each stanze started with "she loved", which shows that the women who is the main focus of the poem is very confident and independent. this sentence makes me think that it was about a strong independent women who refused to let a man control her, which is evident in the last three lines being " which was more than any man could handle". closes analysis makes me wonder if this poem was meant to create the exact opposite feeling towards the women. when someone isnt confident about themself, they try to convince themself by repeating the good about her, which can be seen with the repetition of "what she was". i think Rita Dove wrote this poem about an insecure women who tried to make herself seem confident by repeating "what she was". anyone have similar thoughts?
ReplyDeleteMakynzi, I agree with your interpretation of this poem. To expand on the imagery with the way the stanzas were written, The Fox Trot is a dance that is characterized by long, continuous flowing motions. It is a big dance with a big band. When Dove wrote the poems in American Smooth, she related the poems to the way the dances where performed. So the big, long continuous stanzas flow with the way The Fox Trot dance is performed.
DeleteIn the poem "Fox Trot Fridays", I believe Rita Dove is trying to illustrate how dancing is the narrator's escape from their life. The title shows how this is going on on a Friday, and Friday's are normally the end of the work week. When I first read the poem, I interpreted "there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride" as taking off a necklace (hence the pearls) and going to bed after a long week of work. But after color marking, I noticed how it represents freeing yourself from the confines of society and the oppression of women, taking off the necklace symbolizes leaving stereotypical femininity behind and just being yourself. Rita Dove writes "one man and one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight". The no heartbreak in sight part is talking about how she can dance with any man and then go on to another man or go home without having to worry about maintaining a relationship. Also, the description of the Fox Trot as, "the sweep of Paradise" illustrates how it is a sort of release from hard work and letting the rhythm take you away.
ReplyDeleteMakynzi McGrawNovember 4, 2014 at 5:28 PM
ReplyDeleteafter reading the packet, the poem that stood out to me the moist was "fox". this stood out to me beacuase when i was analyzing the poem i noticed that there was no imagery. the poem is split into two stanzes, each having ten lines. the first stanza is mostly focused around imagination as every sentence in that stanza ended with imagine. the second stanza seemed to focused around nothing ad the stanza repeated nothing the most. i also noticed that every sentence in the poem started with " she". this was interesting as it was emphasizing what "she" thought and what she could do. the second sentence in each stanze started with "she loved", which shows that the women who is the main focus of the poem is very confident and independent. this sentence makes me think that it was about a strong independent women who refused to let a man control her, which is evident in the last three lines being " which was more than any man could handle". closes analysis makes me wonder if this poem was meant to create the exact opposite feeling towards the women. when someone isnt confident about themself, they try to convince themself by repeating the good about her, which can be seen with the repetition of "what she was". i think Rita Dove wrote this poem about an insecure women who tried to make herself seem confident by repeating "what she was". anyone have similar thoughts?
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Nate MannNovember 4, 2014 at 5:44 PM
In the poem "Fox Trot Fridays", I believe Rita Dove is trying to illustrate how dancing is the narrator's escape from their life. The title shows how this is going on on a Friday, and Friday's are normally the end of the work week. When I first read the poem, I interpreted "there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride" as taking off a necklace (hence the pearls) and going to bed after a long week of work. But after color marking, I noticed how it represents freeing yourself from the confines of society and the oppression of women, taking off the necklace symbolizes leaving stereotypical femininity behind and just being yourself. Rita Dove writes "one man and one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight". The no heartbreak in sight part is talking about how she can dance with any man and then go on to another man or go home without having to worry about maintaining a relationship. Also, the description of the Fox Trot as, "the sweep of Paradise" illustrates how it is a sort of release from hard work and letting the rhythm take you away.
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Miranda we are on the same page! I agree that the woman described in the poem is very confident, and knows what she's capable of. She clearly loves herself, but in my opinion almost seems too content. The poem says "she loves nothing more than what she had, which was enough for her." I wonder if deep down she appears this way, but may actually desire an experience of love with another person. Also, I was wondering if foxes tend to be independent. If they do than that could explain the title, or it could also mean "foxy," as you said!
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Jared EdbergNovember 4, 2014 at 4:48 PM
found the poem, "American Smooth" to be rather intriguing. The poem takes the role of a female dancer, who is ballroom dancing to a type of jazz. The rhyme scheme of the poem is very much like ballroom dancing, where it varies from slow-slow-fast-fast to slow-fast-fast-slow in the pace that it is spoken. I found this to be what Dove was attempting to do with her rhyming. It begins the poem by describing the woman working as hard as she can to perfect her steps and her form as she dances. It states they danced in, "precise execution", further solidifying this idea. It then states that she dances in," such perfect agony". This statement is representative of the tireless effort that this woman puts in to further allow her dancing to be perfect. It is painful for her to do this but she must continue doing it to be seem normal in society. This is commentary by Rita Dove on the oppression of woman in society. Woman are constantly forced to live up to this standard of perfection. They always need to be graceful and womanlike with no faltering, for fear of being ostracized if they are not. Woman need to work tirelessly, as hard as they can, much like the dancer referred to in the poem, to simply be normal. The poem continues, as the woman works so hard she realizes that she forgets her partner's presence. This further emphasizes my point, as woman today can hardly focus on anything else other than living up to these standards that they become oblivious to the world. This is a truly terrible ideal that must be changed. Rita Dove comments on this issue in society today to bring it to attention in hope that something can be done to stop this atrocity.
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Brooklyn KaslerNovember 4, 2014 at 4:53 PM
As usual, the first few times I read through Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays," I had no idea how to interpret it. Then, I remembered that the "Fox Trot," is a style of dance that is very smooth and progressive. In the third stanza, the "quick-quick," and "heel-ball-toe," describe the elements of the dance. Nat King Cole (mentioned in the fourth stanza) was a man known for his local jazz, swing and traditional pop. Dove used the elements of the dance to help the poem flow. It was also evident because of "one man and one woman, rib to rib," which describes how close two are when dancing like this. The first time I read through that line, I thought it had some biblical reference, however now I realize that rather than being a biblical reference, it's a reference to the dance. The title of the poem relates to the first line where it says "thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and brush strode quick-quick with a heel-ball-toe." The day when this occurs is obviously Friday, which is given away
a rhythm is established to help soothe and focus the thoughts of the one chanting. This seems fitting since this a book that will center on the life of a young man who is the son of a holy man in the Buddhist religion. In the first passage, it is written that, "In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank. . . , in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up. . .". This very long sentence, if being read out loud, would require the reader to control his/her breath in order for the melodic nature to be heard; this too is similar to meditation which is mentioned later in the paragraph. It is almost as the though the author/translator wants us to see that everything, nature, ritual, family life, and spiritual life in Siddhartha's world, has a set pace and rhythm. What also strikes me in this passage is how intertwined nature imagery is with the religious/spiritual diction as if to emphasize the religion's attitude toward cycles which can be found extensively in nature. The light and dark imagery present in the beginning with the shade and sun references leads to the "glow of the clear-thinking spirit" at then end reminding the reader that the goal of Buddhists is to find enlightenment and to become one with the universe. The first passage begins with one sentence (written partially above) that is passive. After that, the structure turns active, with the sun and shade as the subjects of the sentences. The last three sentence feature Siddhartha as the subject of the sentences which also contain active voice. With the exception of the initial passive sentence, the second passage follows this pattern as well. When looking at this pattern in the first passage, I thought this sentence structure to be purposeful. In a way it reflects how children live their lives having their lives controlled by others and having thing happen TO them. Upon reaching adulthood, people are finally able to take charge of their lives, actions and choices. This sets up the reader for Siddhartha's rebellion and stubbornness toward his father which occurs later in the chapter.
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Alisa TranSeptember 22, 2014 at 6:23 PM
At the end of the chapter Samsara, when Siddhartha leaves due to being unsatisfied with the life he was living, Kamala does not try to go after him. On page 85 it says, “She was not surprised when she learned that Siddhartha disappeared.” So why did Kamala let Siddhartha go? I find this passage interesting. Although she loved him very much, Kamala made no effort to make him come back even after she realized that she was with child. I think that she did not go after him because even when he was with her, she could tell he was looking for something more. She knew that Siddhartha was not fully happy with being with Kamala. Although he was rich, partied every night, had women around him all t
ime across Siddhartha’s eyes” (Awakening, pg. 39).
ReplyDeleteThe reason this particular passage stood out to me was because the diction and imagery the author employed created a lighthearted, pleasant tone. At this point, Siddhartha has left the Samanas and the reader sees and is able to conclude that the knowledge Siddhartha has been seeking all this time has always rested within him. He finds no adequacy in the teachings of other’s because he desires to learn from himself through personal experiences rather than learning from others. He is the only one who knows exactly what he is searching for and he finally realizes he can be enlightened through the process of self-realization. When he leaves the Buddha as well as his dear friend Govinda behind and embarks on this personal, spiritual journey without company, Siddhartha marvels at the natural world around him and the reader realizes he is beginning to revive his old, deadened senses, which were caused by years of aesthetic life. He takes in his surroundings as if he were a blind man who was just given sight. Beauty and meaning lingers in everything he sees and it is all new and flavorful to him. The author’s use of the words “blue,” “yellow,” and “green” cause the reader to imagine the vibrancy and positivity of these colors. The overall tone of this passage is light, breezy, fresh, and happy as Siddhartha has been awakened and is observing the world from behind a different, more enjoyable lens. The author combines natural scenery as imagery and color words in this passage so that when read, it feels like the reader is taking deep, cleansing breaths of fresh air along with Siddhartha. It puts the reader at ease and allows them to imagine and experience the scenery from the main character’s point of view. The “rebirth” of Siddhartha is also important dynamic characterization because it signals to the reader a change in the character’s insight, understanding, motivations, and values.
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Audrey LeongSeptember 29, 2014 at 9:56 PM
I had understood the use of the imagery, but you managed to take it one step further and delve down into a deeper understanding.
I think another part involving the colors, aside from the obviously bright and happy connotations, is what each color is associated with. The color blue is often related to birth (and is the color of boys’ baby blankets), which aids the idea of Siddhartha being reborn. Yellow is also occasionally guilty of producing a feeling of cheerfulness and sunshine, which lends to the vibrant feeling of the passage. Yellow is also connected to intelligence, possibly providing an image of him obtaining new knowledge of the world. Green is easily linked to nature, growth, and harmony. I believe that it helped show how Siddhartha matured or “grew” as a character and found a new form of peace with nature.
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Melanie HoSeptember 22, 2014 at 8:25 PM
At the end of the first paragraph in chapter five (Kamala), Hesse conveys foreshadowing by using animal imagery. He writes, " Siddhartha saw a group of apes moving through the high canopy of the forest, high in the branches, and heard their savage, greedy song. Siddhartha saw a male sheep following a female one and mating with her." (Hesse 44). The use of animal imagery enables the reader to visualize the scene and hints about Siddhartha’s future. This scene foreshadows Siddhartha's life due to the fact that he meets Kamaswami, who is greedy, and is represented by the ape
na.
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Eric NguyOctober 14, 2014 at 11:54 PM
"I knew it. You never force him, never beat him, never order him, because you know that soft is stronger than hard, water stronger than rock, love stronger than love... Do you not bind him in bonds with your love?" (Hesse 105)
In this passage, Siddhartha is being told by Vasudeva that he potentially loves his son too much and that Siddhartha may push him away if he tries to contain his son. In this moment, Siddhartha is put in a similar position as he put his father in at the beginning of the book. A choice of allowing his son to go where he pleases or contain him where Siddhartha can watch over him at all times.Siddhartha ultimately allows his son to live his life in the modern world of the city as he believes that whatever mistakes his son makes are his own choices. Siddhartha believes that to reach an awakened or enlightened stage, one must experience suffering first and Siddhartha is allowing his son to do this. This is important because it parallels to Siddhartha's own father early on and he takes similar actions. Without his father inadvertently influencing his decision, Siddhartha may have simply attempted to coddle and protect his son his whole life.
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Saul FarfanOctober 15, 2014 at 9:57 PM
It never came through my mind that Siddhartha would ever try to kill himself, I honestly believe that no one ever actually did think that Siddhartha would want to kill himself. At the beginning of the book, Siddhartha is referred as brilliant, amazing, he was even compared to a god, and through out his journey, he goes through rough things but never did I believe that he would want to get rid of himself. When I read the quote from the chapter, By The River, the quote "Siddhartha leaned his shoulder against it, laid his arm over the trunk, and gazed down into the green water that flowed endlessly by, gazed down and found himself wholly and completely filled with the desire to be rid of himself and sink beneath this water." After reading this quote it really shocked me. It also helped me realize that no one just because their life's seem awesome, amazing, and wonderful, it doesn't mean that they will have or be that forever. This book really made me realize that everything isn't what it seems.
In American Smooth I found the poem "Fox" to be pretty interesting. I think it's the first poem by Dove that I've read that seems to have a relatively obvious meaning. It seems to be about a young women who is beautiful and confident, and happy with her life. However something I found interesting about this poem was the structure. It's a fairly short poem, but it's interesting how Dove put so few words in each line. I think the purpose of this could be to give the reader an image of thinness. This supports the idea that the girl in the poem is pretty, as we generally relate thin to a trait of attractiveness. It could also go along with the title of the fox, which I picture as sly and sort of scraggy. Another interesting part of this poem is the sarcastic tone, specifically at the end of the first stanza. I think Dove uses this tone to support the fact that the young woman in the poem is more independent or confident. She's sassy, or foxy, which is also related to the title.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation. I noticed that the lines were short as well and connected this to emphasize her thinness and beauty.I did not connect it to a specific dance but just that she believes in herself and is confident in how she is and does not care to change. I connected the title to an animal that is tough and takes care of itself and is not dependent on others. An example of her wanting to stay independent is the last three lines, "which was more that any man could handle." She knows that she can take care of herself and does not need or want anyone to do everything for her. I did not recognize the sarcastic tone in the poem when I originally read the poem but I do see where that is relevant and significant to her self-confidence. I also agree that this poem has a straight forward interpretation and was easier to understand than some of Rita Dove's other works.
DeleteThroughout "Fox Trot Fridays," I felt that the poem advocated dancing as a form of escape for women. First of all, I noticed plenty of assonance embedded throughout this poem, especially with the lines "Thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in." The long "a" sounds and long "e" sounds symbolize how the author's routines are boring, long, and monotonous. This contrasts with the short assonance sounds and repetition of words in the poem such as "quick-quick...one man and one woman...rib to rib.". The short assonance and word repetitions throughout this poem reminded me of the effervescent and flowing yet quick steps of the fox trot, symbolizing the author's glee when dance time comes after a long week. There was also alliteration in the line, " slow satin smile." I felt that the author implemented diction through the word "satin" to imply that she does not have the same personality she has at work than she does on the dance floor, with the alliteration adding a sinister "s" sound to attach a deceptive feeling to the author's behavior, thus symbolizing her contrast from outside work to dancing. The stanzas are each only two lines long compared to Dove's other works which comprised of several lines per stanza, characterizing the quick and precise nature of the fox trot, and also characterizing the author's cheery gleaming attitude while dancing. The occasional spondaic meter such as "quick-quick" and "heel-ball-toe" produces a tone of glee and excitement, which is exactly what the author feels when dancing as an escape from the boring life experienced in stanza one.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" I noticed Dove's use of s sounds. The repeated s sounds made me think of a noise a dress makes when it moves. The sharp st sounds at the beginning of the poem sound like the clicks of heels and men's dress shoes. This would go along with Corvyn's hypothesis that the poem is about female liberation due to the references of pearls and satin later in the poem which are objects typically connected to women. I also noticed the capitalization of the word paradise in the second to last stanza. I immediately thought this could be referencing the name of a popular night club or dance hall, but as I read the poem again I thought there could be a possible connection to the bible's garden of Eden which is also referred to as a paradise. Looking back up the page to stanza six the line "one man and one woman" is a connection to Adam and Eve. In stanza seven Dove also talks about the couple being "rib to rib" while this is a typical position in couples dancing in the bible God created Eve from one of Adam's ribs. In conclusion, Dove's poem "Fox Trot Fridays" takes one of the world's oldest stories and makes it relevant to today's society.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very interestig perspective. I had not originally thought of that when I first read this poem. I saw it as a poem describing the beauty of dance and the escape it provides from the real world. I can see where you are coming from with this analysis, though. I think it is very interestig to see how many sides there are when it comes to interpreting this poem. But after reading your analysis I agree that Dove has been able to cleverly include one of the oldest stories of all time into a relatable form.
DeleteI found "Fox Trot Fridays" do be a fascinating poem about the implications of the faced-paced lifestyle of modern society. Poem structure, hints of alliteration, assonance, and enjambment provide the poem with quick instances of action. For poem structure, each stanza has only two lines, not counting the final line, which seems to represent the enjambment very well in this instance, such as "Thanks the stars there's a day each week to tuck in....the grief" which spaces the line with a separate stanza in order create a different meaning with the use of tuck in, and grief being separated to create one meaning of tucking which could be used to relax and smooth out, but when added with grief, it seems to represent the hiding of a depressing emotion instead of relieving stress. A noticeable use of alliteration would be on line eight where it mentions "slow satin smile", with the premise of the smile being made of satin, a silk material used for formal dresses, which is associated with the premise of the overall poem. Describing a smile as slow makes me wonder if it meant the action of the smile or the way satin is fabricated, having a glossy luster associated with the juxtaposition of the smile. For assonance, I found that sound of the poem contained many "a", "i", and "e" sounds which could represent the excitement of the fox trot, the movement of the dancing, and the sharp sound it makes convey a tone of quickness and precision to the effect of a temporary ailment of emotional sadness.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation of "Fox Trot Fridays" and the mention of the alliteration of slow satin smile makes me wonder though. In a fast paced life, what slows it down? I understand that relaxing "each week to tuck in" is a way to slow down life but is there Kore than just that day? I feel like the alliteration of "slow satin smile" says that life is smooth and slow when you're enjoying life and smiling. But I would like to open that question, is there anything in this poem that hints to making life go by slower?
DeleteI also noticed that the poem was spaced in stanzas with no more than two lines - it reminded me of the way there are two slow steps, then a sidestep followed with a quick closing step in a fox trot. I think that overall, as I read the poem, it seemed to move slower and slower, which also correlated with the diction in each line. For example, it beings with "Thank the stars there's a day each week to tuck in..." which a reader would need to read all at once, but near the end the "one man and one woman," stanza can be easily taken apart and read aloud slowly. It shows that the persona in this poem is at being captured by the rhythm of the dance, falling into a more comfortable pace as they sink into the dance.
DeleteGoing off both of Josiah and Flloyd's comments, I think that this poem tries to capture both the fast-paced life of modern society and the idea that people need to slow down and enjoy life as it passes. The lines "... stride brush stride / quick-quick with a / heel-ball-toe. Smooth / as Nat King Cole's..." create a fast paced rhythm for the poem because of all the one syllable words and repetition. These lines also have a lot of consonants with short, hard sounds that are reminiscent of the short, fast steps in the fox trot dance. On the other hand, there are other lines juxtaposed with these that have more of a smoother and slower rhythm. Lines like "slow satin smile" and "just the sweep of Paradise / and the space of a song" slow down the pace of the poem to convey the theme of slowing down one's life and taking everything in. These lines are full of "s" sounds which creates a soothing tone that represents the relaxation one is rewarded with when he or she takes the time to enjoy things in the moment.
DeleteI found the poem “Parsley” to be interesting because of how it humanizes the dictator portrayed in it. Before I read the poem, I read about the Parsley Massacre and about the dictator, Rafael Trujillo, on Wikipedia. After learning about the genocide of Haitians carried out by Trujillo, I definitely did not go into the poem with a positive view of Trujillo. However, the poem paints Trujillo in an almost sympathetic light. At first, the refrain of “a parrot imitating spring” confused me. However, the poem then tells the reader that Trujillo’s mother is dead, and that it has had a significant impact on Trujillo, even making him dislike sweets, as evidenced in the poem: “Ever since the morning his mother collapsed in the kitchen… the General has hated sweets.” Dove then writes, “The knot in his throat starts to twitch;” illustrating the sadness Trujillo is enveloped in due to his mother’s death. Once I began to see Trujillo as a brutally depressed man as opposed to just a brutally violent man, the refrain began to make sense. The “parrot” is Trujillo, and “imitating spring” refers to the façade Trujillo puts on to hide his sadness. A parrot is an animal famous for its ability to mimic, and Trujillo is parroting the dictator he thinks he should be: brutal and violent. Dove uses metaphors and symbolism to help paint Trujillo as a more sympathetic character than history texts make him out to be.
ReplyDeleteAs I read "Ta Ta Cha Cha," I noticed the repetition of long and short "o" sounds. Dove interchanges between short and long sounds throughout the poem, using words such as "moon" contrasted against "cold," "bold" with "shoe," or "afternoon," "vagabond," and "buffoon." Just like the first line of the poem, the alternating sounds seem to represent confusion and indecision. When I read the poem multiple times, I almost had to pause before saying a word with "o" in it because I started to mix the two sounds together. Just like the first line of the poem, where Dove writes "One, two--no, five doves scatter before a wingtip's distracted tread," imagery present in the poem, such as the "distracted tread," "It's Venice, I'm American," as well as "scavenger" and "vagabond," as well as the repetition of the word "lost," show a general feeling of openness combined with vulnerability, as if the persona has been exposed to an entirely new world. Similarly, since the assonance is present throughout, it almost gives a scattered feeling, which further illustrates a feeling of a wanderer, unsure where to step next. However, in a Cha Cha dance, each step is carefully planned, and footwork must be exact. I think that Rita Dove uses this dance in the title of the poem to show that while one might seem to be extremely organized and know what the future holds, there will always be constant interruptions of the “dance” with feelings of uncertainty and doubt.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your interpretation and it was very well thought out. Something else I noticed in the poem "Ta Ta Cha Cha", was Dove's use of bird oriented imagery and diction throughout the poem. The language used in her poem focused around words such as "wingspan" and "pluck", along with various parts of imagery about "doves". Rita Dove used the allusion of birds to convey the peacefulness within the dance as well as personally relate it to herself. Since "Dove" is a part of her name she could possibly be using the symbol of the dove to represent herself in the poem. The doves are always on the outside oblivious to the narrator's stream of consciousness about dance, representing Dove during the time that she had just initially began involving herself in ballroom dancing.
DeleteIn American Smooth, there wasn't just one than caught my eye. The two that caught my eye were "Fox Trot Fridays" and "Fox". It made me wonder, why are there two poems mentioning fox? Now I know fox trot is a type of dance but I still can't pass the fact that they have the same word in their title. So seperating these first, "Fox Trot Fridays" seems to be self explanatory. But I feel like it's also a comment on divorce. I feel like she's trying to say that marriage is something you should fall back to and gives you a rush. "Thank the stars there's a day / each week to tuck in". This seems like out of all men, there is one that you can go to for security. And her marriage comment comes when she says "one man and / one woman, / rib to rib, / with no heartbreak in sight". A man and a woman should be close and not break each others heart. Now, "Fox" I think says that women should love themselves for who they are. This seems more of a commentary on the growing belief of starving yourself to be good looking. And that they thought they couldn't so much since they were so put down as weak. "She knew what / she was and so / was capable". Dove seems to tell them that they should believe in themselves for they know their strengths and weaknesses. So I think the connection is that their husband should love the woman more than the woman loves themselves because the husband doesn't know what the woman is thinking
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the multitude of poems referring to foxes. The fox seems to be symbolic of something to Dove, and that something is women. “Fox Trot Fridays”, as you said, talks about marriage and how it provides a quiet haven from the hectic world outside. “Fox” talks about a woman who is universally admired and desired for being nothing more than herself. Both of these poems also could describe the fox. The fox, at its core, is a private creature, one happier curled up in its den than interacting with other creatures, much like the woman in “Fox Trot Fridays” who wants to spend her Friday night “rib to rib” with her husband. However, people respect the fox, reclusive as it is, because it is unabashedly a fox. Nothing else is a fox, and the fox doesn’t pretend to be something else. Just looking at those poems, I’m pretty convinced that the fox represents women in these poems, although I could definitely be wrong.
DeleteOut of all the "American Smooth" poems, "Fox" stood out to me the most because of its structure and its meaning. The poem describes a girl who is confident, strong, and independent. The independence particularly stuck out, since this contrasts with many of the other subjects Rita Dove uses for her poems. Dove uses a lot of anaphora in this poem, starting every sentence with a subject-verb beginning: "She knew," "She loved," "She imagined," and "She loved" again. This suggests that confidence and independence does not require complexity like most people are led to believe. It's common to assume that a person who is confident is a person that is hard to know and relate to. However, Dove challenges this assumption by using anaphora to create a simplistic tone to emphasize the surprising simplicity of confidence and independence. Another effect of the anaphora I noticed was that it introduced an interesting juxtaposition of themes between the two stanzas. In the first stanza, Dove creates a theme of limitlessness and infinity by repeating the word "imagine." She supports this theme by inserting the words "anything" and "anyone" which are emphasized by the consonance of the "n" sound. On the other hand, the second stanza carries an opposing theme of nothingness and finality. This theme is supported by the repetition of the word "nothing" and less enjambment. I think Dove incorporated the juxtaposition of these polarizing themes to illustrate how the idea of independence has no boundaries but also how obtaining independence creates an irrefutable sense of self. Also, if you turn the poem on its side, it looks like mountains which could represent the obstacles that stand in the path to confidence and independence. Dove shows these obstacles in an indiscrete manner because when people see a person with confidence, they often overlook the struggles that that person had to overcome to get to where they are now.
ReplyDeleteThe poem that I enjoyed out of American Smooth is "Fox." I enjoyed this poem because it is about a woman who is comfortable in her own skin and does not want to change or have to depend on anyone other than herself. I noticed the repetition of "she" throughout the poem. I thought that the significance of this was to represent her self-confidence and enjoying the life that she was given and not wanting it to change. I connected the last three lines of the second stanza, "which was more than any man could handle," to the title. I did this by imagining a fox as an independent animal that is confident on its own and is not looking for someone to look after them, which is similar to her believing that there is no man that can take care of her better than herself. I saw the repetition of her saying she had enough in her life to mean that her life is in no need of a change.
ReplyDeleteI also found "Fox" very interesting, mostly because it shows two contrasting sides of a woman's identity. The anaphora emphasizes the idea that the woman described in this poem is a universal figure, possibly an idealized hero. The first stanza describes the role that the subject is expected to fulfill; she is described as "there for the taking," destined to belong to a man. However, the repetition of the word "imagine" in "she...was capable of anything anyone could imagine" and "there for the taking, imagine" suggests that the subject is refusing to accept a role in which she is intended to see herself. The second stanza begins with "She imagined nothing"; the division between the stanzas conveys a sense of decisiveness, a turning point, a change of heart. The subject, who "loved nothing more than what she had," may have refused the advances of a wealthy suitor in favor of pursuing her own goals and independence, regardless of the advantages she might lose. At the very end of the poem, Dove describes the subject as possessing something that "was more than any man could handle" -- this phrase resembles the first sentence of the poem. In fact, the entire structure of "Fox" is mirrored (each stanza contains similar ideas, the second in reverse order), creating a story of a woman's confidence lost and regained.
DeleteThe poem that was very interesting to me "Ta Ta Cha Cha". As many others have already stated, the American Smooth series of poems are about dances. I found online, and was able to listen to, Rita Dove reading the poem "Ta Ta Cha Cha". Rita Dove used lyricism, which comes from her musical background. She uses movement and rhythm in her poems that contributes to her background as a competitive ballroom dancer. The stanzaic structures are well crafted to reflect the poems' moods. The poem starts out "One, two-..." This is what is in the head of every dancer while doing the Cha Cha, "one, two, cha cha cha". Upon doing some research about this poem, I discovered that there is a dance that was created, and ironically named the same as the title of the poem, called the "Ta Ta Cha Cha". It is to remind people of a system that was created 20 years ago called Buddy Check. The idea of Buddy Check is to a buddy system that help remind women to get checked for early detection of breast cancer. So then I reread the poem and found a lot of similarities relating to breast cancer. In the fist stanza of the poem, it talks about "five doves". Doves symbolize love and peace, which reminds me of death. In the first line of the next stanza, "Who, you?" is italicized. The Buddy System's slogan is "Who's your buddy?" This could be a direct relation to that question. Also when reading the line "the nearest scavenger skips three times to the side, bobs to pluck his crackerjack prize." To me, this sounded like someone that just got some good news at the doctor's office. The poem also talks about "early warning code" and "buffoon messenger", this sounded, to me, that it could be referring to a doctor delivering news. Does anyone agree or does anyone else have another interpretation of this poem?
ReplyDeleteRita Dove’s poem “Quick” stood out to me among this grouping of poems because the similarities of its content to the hit Norwegian comedy song “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by Ylvis. Dove uses imagery to convey a sense of wonder about the mystic elusiveness of the fox, much as Ylvis do in their hit song. Dove writes, “waving its flamboyant afterthought, she disappears: red swish or gray, too quick to tell,” evoking a feeling of intrigue and curiosity. The fox is renowned for its ability to disappear in an instant, like the ghost of the forest (if Bigfoot is taken out of the picture, of course). Dove taps into this vein of intrigue with her poem, much as Ylvis do in their song. The hook of the song—“What does the fox say?!”—is a humorous question, but also a valid one, because the sound a fox makes is not common knowledge. Humans make onomatopoeias for common animal sounds, like “woof” or “oink” or “meow” or “ooo ooo ah ah”. There is no such onomatopoeia for the sound a fox makes. Ylvis make almost the exact same point in the song’s bridge that Dove does in “Quick” by singing, “The secret of the fox, ancient mystery. Somewhere deep in the woods, I know you’re hiding.” These two lines also make the reader feel even more enchanted with the myth of the fox than they already were. In both poems, the authors use imagery to convey the quiet mysticism of the fox, nature’s most elusive predator.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Nolan, and find your interpretation quite humorous. I do wish to add some further meaning to the fox symbol that is in the poem. The fox is symbolic of the American dream for the lower class. Like the fox it is attractive to these people and is something they want (to know more about). Unfortunately, also like the fox it is elusive to these people. The American dream is almost unattainable for those who are in the lower class and simply provides hope for the unreachable which further places them into mediocrity. Dove is trying to comment on this problem, in hope that it can be resolved in America society today as it is a very serious and important issue.
DeleteWhile reading your response I found this very humorous considering that I had no idea what the poem meant. At first glance I thought that your interpretation was going to be just a funny way of looking at it but it actually helped me understand the poem on a better level. Before reading your entry I would have never looked at that song in the way that I do now. I really liked your connection of something modern to Rita Dove’s poetry and what it metaphorically symbolized. I now will always think of IB English blog posts if I ever were to hear “What Does the Fox Say”, which I hope isn’t soon.
DeleteAmong the poems in this selection, I found "American Smooth" most interesting because of its vivid literal imagery, lyricism, and hints of metaphorical meaning. In "American Smooth," Rita Dove provides detailed first-person descriptions of the experience of ballroom dance; for example, the speaker's pose includes "the leftward lean, head turned just enough to gaze out past your ear and always smiling, smiling". This image, combined with the description of a technique as "such perfect agony one learns to smile through," suggests that Dove has used the emotional aspects of dance as part of a metaphor for her life or a universal "woman's life," especially because this poem focuses on the delicate relationship between the dance partners. Throughout the poem, Dove depicts how the speaker's mood changes as the dance is executed. The false smiles and stiff posture described in the quote above suggest that the speaker, "distracted by the effort of keeping my frame", is somewhat uncomfortable with her partner, straining to complete each step -- this could represent the oppressive roles and expectations involved in a romantic relationship. In contrast, near the end of the poem, Dove describes the completed dance as "flight, that swift and serene magnificence", implying that the speaker has found some fulfillment in her life and is temporarily satisfied. Interestingly, Dove prefaces this positive description with "I didn't notice how still you'd become until we had done it" -- the speaker appears to care much more about the dance than her partner. Finally, Dove finishes the metaphor with a bittersweet reminder that the female speaker cannot escape her role in society: "the earth remembered who we were and brought us down." Overall, the complex dance depicted in "American Smooth" can be interpreted as a representation of the joys and difficulties experienced by women as they explore both relationships and their independence.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question: why do you think this poem is the title poem of the collection? Why is it called "American Smooth"? It seems symbolic. Does it represent the "smoothing over" of problems in American life?
I find your interpretation to be very thorough and well thought out! As for the title "American Smooth" I found it to be more of an absence of problems while dancing instead of a smoothing over. When they leave, the problems may resurface, but for that moment in the dance, they are gone, everything is smooth.
DeleteWhen reading American smooth, the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" stood out to me. I noticed that this poem has a sing song sort of pattern to it through use of lines such as "heel ball toe" and "stride brush stride". This creates a light hearted tone and gives the impression of there being music. I also noticed how Dove describes Fridays as "a day each week to tuck in the grief". This portrays Fridays as a day of relaxation and escape from the troubles of the world. I also noticed the line "rib to rib with no heartbreak in sight". This again shows that dance was a way to escape to the real world and was something happy without any struggles or pain. She also describes it as a "sweep of Paradise" again showing the importance and happiness associated with dance. Overall the placement and choice of words in this poem create a sense of rhythm which mimics the feeling and rhythm experienced when dancing which I found very clever and interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe poem that stood out to me the most from the group in American Smooth was The Fox. Normally, Rita Dove doesn't iterate as to what perspective the poem is from, but in this poem from the uses of she, her, etc, for description, it is clear that it is a woman. So often, female protagonists are portrayed as weak or reliant, so when this poem flat out stated, "which was more than any man could handle" I found myself intrigued. The symbol of a fox is often seen as cunning, cunningness a form of intelligence. Often seen in the stereotyping of women, they are seen as the lesser in many things, intelligence sometimes one of them. By relating the woman to a fox, Rita Dove pushes aside this mold. Another thing I found interesting, was the similarities between the titles of Fox Trot Fridays, and The Fox. I found this to be possibly because of how a dance such as in The Fox Trot, a woman will often lead, this is related in the female protagonist in The Fox. Since all the poems related to dancing somehow, I would be interested to hear how you interpret this poem related to dance.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Katie's post I was interested in researching Rita Dove's collection, American Smooth. From researching, it was fascinating to discover what the significance of this type of dance is. American Smooth is a type of dance where partners are not required to have physical contact and are allowed to release from each other and dance simultaneously. This is significant because this allows both of the partners to be independent throughout the dance all while working together to create the beauty of it. Understanding this aspect of Dove's poems gave me a new perspective on her poem, "American Smooth". From the beginning the narrator has a faint recollection of certain details about the dance as she says, "We were dancing--it must have been a foxtrot or a waltz, something romantic but requiring restraint...precise execution...". The lack of memory about the specifics of the dance and more on the execution of it, suggests the narrator was focused solely on herself and creates a tone of independence in the poem. Later it states, "...I was distracted by the effort of keeping my frame...I didn't notice how still you'd become...". Not only does the narrator pay little attention to the partner but it also elicits the reader to do the same and creates the effect that the narrator is almost dancing alone. However, the created selfishness surrounding the narrator further displays the theme and message of the poem. Dove purposely used this poem as the basis for her collection to portray her overall message of the importance of being independent and focusing on yourself, and at the same time, cooperative and reliant on your partner, during each movement to produce the "magnificence" of the dance.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem "The House Slave" very interesting. I noticed the use of imagery was very prominent in this poem. The line "the first horn lifts its arm over the dew-lit grass" is an example of this. It also uses personification of the horn. This line creates a sense of importance as if soemthing big is about to happen. It is almost comparable to the opening scene in a movie which usually involves sole sort of dramatic music. The use of similes also helps add to the meaning and impact of the poem. One simile is found where Dove compares the mistresses to ivory toothpicks. To me, this portrays the women as slender and elegant even when sleeping, but yet there's soemthing dangerous and bad about them since toothpicks are sharp. When I got to the end of this poem and read the line "I weep. It is not yet daylight", I realized that this is in fact a slave havig a nightmare about the average day of a slave. He or she weeps, most likely in relief, at realizing that it is not yet time to undergo those hardships once again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation and the use of imagery and other forms of figurative language to accent the future events, and found your interpretation of an ivory toothpick very interesting. I personally found ivory to be a reflection of status. Also though toothpicks may be sharp to lesser objects, they are also easily broken. Could this possibly relate to a revolution?
DeleteI found "Belinda's Petition" to be criticizing of America's liberation of white males versus its oppression on blacks via slavery. Throughout the poem, Rita Dove's style presents an irony to contemporary popular thought, in which black slaves were deemed as ignorant and needed a dependent paternalistic relationship with their masters. The first two lines present the poem as a formal document addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives, implying that the slave in question (Belinda) is educated and literate. Initil letters of words that imply and identify Belinda's oppression are capitalized for emphasis, such as "Slave," "Condition," and "Binds of Tyranny.". The tone of these words illustrates Belinda's tendency to plead and beg, thereby drawing sympathy to the reader. I also found the references to American Independence to be highly sarcastic and mocking, demonstrating Belinda's great intellect, contrasting with the expectations of blacks from society. The last four lines give Belinda's reasons for being " ignorant." The "Men with Faces like the Moon" were white slave owners who appeared nice at first bit turned rogue and forced her into slavery, when all was most serene and peaceful. I found the alliteration in line 6 to epitimize this groveling tone, as the sound of "p" reminds me of "please," which I would use if I were begging for mercy. I have one question. The time stamp on the top right reads "Boston, February, 1782." The poem references the Senate and House (divided legislature) when the provision to do so didn't occur until the formation of the Constitution in 1787. Does this have any particular significance? Is it foreshadowing division, which draws parallels to when the South separates from the North during the Civil War?
ReplyDeleteCorvyn, I found your interpretation of “Belinda’s Petition” very interesting. I completely agree with your idea that the poem contained a lot of sarcasm; many of the lines of poem seem to be very mocking. I do disagree with your interpretation of the capitalization of certain words. My impression was that they contribute to the sarcastic tone by adding emphasis to certain words. Additionally, I like your interpretation of the alliteration in the sixth line. I also felt that it elicited a pleading tone that draws sympathy from the reader. I completely had not noticed the significance of the date on the poem before your comment. I’m not sure if this date has some importance or if it is just a mistake.
DeleteThe poem David Walker juxtaposes the reality of slave life with the expectations whites have come to have of blacks. The first line, "Free to travel, he still couldn't be shown just how lucky he was" shows how paternalist attitudes of slave owners dominated Southern culture. They thought they were benefiting blacks, when they were really only benefiting themselves. The next line, "They strip and beat and drag us about like rattlesnakes", shows us the reality of what happened, in comparison to what whites thought of slave life. The slave worked "all day at the counter", while people perceive him as someone who is having a good life and is "full" to the point of barely being able to move. Abolitionist pamphlets read "Men of colour, who are also of sense", but the idea from the white perspective produces "outrage" because no one imagines such an idea. Blacks are perceived as inferior, as the "most wretched". Whites believed they were happy doing simple things like cleaning boots and shoes. The abolitionist press of course continues to print, which does not change the attitude of whites. They believe humanity should not consist of protect these "devils", these "most wretched" people. The slave continues the work at the counter, unable to go north, only able to look at the compasses "pointing north", towards freedom.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem "Fox Trot Fridays" more interesting than the rest of the poems we could choose from. Rita Dove's structure of the poem, the quick stops and the meter seemed to mimic the pattern of movement that occurs during the foxtrot. Some other people seemed to have completely different interpretations, such as sex, and some can agree with me when I think this poem was exclusively about the dance and why she likes it. The entire poem creates an image of the dance in the reader's mind. I didn't remember at first, but the part where she talks about the dancing helps alleviate her grief makes more sense after Ballard reminded me that she wrote this to cope with her house burning down and her losing a lot of poems. Ballard explained that she delved deeply into ballroom dancing after the fire and dedicated a series of poems to it. Overall, the diction and imagery creates a clear feeling of an intimate dance that has quick movements.
ReplyDeleteThe poem, "The Abduction" from Rita Dove's "slavery" instantly grabbed my attention from all the others. What intrigued me about it was almost the thin line between dream and reality. The scene is set with the line, "The citizenry of Washington clotted the avenue." I found 'clotted' to be a very interesting word to be used to describe a crowd. Instead of just thinking about a claustrophobic places my mind instantly went to herding, almost like the leading of sheep to slaughter. Only a few verses later comes the starting line of the next section, "Why should I have doubted them?" This instantly brings a pessimistic tone or feeling to the reader, a preparation for more foreshadowing. The assonance of "flap" and "hat" has close to a childish sound. A sense of naivety is shown in the main character of this past tense narration. When his or her friends do, "a jig on a tightrope" and the, "pigs squealed invisibly" it's a warning call that they chose not to hear. Innocence is bliss, but it can only last so long. From the description of. "Then the wine, like a pink lake, tipped." it can be scene that the illusion is broken, that the wine's affect has worn off and the main character then finds themselves with the cold realization, "I woke and found myself alone in the darkness and in chains."
ReplyDeleteI agree that "The Abduction" involved a juxtaposition between dreaming and reality. The poem derives its meaning from the story of Solomon Northrup who, if you've watched "Twelve Years a Slave" (SPOILER ALERT) was a free black man living in the antebellum North who was deceived and abducted into being traded as a slave. As a result, this poem comments on Northrup's incredulity and naive mindset, implementing romanticism rather than realism. I find your interpretation about the crowd being like death row to sheep very interesting, fitting with your interpretation. I also agree that the jig on the tightrope and pig's sqealing demonstrate that the blacks refuse to listen to reason, which leads to their downfall. I felt that the sky swiveling in line 12 represents the world falling back into its usual place, and the wine tipping over is the transition from dream-like pleasures to reality. I also noticed from both the movie and the poem that Northrup held a violin. The violin is, in my opinion, the instrument that can play the saddest tones, which may also foreshadow the tragedy about to occur for Northrup.
DeleteBefore reading Dove's poem "David Walker," I decided to do some research. David Walker was an abolitionist, or one who favored the abolition of slavery. He is known for his appeal, which was a very controversial anti-slavery document. David Walker's appeal caught Dove's attention because he was willing to show his outrage, and he had no intent of doing it in a polite way. The first line of the poem "free to travel, he still couldn't be shown how lucky he was," is a reference to how David was a free black man who could travel around the United States as he pleased. His journeys are what made him see how the country needed to change, and stop being racist. The poem has a similar intent as his appeal, because it was meant to give blacks hope that equality would some day exist. After the appeal was published, it quickly spread through out the south in just a few months. This relates to the beginning to the second stanza where it says, "On the faith of an eye-wink, pamphlets were stuffed into trouser pockets." It describes the huge impact and controversy that David Walker had. Then, in the next stanzas, the poem continues to expand on the impact of the work by discussing how several editions of his work were published. Shortly after the third edition was published, David died at the young age of 33. Dove references his death at the end of the poem; "A month— his person (is that all?) found face down in the doorway of Brattle Street, his frame slighter than friends remembered." I believe that the lines in italics are taken directly from the multiple editions of his work. The overall purpose of this poem is to tell the story of David Walker, and to emphasize how different he was compared to other people who fought for equality. Once again, Dove thought very highly of this man because of how he openly showed his passion and his raw emotion about slavery.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your analysis on Dove's poem, "David Walker". The story of David Walker and his actions towards abolishing slavery made a huge difference to African Americans at that time and Dove rightfully portrayed his contributions through her poem. Another aspect of the poem I noticed, that further emphasized the raw emotion felt by not only David Walker but all African Americans toward slavery, was the use of sarcasm throughout in the poem. Dove first uses sarcasm when she writes, "We are the most wretched, degraded and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began." This point of view about African Americans is obviously from a white man's perspective but it is said from the words of an African American. They are saying it to mock how awful and ridiculous it sounds. Sarcasm is more prominently used from an African American's point of view when it says, "'I'm happy!' he said. 'I never want to live any better or happier than when I can get a-plenty of boots and shoes to clean!'" The sarcasm shows the bitterness African Americans felt and also the reality of their life and how white people viewed them. Dove conveyed their constant sadness about their life through this aspect of the poem which further emphasizes the pain they felt and endured to the reader.
DeleteI found the poem “Fox Trot Fridays” the most interesting poem out of all of them because of how simple the poem was. I agree with Jacobs interpretation of this poem and how it was truly just about the dance itself and why she has a passion for it. As we can see in the beginning line “Thank the stars there’s a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride” made me connect this to her passion of it. It made me think of dance as the escape route to the anxiety of the world. Basically I thought of this as Rita Dove saying thank God for the creation of dance so that we may let our stresses escape our mind and be able to let loose and be carefree. What I also liked about this poem was the fast rhythm it naturally gave with 3 words in a line to show the relationship to the dance itself. For example “stride brush stride”, “heel-ball-toe”, “slow satin smile” and “rib to rib” all made me have a rhythm in my voice while reading aloud which made the poem more interesting and give a better connection to the Fox Trot itself. Lastly, although I really liked this poem I had one soul question for it: Why say “one day at a time” instead of one-step at a time? Wouldn’t it only make sense for her to say the casual saying that many people use on a daily basis for a poem about dance moves? The other thing I wondered however, was if she did this on purpose to show emphasis in some way? Anybody else find this interesting?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite poem in this section was by far "The House Slave". It really enlightened me of the emotions of those enslaved during the 18th and 19th century in America. It provides a new perspective on slavery viewed through the eyes of a slave. It describes an average morning for someone who was enslaved during this time period. The reader really begins to feel the emotions of the enslaved people as they learn of the cruelty that they are forced to go through on a daily basis. The device I want to emphasize in this piece, is the water motif in the poem. It states it throughout the poem, for example: "dew-lit", "water gourds", "cries", "weep". Water is often representative of change or a turning point in something. In this instance, the change is emancipation for this enslaved people who are forced to endure the atrocities of slavery. A new era is on the horizon for these people, and the poem is simply a symbolic representation of their spirit and their want for change from this wretched state that they are in. Did anyone else have any varying interpretations of the poem?
ReplyDeleteJared, it's interesting how you noticed the motif of water in this poem. I agree that it represents a turning point, however I don't think this poem has a very hopeful tone. The tone of this seems more pitiful in my opinion. They are describing their conditions, and how poorly they are treated, which makes the reader feel for them, as you stated. I'm sure deep down they are hoping and praying about being free, but what they are describing seems to have a more sorrowful effect. I also wonder if the line "while their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick," refers to. I think I had some reference towards the slave master, but it is weird because the poem is about the slaves. Anyway, I agree with you that water represents change, but I think the poem has a sad tone, rather than a hopeful one.
DeleteMy favorite poem in thew slavery section was "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi". This is because it seemed the most exciting out of all the available poems. There are many well placed caesuras that help create dramatic pauses that intensify the work. The very first stanza is all italicized and in parenthesis as if it is a newspaper article. The way it is phrased also sounds like a way the media would. The first stanza states that the "Slave woman helped the Negro driver mount his horse". The second stanza immediately starts with "I don't know if i should have helped him up", which clearly shows that the narrator is that slave woman. It goes on to explain how she found him beaten and bloody in the middle of the road so she decided to help him, which ends up backfiring, as he leads the pursuers to her. In the last part of the second stanza, she says "He might have been a son of mine", which implies that she was separated from her child after giving birth, or she was raped many times, and just figured it probably is her son since they look similar. This was a common occurrence sadly during slavery. The third stanza describes the recapture of the man she helped earlier. The fourth stanza explains that the uprising was not in one spot, but several. This was a revolution. It talks about how they knocked out the slave driver and freed 60 slaves. When it describes the slaves as half-numb, it leads me to believe that they were emotionally destroyed from being a slave. Throughout the poem, there is a re-occurrence of violence from both sides, which shows the ugly price of freedom. The last stanza describes a man rushing in with a whip to try and control the situation, only to be overwhelmed by the clubs of the newly freed slaves. His shock and unfamiliarity with the roles reversed was clearly shown in the last italicized line: "Wait. You ain't supposed to act this way." Overall, I think this poem was literally about different slave transports being ambushed, with the aim of rebellion and hope for change. Does anyone think that there is a less literal meaning for this poem?
ReplyDeleteThe poem that I found most interesting in "Slavery" was "The Abduction". My original interpretation of this poem was that it was about a slave dreaming of being free. It sounds like it's describing a slave who runs away and then meets two other runaway slaves, "Brown and Hamilton", who he forms a sort of band of performers with and they make a living off of this. He plays the violin, Hamilton dances on a tightrope, and Brown collects money in his hat. They have a good life and they're happy, but then in the third stanza the man begins to realize he is just dreaming as "the sky swiveled, clicked into place". He wakes up in chains. After some research I found out that the man is a real person, Solomon Northup, and he's the primary author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave". The real story that the poem is telling is the story of his kidnap. First he was enticed by two men, Brown and Hamilton, who were actually slave traders, to travel with them as a violinist in a group of traveling performers to Washington D.C., where slavery was legal. Once they reached D.C., they drugged him ("then the wine, like a pink lake, tipped") and shipped him to New Orleans where he was sold. I think Dove's purpose in retelling this story is to show that even after blacks began to get more freedom and rights in the US, they still had to live in fear and caution throughout their daily lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be combining two posts on this one so it'll be long. One for Parsley since I haven't done it and one for a poem in Slavery.
ReplyDeleteIn Parsley, there were two things I noticed. Multiple words were repeated and that both poems in Parsley are told in two different point if views. First, the two words I so repeated most were parrot and cane. I think the parrot was a symbol for the general who came and started to kill everyone. "A parrot imitating spring" can mean that the general is trying to show himself as a new beginning for those in the country. In the second part, it also refers to the general as the parrot. Maybe it could also stand for the characteristic if the general. Parrots are usually showy and copycats. The cane on the other hand can refer to many things. "The cane appears /in our dreams" means that it could be guns, appearing and scaring them in their dreams. It could also stand for the lost mother of the general in the second half. The second part with point if view may just give this poem more of a story and a reason for why the general acts like so. "We cannot speak an R" could be a reason why the general despises the people because of how easy the task is. And the general's mother dying could also be a reason why he kills so many of the people in the country
Now in Slavery, the poem that stood out to me was "The House Slave". The main thing that stuck out was the last line, "I weep. It is not yet daylight". I though this could've translated into two things, actual daylight or daylight as in freedom. As they are slaves, they have not experiences freedom. They continue to long for this freedom daily. Also, as slaves, they are forced to work early in the morning. It could be literal of when the daylight is not there yet. Also, this poem being set in the view of a slave within the house is interesting. I feel that she used to be a slave out in the fields and was later put into the house, possibly for her look as most slaves are chosen. I think having this in a house slave perspective makes it all the more meaningful because the house slave seems to recieve more benefits. They may believe they are close to freedom as a house slave and want their fellow slaves to feel the same.
I agree with your interpretation of "The House Slave" and how daylight could be actual daylight or it could be freedom. I thought that daylight was more likely to mean freedom. I thought this because she may have more benefits than working in the fields all day but her sister is still working in the fields. I thought that she is feeling guilty for no longer being able to experience the pain of working in the fields all day, everyday. She wishes that she could be with her sister to protect and comfort her. I think that even though she does have more freedom physically, being a house slave, but is feeling trapped with guilt and sorrow over her sister. As for becoming a house slave, I do not think that it was only for her looks. I think that she may have been injured to a point where she was no longer able to meet the physical demands of being a slave in the fields or she may not have been very good at the work, so she was moved. I think that your interpretation is also possibly correct and is a good explanation to the poem.
Delete"The Abduction" is a short, but powerful poem about the nightmarish transition from becoming a free man to being pulled back into slavery in an instant. When I analyze poetry, I always look at sentence structure and how that impacts the meaning of the poetry. One thing I instantly noticed was the decreasing number of lines for each stanza, five lines, four lines, three, two, then one ending the poem. This may seem abstract, but the fewer lines per stanza could represent the amount of freedom our protagonist Solomon has, losing faith in humanity and others, leaving the poem on an eerie note of "I woke and found myself alone, in darkness and chains" to convey a tone of hopelessness having no escape. This poem may be related to the novel, but from what this poem is expressing, is shows the darker side of the story rather than the redemption and liberation of the novel and movie. The poem is split into two sections, one during his freedom, and the other is his transition into slavery. This is clearly shown by the way his environment is described, having "...floated on water that I could not drink" describing the saltwater, or ocean that he is currently trapped on in becoming a slave. The third stanza describes the actual abduction, with the windows rattling, the wine falling over, being "lifted" -- signifying leaving and being carried to a new destination, a destination filled with hardship and the will to survive under the oppression of slavery.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem "Climbing In" very interesting. Rita Dove uses a lot of sharp imagery such at teeth and metal throughout the poem. This creates a tone of fear and almost horror. This poem is describing a scene of someone walking into a bus. Dove portrays the people on the bus as vicious and frightening. This imagery helps the reader understand what an African American person felt daily when doing something as simple as taking the bus. They were never welcomed and treated well and this is clearly exemplified in this poem. Through this poem, one can see that the feelings go past simple discomfort or fear, but were must deeper and could almost be described as terror. The tone and use of imagery give the poem a very personal feel and makes it seem more emotional.
ReplyDeleteRita Dove's poem "House Slave" stood out to me for various reasons. The poem is an obvious allusion to the daily lifestyle of a slave and the difficulties that they had to endure. The consistent use of three lines for each stanza creates a sense of repetition to this poem. The repetition represents the continuous harsh life of the slaves and how there was no change or hope for them at the time. The use of triplets, which is short for stanza length, could also represent the mindset of the slaves and their possible "one day at a time" attitude. Also, in this poem Dove uses profanity, which is significant to the portrayal of slave life. The quote, "Massa dreams of asses," shows the illiterate side to the slaves and conveys the realism of the poem. This profanity used when talking about their white master, shows the harshness of treatment they received. There is a tone of envy created by the views of the slaves in the poem. This envious effect is shown to the readers when Dove writes, "I watch them driven into he vague before-dawn while their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick." Referring to the mistress as an ivory toothpick is basically calling her a skinny, rich lady and shows the contrast in their lifestyles and the envy and hatred it creates in the minds of the slaves. These aspects of Dove's poem were purposely used to create the effect of realism, harshness, and envy throughout the poem and represent the reality of slave life.
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I really liked your interpretation of this poem and loved the connection of the lines in each stanza to slavery and how they felt like there was no hope for change. I also agree with you about the profanity used in the poem to convey the harshness of slavery. To add on to your thoughts I thought that it was interesting how this poem doesn't tell you about slavery as a whole but talks about the struggles from when they wake up to before daylight. It shows the struggle they faced in just a couple of hours, which then makes the reader think about how much abuse they would suffer for years.
DeleteThe poem “Davis Walker” was very interesting in my opinion. I was first intrigued by its historical basis. David Walker was a free black abolitionist who wrote An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. He traveled and spread his pamphlet to gain awareness for this issue. His story is chronicled through this poem. This elicits a feeling of importance as it is telling the story of a historical figure. One of the most interesting aspects of the poem is Dove’s use of direct quotes from Walker’s Appeal. These direct quotes contribute to the feeling of importance because it emphasizes the oppression that African Americans at the time faced while also demonstrating the efforts done to improve this situation. Additionally, these direct quotes highlight what is occurring in David Walker’s journey at the time and the impact his words are having on the abolitionist movement by following the quote with the affect that it had on society. Furthermore, Dove also employs figurative that contribute to the story of David Walker being told through this poem. In the first stanza, in a quote from Walker, Dove included, “They strip and beat and drag us about /like rattle snakes.” This simile clearly illustrates the oppression that surrounded Walker even though he was free. By comparing slaves to rattlesnakes, he conveys that slaves are treated as nothing more than animals. Dove included this quote to illustrate the severity of the prejudice slaves faced. This creates a tone of sympathy and outrage, which helps readers understand why David Walker was so passionate about abolitionism. Another important piece of figurative language is written n the third stanza. Dove wrote, “Every half step was no step at all.” This paradox was the line that stood out to me most in the entire poem. Dove employed this paradox to illustrate that despite Walker’s and other abolitionists’ best efforts, they rarely had any rewards for their work; for every action that seemed like a success, little came from it. In his short lifetime, Walker wrote three editions of his appeal, spreading them throughout the country, but he never lived to see abolition. The paradox Dove uses to illustrate this point creates a tone of sorrow and makes the reader feel upset that no change happened immediately. Overall, all of the literary devices in this poem work to tell the story of David Walker.
ReplyDeleteHayden I found your response to be very enlightening! I had also noticed the quotes in each stanza and wondered their significance. I had assumed that it had something to to with propaganda during this time period because of the repeated referencing of pamphlets in the second stanza. As well as the quotes, I noticed Dove's use of imagery to paint the African American people as outcasts in this tim in our history and to create a feeling of injustice within the reader. In the third stanza, "pressed his dark hand between heir gloves,". I perceived this as David Walker trying to breech the separation between african americans and whites. The line after it is "Every half-step is no step at all" expressing to the reader that Walker did not succeed.
DeleteInitial Post for "Parsley"
ReplyDeleteLike many others, I was surprised at the way Dove decided to present Trujillo to the reader. Disregarding the atrocities Trujillo has committed, he comes across as someone who has experienced pain. “Ever since the morning/his mother collapsed in the kitchen/while baking skull-shaped candies/for the Day of the Dead, the general/ has hated sweets.” Everyone has waited in the kitchen while their mother is baking solely for the chance to lick the spoon. Dove recreates this feeling in the context of losing your mother to emphasize the devastation the the general feels. I think Dove gave Trujillo human qualities directly preceding the stanzas from the perspective of the innocent people he killed (“El General has found his word: perejil./ Who says it, lives.”) in order to remind the reader that violence can come from anyone.
Upon first reading "Belinda's Petition," by Rita Dove, I noticed that some of the words in the middle of some sentences were capitalized. I thought that the significance of this was to emphasize the significance of the words and their importance to the speaker. An example of this is, "Childhood," in the third line of the last stanza. I thought that this was important because the speaker's childhood was spent in slavery and they did not know what else they were supposed to do or the significance of what slavery was. Another example of this is, "Accusation," in the first line of the third stanza. I thought that the significance of this was to express what she was accused of and that it was an important part of her life. She did not want to be ignorant to the situation around her but everyone believed her to be because she was young. I noticed the repetition of "twelve years" and it reminded me of 12 Years a Slave, the movie. In both the movie and the poem, the main characters were not always slaves and once they had become slaves, they started to fight against slavery. I also noticed that until about the last three lines of the poem, she was telling the Senate and the House about her situation and how it has affected her. In the last three lines she ends with a poem. I thought this was her leaving the House and Senate with a question to think about in considering her and her situation and deciding what they thought would be best.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t make the connection between the movie and the poem, but that’s very interesting! I thought the nouns were capitalized because they represented things owned by the white people. Most of the words capitalized were under the control of the white population, including Belinda and all the other slaves. Also, since I didn’t make the connection between the movie “12 Years a Slave” and Rita Dove’s poem, I found a different meaning for the twelve years idea being brought up. At the beginning, Belinda states she has been a slave since she was twelve, and in the last two verses, Dove says, “I have known of the Men with Faces like the Moon, who would ride toward me steadily for twelve Years?” It was inevitable that she would become a slave, and it was only a matter of time before the white men got her.
DeleteThe poem "David Walker" by Rita Dove, stood out to me in many ways, however one of the most intriguing one's was the symbol of the canary. In the third stanza Dove writes, “The jeweled canaries in the lecture halls tittered, pressed his dark hand between their gloves” For me, at first glance I immediately thought of the symbol of the canary. As we talked about many times throughout Siddhartha, the canary symbolized a person, or in this case a group of people that were locked up and waiting to be freed. Throughout this poem we see the struggle of African Americans and the fight for their freedom, and with the symbol of the canary, it fits in perfectly to connect both the bird and the African American’s battle for freedom. Another thing that I thought was interesting was Dove’s quote used in the first stanza, where she wrote, “We are the most wretched, degraded and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began.” The use of sarcasm in this line puts a great effect on the reader’s emotions. The quote is so powerful that we begin to feel sad for those who had to deal with slavery and you start to truly feel the effect that it had on these African Americans. To add onto that, I really liked the placement of this quote in this poem. I say this because the stanza before talks about the African Americans sending around a pamphlet that was An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World. Their efforts were noticed by all but was not enough to achieve their goal of equality as we can see in the lines after the quote where it says, “Every half-step was no step at all.” To go back to my thoughts, the quote was perfectly placed here to show how the African Americans had lost their hope and turned to sarcasm to express their feelings.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the symbolic use of the canary in "David Walker" was very interesting, but I had a different interpretation. Throughout this poem, Dove subtly describes the obstacles to Walker's abolitionist struggle by introducing archetypical figures -- the "jeweled canaries" and "the man on the corner" -- to represent the attitudes Walker so strongly opposed. The "man on the corner", a shoe-shiner clearly satisfied with his position in life, symbolizes the lack of societal awareness and empowerment that Walker noticed in many slaves and free African Americans. This oblivious mindset stands out in this poem because one of Walker's greatest goals was to educate the public about the often-unspoken evils of slavery and racism. In contrast, the "jeweled canaries" represent the wealthy (white) men and women who attended Walker's lectures; their "tittering" and pressing of Walker's "dark hand between their gloves" suggests the audience's uncomfortable, distanced attitude toward abolitionism. Overall, the symbolism in this poem shows how David Walker's messages could not reach the most and least privileged classes of society, ensuring that "every half-step was no step at all" in his struggle for recognition and liberation.
DeleteIn the poem “Belinda’s Petition”, I noticed several different things. One of those was the last two verses “I have known of Men with Faces like the Moon, who would ride toward me steadily for twelve Years?” At the beginning of the poem, the narrator (Belinda) states that she was twelve years old when she became a slave. The men with faces like the moon are white, rich landowners and steadily, for twelve years, they approached Belinda and made her a slave. Another thing I noticed is that Rita Dove capitalizes several random nouns, but I saw a pattern among those words. A majority of them are things that belong to the white people, like Belinda, life, the nation, Belinda’s childhood and so on. This is illustrating how they had control over the entire lives of the African-Americans in slavery, even intangible things like their childhood or behavior. The last piece I noticed was that the poem ends with a question when most pose the question in the middle so that it can be answered later on. I’m not sure why this is, the difference in structure from the rest of the poems stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteNate, I thought your explanation of the seemingly random capitalizations was very insightful! When I first read this poem, I thought that the capitalizations were meant to place emphasis on certain things and show how all capitalized words are of equal importance. To Belinda, her "Life" and "Existence" should have as equal importance as the "Countrymen" and the "Travelers." Also, to go along your note of the question at the end of the poem, I think Dove did this to represent how the status of slavery was always open ended to the blacks. At the time, they never really knew if they'd ever become equals. Even the blacks who were technically free were only free to an extent because of the discrimination they faced. The poem ending with a question symbolizes how there wasn't an answer to slavery during Belinda's lifetime.
DeleteI also thought that the capitalization really characterized the whole idea that "blacks could be civilized" present in this poem. For example, he formality present throughout contrasts with the idea that slaves were crude and uneducated, which is a way Rita Dove employs irony here. The capitalization of almost all the nouns reminded me of the Declaration of Independence, where there was capitalization of more than just proper nouns. I definitely agree that there is an emotional attachment to some of the words, especially "Same," and "Ignorant," which were the only adjectives that were capitalized. The only noun that wasn't capitalized (that I found) was "nothing," which seems fitting because it should have "no meaning" in a sense. Overall, I really like this how Rita Dove played with the ideas of being "civil" and "crude" in this poem.
DeleteThe poem "The House Slave" caught my attention as a vivid description of slavery from an interesting perspective. Before reading this poem, I never thought about how being a house slave may be different from being a slave who works in the fields. Rita Dove uses strong imagery, similes, and symbolism to create a bitter but helpless tone to reflect the emotions of the house slave. First, strong imagery like "I watch them driven into the vague," and "The whip curls across the backs of the laggards--" illustrate the reality of being a spectator, and a helpless one too. As a house slave, the narrator sees the struggle of his or her people and they have more empathy for them than other types of spectators, but they also feel more pain as a result. Dove displays this stronger sense of empathy through this imagery because pain like the whippings are so real to the house slaves that they can almost feel it themselves. In addition to imagery, Dove employs simile. She writes, "Their mistress sleeps like an ivory toothpick," which shows the bitterness of the house slave towards the mistress by explaining how fragile the house slave thinks she is. Finally, Dove also uses symbolism to show the helpless and hopeless side of the house slave. In the final line that goes, "I weep. It is not yet daylight," the daylight literally means daytime, however I think it metaphorically symbolizes freedom and a better life. The house slave weeps because everyday she wakes up, she must face the reality that freedom is beyond his or her reach.
ReplyDeleteThe poem that caught my eye in this collection of Dove's works was "The Abduction". After reading the poem through a few times I noticed the similarities between the poem and the plot line of the film (and novel) "Twelve Years A Slave" that came out last December. In the film, which is based of the life of a real person, a african american musician leaves his family with two white men to play the violin in their show. Dove mentions a violin at the end of the second stanza. Brown and Hamilton are the two white men in the story. In the story the african american man, Solomon Northrup is deceived by these two men and sold into slavery for twelve years until he escapes and returns to his family. In this poem Dove depicts the beginning of the story: the capture of Solomon Northrup. The first stanza describes Solomon's happy life, before he was captured, when he thought everything was going well shown by Dove's use of exclamation point and s-sounds. In the second stanza Dove describes the captors. The use of monetary imagery shows the reader how Solomon was blinded by the potential profit and did not notice warning signs of his capture. In the last three stanzas Dove uses contrasting color imagery to show the contrast of freedom and slavery. "the wine, like a pink lake, tipped" shows freedom because this event occurred before he was captured and then "I woke and found myself alone, in darkness and in chains." to represent slavery.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really stood out to me while I read "The House Slave" was the consonance of "s" in every line of the poem. The recurring "s" sounds exemplified the cyclic nature of the house slave's life, which is fitting because the entire poem is essentially a generalized description of what happens each morning -- a cycle of torture that hasn't ended yet with the "daylight" that is freedom. It also resonates with the largely impersonal and very passive voice found in many lines, such as "children are bundled into aprons," "a salt pork breakfast taken," or "the whip curls across the backs of the laggards." It creates a message of helplessness because the house slave is powerless to do anything about the vicious cycle that he/she is trapped in, especially with the last line of "I weep. It is not yet daylight." No rebellion, no thoughts of anger or protest, simply someone who has surrendered to a hopeless situation, in which the only option is to wait for something better to come along.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you, Belinda. I believe the consonance of "S" is symbolic of hope, for rebellion, and for freedom. "S" is a very sharp sound and creates negative imagery. This negative imagery is symbolic of the unrest of the slaves and the want to rebellion and ultimately freedom from the atrocity that is slavery. There is also a multitude of water imagery in the poem. Water is often representative of change, which is exactly what the slaves want. They want change from the situation that they are in and that is the message that Rita Dove is attempting to convey in this poem.
DeleteI completely agree with you, Belinda. Both the recurring "s" sounds and the passive voice used to describe such a tragic situation create a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. There are even indications of rape, a cruelty that never seems to inspire rebellion ("..and Mass dreams of asses, rum and slave-funk."). The use of the word laggard, which is defined as someone who moves slowly, also creates a feeling of hopelessness- people in unrest don't tend to move slowly.
DeleteEven the words "helplessness" and "hopelessness" repeat the hard "s" sound. I completely agree that the consonance of "s" in "The House Slave" gives a sense of despair (more "s" sounds in that word, too!) to the poem. The line, "sometimes my sister's voice, unmistaken, among them" has a large amount of "s" consonance in it, and describes the anguish the narrator feels when she hears her sister being whipped. If one thinks of a tire slowly losing air, it makes the hissing sound that a hard "s" also makes, and the feeling one gets when they get a flat tire is probably similar, if less severe, than the sadness felt by the slave in this poem.
DeleteIn this selection of poems, Rita Dove's "David Walker" affected me most because of the way it dramatizes the contrast between Walker's ideals and reality. In this poem, Dove does not include a single line of Walker's spoken words or internal monologue; instead, quotations from Walker's works, juxtaposed with almost cinematic external descriptions of his life and surroundings, provide a subtle and indirect summary of his tragic struggle. The first line ("Free to travel, he still couldn't be shown how lucky he was") introduces the speaker as an outsider, a passive observer who does not acknowledge irony. This distance from the narrative is also demonstrated in the second stanza, when the speaker describes the public response to Walker's publications: "Outrage. Incredulity. Uproar in state legislatures". Dove frames all of these reactions as impartially observed facts, passing no judgment. In contrast, Dove uses Walker's own words to great ironic effect by inserting expressions of outrage among fast-paced montage imagery of an indifferent world -- for example, "They strip and beat and drag us about like rattlesnakes" is immediately followed by "Home on Brattle Street, he took in the sign on the door of the slop shop". The fact that the Walker quotations seem so disjointed from the literal descriptions in this poem emphasizes the silencing and oppression that Walker endured throughout his life. To bring the growing tension created by this silence to a climax, the final stanza initially increases in perceived speed, skipping over significant periods of time by simply listing "A second edition. A third." The final Walker quote ("Humanity, kindness, and the fear of the Lord does not consist in protecting devils.") evokes the outrage and eventual resignation that apparently preceded his early death. The description of Walker's body as "slighter than friends remembered" further suggests that Walker's spirit was ultimately greater than his strength. Overall, I found this poem interesting because of Dove's use of quotations to portray a strong, opinionated mind surrounded by an oppressive society.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that the quotations in this poem include a significant amount of "r" consonance -- for example, the first line contains the strong, rough sounds of "strip", "drag", and "rattlesnakes". What do you think this means? I think it probably represents Walker's suppressed anger, suggested by a "growling" sound.
I found "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi" to be the most interesting. The background information is given before the poem even starts; a wagonload of slaves attempted to escape but were turned in by the driver who was helped onto a horse by a slave woman. The first stanza comes from the perspective the woman who helped the driver. "I don't know if I helped him up/ because I thought he was our salvation/ or not." The first two lines make it clear that she is still dealing with the confusion of what happened and the guilt that undoubtedly came with it. Later into the poem, the women justifies her actions. "I am no brute. I got feelings. He might have been a son of mine." Regardless of what she was thinking whens he was doing it, the fact that she regretted saving someone who reminded her of her son emphasizes the cruelty of the slave system. The absurdity of it all is obvious when you consider the perspective of the driver. The driver threw away his chance for freedom when he turned in the slaves that he was transporting. What has to happen to someone to make them do something like that?
ReplyDeleteafter i read "The Transport of Slaves From Maryland to Mississippi" i noticed that Rita Dove would insert thoughts the subjects of that part of the poem. the first stanza included italicized thoughts of the women, the last stanza includes italicized thoughts of the baggage man. this allows the reader to understand the thoughts of those being involved with the slaves rebellion. i also noticed that Rita Dove uses a consonance of "t" to give the poem a harsh tone "Death and salvation.-- one accommodates the other." also the names of those who were trying to suppress the rebellion had a t in their name, "Petit" and "Atkins", which i think Rita Dove did that to have a harsher tone towards those who tried to keep slaves from escaping.
ReplyDeleteThe poem that was very interesting to me was “The Transport of Slaves from Maryland to Mississippi”. This poem of Dove’s is more like a narrative story. Dove seems to have divided this poem into three different sections, telling a story of slavery from three different perspectives. The first section sets the scene of how “a wagon load of slaves broke their chains, killed two white men, and would have escaped, had not a slave women helped the Negro driver mount his horse and ride for help.” The voice of the first section is a compassionate slave woman. The next section in the poem reads more from an objective point of view. Giving details in this section describing how “Negro Gordon, barley escaping his life…” The last section of this poem is from the man who owns the slaves but can no longer control them. He believes the slaves that are running will surrender when he hits his whip and screams “Hold it” and is confused when no one stops. Dove does a great job in this poem retelling the story of August 22, 1839.
ReplyDeleteFor the poem “Belinda’s Petition,” I did some research on it and found an interesting background story (I think most of you guys already know, though). Belinda was an actually existed women who presented her petition to the Massachusetts General Court. She requested a pension for her doughtier and herself from the property of her dead master. Surprisingly, the court approved it and Belinda received. After I read this story, my perspective of this poem greatly changed. I originally thought it is a sarcasm to the court, or the white people who supported slavery because of the capitalization. I thought capitalizations are there for emphasis, then I found that all these emphasis are on the words that associated with freedom. For example, there is emphasis on “Father of this Nation,” “…severed the Binds of Tyranny,” “…pure Air and Sole Advantage.” It is very sarcastic because these words are used to describe the court, the white people who support slavery. Also, the narrator, Belinda, calls herself “Ignorant,” but obviously she is not because she could write a formal petition to the court. This also is a sarcastic phrase that creates tone of both seriousness and humor. However, the actual story of Belinda is rather about a success of a slave women who received the pension from her formal master. I saw this as a victory of Belinda, which made me surprised because Rita Dove’s other slavery poems are focused on the sorrow and powerlessness of slavers. Then I thought this poem actually could be purely about a slave women who begging for her freedom, without any sarcasm. This poem represents the desperate effort of slaves to be freed, as Belinda tried so hard to find her right in front of the court.
ReplyDeleteI analyzed “The House Slave” in class on Friday and was immediately struck by one line in particular. The first line of the third stanza reads, “and Massa dreams of asses, rum and slave-funk.” This was a very strange change of tone for both the poem and Dove. Dove uses profanity sparingly, at least in the poems that we have read, so I was struck by the vulgarity of her language here. It also does not fit in with the rest of the poem. The rest of the poem describes the occurrences of a plantation from a house slave’s point of view in a relatively detached manner, albeit a sad one. However, this one line seems to pack in a lot of vitriol and accusation against the slaveowner, a spark of passion in a cloud of anesthesia. Is Dove saying that the slaveowner fetishizes his slaves? Does he abuse them in a sexual manner? Is he an alcoholic? All of these seem to be insinuated by this line. It is completely reasonable to suggest that that might be the case, as many slaveowners did rape their slaves and alcoholism is certainly not a recent development, but the way that Dove does this feels extremely heavy-handed and atypical for her writing style. Do you guys have any ideas as to why she wrote this line the way she did?
ReplyDeleteOk first I just would like to state some overall impressions of "Taming of the Shrew", before I go into analysis. I was very surprised in how entertained I was from reading the first act of the play. I have never loved Shakespeare in the past, but I really enjoyed reading this play, and actually understood the old English which I didn't expect. So, one of the more interesting things that I noticed was this idea of woman as property. In more recent works, this idea would be frowned upon but I found it a bit amusing at how the men in the play see women. It is almost as if they see marriage as a way to becoming financially successful, rather than being something that it brought about by love. I found it a bit humorous as Petruchio states,"Signior Hortensio, ’twixt such friends as we
ReplyDeleteFew words suffice. And therefore, if thou know
ne rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,
As wealth is burden of my wooing dance,
Be she as foul as was Florentius' love,
As old as Sibyl and as curst and shrewd
As Socrates' Xanthippe, or a worse,
She moves me not, or not removes at least
Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough
As are the swelling Adriatic seas.
I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua." (I.ii.51-62).
Petruchio doesn't seem to care AT ALL if he has ANY connection with Katherine or any interest in her at all as a person. All he cares about is that her father is rich, and that he will be paid a large dowry if he marries her. I think that this is maybe Shakespeare's way of commenting on the idea that women are often used and taken advantage of, for other reasons than simply love. It seemed very different and yet relevant, especially in American society today. Does anyone have any other ideas about what this might imply?
upon reading the first act, i was surprised that i could understand how Shakespeare writes and was proud that i could understand the act. i di not like how the play showed their idea of women. the act did show women as property which angers me, but i realize that is because back when Shakespear wrote the play, women had no independence and were look as and treated as property. i enjoy how the play portrays Katharina as mean , but strong and independent. this allows the thought that women should maybe have more to them than what society thinks that they should be portrayed. i find it interesting how the father decides that in order for his youngest to marry, that his oldest must marry first. this creates the idea of that the father does not care for the oldest daughter, but instead sees Katharina as neusense and something that he wants to be rid of. i also find it funny that the characters of Gremio and Hortensio and Lucentio all "fall in love" with youngest daughter. i think that they do not love her or want to love her, but that they are salacious men that only want to make love with her. they only "love her because of her beauty, which reflects how society believes that only beautiful women that are visually appealing are great wives. Anyone else have similar thoughts?
ReplyDelete