https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/47536 “One Art” is a beautiful poem describing the complex relationship between loss and love. In this poem author Elizabeth Bishop demonstrates the idea of losses and how they affect our lives. The poem begins as the speaker suggests that there are some things that have "the intent to be lost”, people lose things everyday and they might be as simple as a set of keys, however losing such simple things can still lead to a “fluster”. According to the speaker, losing these little things "isn't hard to master". Eventually we get used to misplacing or losing simple things in our lives and adapt. In the third stanza the idea of losing happens "faster" and goes "farther" and becomes more intense. The speaker mentions the inability to remember a name or a place which is very common in the busy lives we live, and she mentions that these moments of forgetfulness are trivial and "None of these will bring disaster". It is almost as if the speaker is not only trying to convince her reader, but also herself, that the losses she has suffered will not cause her to lose control. As the poem continues we seem to connect to the speaker and her personal losses. She mentions losing her mother’s watch, I connected this object to the idea of time and that maybe she has lost her relationship and time with her mother. “Three loved houses went”, and with this I feel she has lost memories and times past with this significant other. Following the fourth stanza the poem shifts and begins to escalate as the losses identified seem to be of more importance and of deeper meaning. She says, " I lost two cities/...two rivers, and a continent". Clearly she couldn’t have actually owned any of these things, but I feel like these objects are connected to memories of her past. The past tense use of the word “owned” signifies that she no longer has them and when she say’s “I miss them” I get the feeling that maybe she misses the love and affection she once received from a person in these places. Finally we see the meaning of the poem revealed in the last stanza. It becomes extremely personal once the loss of love is explicitly identified, the loss of control can be seen. The parenthesis in these last few lines contain critical information that show readers how she misses this person’s laugh and how she cherished it. The last line was forcefully written and she used the parenthesis to encourage herself to get the final words out. As seen in her prior stanzas, the speaker is trying to convince herself that these losses are not as hard as they seem to be and that this will not be the cause of her “destruction”. I interpreted the title “One Art” to mean that loss is an art form and the repetition of the word “master” leads me to assume that no one has the ability to master the art of loss.
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https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/exit-20/
“Exit” by Rita Dove In Rita Dove’s poem “Exit” a theme of new beginnings is presented. With that, the author uses the image of a visa to describe a new opportunity being presented to someone. Through her use of repetition, imagery and similes, Dove accurately displays what someone might be going through when changes come about. The authors use of diction made the poem feel austere yet welcoming, when she describes the weary feeling of leaving behind the place you used to call home and stepping into a whole new world. One way she does this is through the line, “the door opens to a street like in the movies…except it is your street you are leaving”, this makes the speaker look back to their home and see what life they may be giving up in order to act on this opportunity. When Dove says “provisionally-a fretful word.”, the idea that new opportunities can be taken away easily is shown. I feel like the message she is trying to get across is that, there are risks in stepping outside of your comfort zone, however, it can all be worth while when you’re chasing your dreams. Dove describes opportunity as a chance that can be taken away, it is both saddening and inspiring. The sky is another great use of imagery in this poem. The author relates the characters feelings about leaving to the state of the sky. At the start of the poem “Well, the world’s open” one can picture a clear sky and connect this to the idea that there are endless chances for the person to embrace. “the sky begins to blush as you did when your mother told you what it took to be a woman in this life.” shows how excited the character is to make a mark on the world. The sky and the description of its colors was very interesting to me and expressed how the character is taking in the new opportunities presented. The title of this poem is also very interesting, when I read “Exit” this is not what I imagined the poem to be about however I do see the connection that can be made. The term exit is referring to the character exiting their old life and entering into a world full of possibilities. All in all, I believe Dove accurately described the feelings that may be associated with this event and I think this was my favorite poem by her so far. “Flirtation” By: Rita Dove
Throughout this poem vivid imagery of nature is used to define the action of flirting. This is where the title of the poem stems from; while the title itself is very upfront, the imagery and figurative language in the poem is not. Rita Dove describes "an orange, peeled and quartered" as a visual for a new attraction between two individuals. One can picture that the two people are diving into a relationship that can be described as something fun, fresh and almost natural, much like the orange. Dove also uses other references to nature such as at the end of line 4, she uses the simile "flares like a tulip on a Wedgwood plate." I believe this describes the hope that can be found in their potential relationship. She also mentions a “wedgwood plate”, which is English china, giving the illusion of delicacy, and elegance in this new bond because they believe "anything can happen." Later Dove writes about the scenery, marking the change in the sunsetting to "strewn salt across the sky." The salt is a metaphor for stars sprinkled across the night sky, and in the next line the speaker describes her feeling of happiness. The combination of this new relationship and of the beautiful sky makes the speaker's heart hum a tune she hasn’t heard in years, suggesting that she may have not felt this way towards anyone in a long time. In the last three stanzas, the speaker alludes to the idea that you can make the best out of any moment as long as you mold that instant into what makes your happy. The tone for this poem is romantic and optimistic. The romance is shown threw her charm and her optimistic ways are shown threw the hope for a relationship. Its obvious that the theme of this poem is flirting with someone or seeking interest in someone. “Vacation” by Rita Dove
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vacation-18/ I feel like the idea the author,Rita Dove, was trying to get across is that the passengers who will board the plane are going on vacation but none of them are truly happy about it. Each of them is "bickering;" annoyed, detached, and/or unable to release his or herself enough from daily life to truly enjoy the trip. She talks about “that stretch of no time, no home” this introduced the idea of how we are trying to escape from our normal lives and leaving behind our home and normal daily routine. Yes, they will experience some sun and fun and relaxation (dining out, sleeping late) but that's about it. The trip provides them with a departure from their everyday lives; nothing more. The whole trip is just a diversion. When I read deeper into the poem I discovered she is not just discussing a vacation but more so the connection to everyday life and the idea of fabrication and its relevance in many people’s lives today. Each person is connected with their present way of living with little chance of having the ability to change and let their minds to be free enough to become ecstatic about brand new experiences. I found this poem to be very interesting since at first it comes across as very literal but when you read into it you can see how she is making so many little connections to our rushed lives today. Another thing I really appreciated about this poem is her use of figurative language. I appreciate how she slowed down a moment and saw waiting for something as peaceful. This is unusual because today everything in life is so fast paced and rushed to get to the next step and I never really take a step back to appreciate the moment I am in. Overall I am in favor of this piece of literature. Not only did Dove catch my attention, but she also kept me intrigued. “Dusting”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/55631 This poem is all about a girl named Beulah, and her flashback to a prior love. The poem describes her mindlessly cleaning," Under her hands scrolls and crests gleam."While doing her daily duties her mind starts to wander and she slips into a moment of nostalgia. She begins picturing the day that she met a boy at the fair "...that silly boy at the fair with the rifle booth?" I get the feeling that she is having trouble recalling the name of a boy that she met at the fair. "Not Michael . . . . Wavery memory". In the final stanza we see that Beulah remembers the man’s name and talks about marriage. From this I infer that she was daydreaming about a past lover. I think this is a happy and nostalgic poem about a piece of a woman's life, where she remembers being truly happy. Rita Dove chose the title “Dusting”, I feel like this strongly relates to the poem in many ways. To begin dusting is what Beulah was doing when she started thinking about her past. Dusting can also be connected to the idea that when we are reflecting on past memories we are cleaning away the cobwebs of the mind. The slow rhythm of Dove's "Dusting" connects to the long path down memory lane and the time it takes older minds to remember once-clear details. As the main character moves about her home, she is also figuratively moving from place to place in her memory, stopping to admire loving details in her mind. Dove's concluding image, "sun's accomplice, the tree" suggests that the minor flirtations of her youth have grown into something more lasting and meaningful...perhaps a marriage and children. Personally I found this poem really beautiful, it showed the struggle to remember a lover in a beautiful light and painted a beautiful picture for me as a reader. “Heart to Heart” by Rita Dove
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/51662 This poem is shutting down all your typical thoughts about a human heart. In the first section she addresses all of the sayings that we would use when referring to the heart such as when she says “It doesn’t melt,” she is telling us that this simply does not happen. The second part of the poem refers to how the heart looks. Dove says “It doesn’t have a tip to spin on” saying that the heart is not shaped like this <3 and is not how society sees it. Very matter of factly she then says, “it isn't even shapely—just a thick clutch of muscle”, this goes along with her shutting down all the typical thoughts and views of the heart. The poet is saying that the heart is just a big lopsided and soundless muscle which kind of detaches the idea of the heart meaning love. I think the most important line in this poem is “I feel it inside its cage sounding a dull tattoo: I want, I want—but I can't open it: there's no key.” This really marks the turning of the poem and provides a deeper meaning. The author describes the struggle she has with loving, saying that she can’t wear her heart on her sleeve or tell someone from the bottom of her heart that she loves them. I also think this poem was her way of telling someone that even though she doesn’t romanticize the heart she still does love them. She ends it by saying “ but you will have to take me too” or you’ll have to accept me for who I really am. When analyzing the structure and literary devices used I notice the use of words saying what the heart is not. Such as “It doesn’t”, “It doesn’t have” and “It’s not”, these word choices helped us understand Rita’s feelings about society’s views on the heart and make this a very blunt poem. I also notice the many adjectives used to describe the heart which made it a very powerful poem. My overall interpretation of this poem is that the author was in a relationship and struggled to show her love for them and this was her way of saying “I may not show it all that well, but I really do love you”, and she ends the poem with “I hope you love me too.” Personally I enjoyed this poem because I felt a strong connection with it which is why I think I was able to understand it so easily. I know what it is like to struggle with the idea of loving someone and I believe that Rita Dove was able to describe it really well. |
AuthorCassi LeCompte |