Daystar Rita Dove Analysis

The children are unnoticed by others and the mother is the only one that is protecting them. This poem shows the hard times that the mother must face because her children have died. However the mother is coping with them while still protecting her children after they have died, This is the mother's way of coping because she is not yet ready to let go of her children and still wants to care for them. This poem shows this through nature by portraying the mother as a bird who is protecting her nest. Also the poem uses nature by describing the harsh times as a winter wind that has caused harm to the mother and her children.

Literally, the persona of the poem is outside when some aspects of the nature around her, like violets and a blackbird, trigger a memory from her childhood. The poem then flashbacks to a childhood memory of the persona as a young girl, which is shown through the indentation of the stanzas, where the girl wakes up in the afternoon thinking it is morning and becomes upset when she

Harwood uses “Daybreak:” as the opening into the poem, representing a new beginning, a new experience, which foreshadows the events to come. Negative descriptions such as, “horny fiend” are used by Harwood when the persona is describing herself taking her father’s gun at dawn, which is juxtaposed by the idea of the father at rest dreaming of an “obedient, angel-mind” child.

The imagery in the poem, specifically natural imagery, helps use the reader’s senses to develop a vivid depiction of the speaker’s connection to nature and dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality. The speaker’s continued use of the “moon” reflects her attribution of feminine identity and idolistic character to the moon. As opposed to referencing herself and her personal insomnia, she uses the imagery of the moon “beyond sleep” to convey her internal struggles with insomnia and her reality. Throughout the poem, the speaker also refers to shining, reflective surfaces, such as “a body of water or a mirror”, to describe the inverted reality in which the speaker experiences reciprocated love. Reflective surfaces often invert the image that is projected into them, seemingly distorting the true nature and reality of the projected image. The speaker’s reference to this reflective imagery highlights her desire to escape the burden of a patriarchal society and assume an independent and free feminine identity. Specifically, the use of natural imagery from the references to the “moon” and “a body of water” convey the speaker’s desire to take refuge within the Earth or in the feminine identity of the Earth, Mother Earth. Feminine identities are often related and associated with aspects of nature due to the natural cycle of the menstrual period and the natural process of procreation. The speaker takes advantage of these connotations to suggest Earth and natural imagery as an escape from the man-made terrors of male dominated society. In the second stanza, the speaker uses extensive imagery to develop metaphors conveying the speaker’s experience of jealousy of the moon

“I have a little boy at home, A pretty little son; I think sometimes the world is mine In him my only one” (Document 2). In the beginning of the poem the mother talks about how only sometimes the world is hers and her sons. I deem this shows how she wishes to have more time with her beloved family. [In Document 6 we are presented with a photo of numerous children on a tenement overhang, with no adults around.] This shows that parents probably weren’t around a lot of the time, probably at work. [Also in Document 8 it shows children at work.] This means that not only were parents at work, but so were their kids. All together work mostly separated families from each other, which was very sad for

The poem describes the weather and its effect on cotton flower by pointing out the dying branches and vanishing cotton. The image of insufficiency, struggle and death parallel the oppression of African American race. The beginning of the poem illustrates the struggle and suffering of the cotton flower; which represent the misery of African Americans and also gives an idea that there is no hope for them. But at the end the speaker says “brown eyes that loves without a trace of fear/ Beauty so sudden for that time of year” (lines 13-14). This shows the rise of the African American race, and their fight against racism. The author used mood, tone and

Symbolisation is also used to counteract the miserable life of an Australian housewife. This can be seen in the line “She practises a fugue, though it can matter to no one now if she plays well or not, (stanza one, line one).” This line suggests that the woman portrayed is a musician. The poem latter reads, “Once she played for Rubinstein, who yawned,” (stanza one, line nine). This suggests she was talented enough to present to Rubenstein but didn’t succeed. “The children caper, round a sprung mousetrap where a mouse lies dead.” This line symbolizes the housewife. Her dreams of becoming a musician are trapped within her own environment. This same line can also evaluate the difficulties and harshness of the urban Australian life. Seeming sad this is something that is exciting to the children.

“Daystar” comes from a book of poems written by Dove entitled Thomas and Beulah, which tells both the real and unreal stories of Dove’s maternal grandparents (Stein 64). Unlike Dove, who grew up during a time of women’s rights, her grandmother most likely did not have an admired career as a housewife. In discussing Thomas and Beulah, Stein explains, “It is almost painful to witness Thomas and Beulah, two people clearly devoted to each other, continually misinterpret each other's behavior” (70). Although “Daystar” is not necessarily written from an autobiographical perspective, Dove is using the research of her family and her own experiences to welcome us into the lives of the distressed Beulah.

At the end of the first stanza, the poet says “the steady breaking and wombing”. Steady breaking reminds you of the waves breaking on the beach on a nice clear morning, which implies it is a good memory. The word “wombing” is very rarely used in everyday life. It means to be doing nothing, being oblivious to the outside world. In addition, it implies protection and comfort. Before a baby is born, it lives in the mother’s womb, where the mother protects it and comforts. The womb is the baby’s home, although only for a short while. When the

“Daystar” by Rita Dove is an expressive poem, which centers on the main character, a young mother and wife, who internally struggles with her burdensome, daily duties, which creates a lack of freedom in her world.   Dove’s choice of words lets the reader empathize with her confined life.  In this poem, irony exists for the mere fact that from birth to adulthood the female population is brought up to feel fulfilled by simply becoming a wife and mother; however, this poem describes the monotonous duties and the joyless bond that can be between husband and wife.

The poem, "The Night House" by Billy Collins, is very symbolic and meaningful, and most people can relate to because everyone has something they are not content with in life. Collins is a great, straightforward writer that people can depict with in his poems because he is practical and uses simple things or everyday experiences in an easy way. This poem in particular is very symbolic and effortless to analyze because it is the everyday life--- going to work, coming home, and then going to sleep--- the cycle then repeats over and over. He talks about "the body works" at the beginning (which sets the tone for the rest of the poem), which symbolizes that our hearts and minds are not always into what we are doing. He talks and illustrates figurative parts of the body: the heart, mind, conscience, and soul. When he talks about the woman sleeping, all these figurative body parts are restless and come out at night to do what they really want to do.

Rita Doves poem "Chocolate" has many different kind of literary elements in it. It is an

Figuratively, in stanza three, the poem symbolizes the three stages of life: childhood represented by “Children strove” (l. 9), youth represented by “the Fields of Gazing Grains” (l. 11) and the end of the life represented by “the Setting Sun” (l. 12). On the way of her journey, the speaker views children struggling to win in the race in School. She also sees cereal grasses collectively in the field, and at last the speaker perceives with her eyes that the sun is setting on the way of her journey. This stanza gives us a clue of her passing by this world; however the speaker is not able to figure out that she is dead. She simply thinks the sun is setting on a regular basis.

20). In the fifth stanza, she fulfills every child’s dream of the parent’s constant attention by sleeping “in the cornucopia / of your left ear, out of the wind” (C. 21), safely surrounded by and encompassing his interest. This is, of course, undercut by the fact that it is not her father’s ear or attention at all, but an inanimate statue symbolizing frightening impermanence. The poem begins and ends with the recognition that what is lost is truly lost. She begins prophetically, “I shall never get you put together entirely”. Ending nestled in his ear, she seeks solace in the pattern of colored stars, knowing that she must find fulfillment in the world immediately around her, by “no longer….listen[ing] for the scrape of a keel on the blank stones of landing”(C. 21).

Margaret Atwood creates a haunting and beautiful piece describing the experience a sad child goes through. She structures her poem by using five stanzas; two stanzas consisting of five lines, then one stanza with ten lines, and ending with two stanzas consisting of five lines. She uses simple yet powerful diction, tone, metaphors, similes, symbolism, and imagery to show the unknown speaker giving advice to a sad child. Her message/theme is sadness is a part of life and there are different ways to deal with it, but when death comes the thing that one is being sad about doesn’t matter.