Rita+Dove

=Rita Dove= By: Moleshia Little [] Rita Frances Dove was born on August 28, 1952 in Akron, Ohio. At an early age, Dove was a great student and invited to the White House as a Presidential Scholar out of high school. She attended Ohio’s Miami University, and graduated in 1973 summa cum laude. She also studied in Germany before returning to the states and earning her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. In 1980, she published //The Yellow House on the Corner// and //Museum in 1983//. Dove is known for her language and ideas and for portraying black experience in America. In May of 1993, Dove was named the poet laureate of the United States and was the first African American appointed to the position as well as the first woman and the youngest, at 41 years old.
 * Rita Dove Biography:**

__ [] __ In water-heavy nights behind grandmother's porch We knelt in the tickling grasses and whispered: Linda's face hung before us, pale as a pecan, And it grew wise as she said: 'A boy's lips are soft, As soft as baby's skin.' The air closed over her words. A firefly whirred near my ear, and in the distance I could hear streetlamps ping Into miniature suns Against a feathery sky.
 * Adolescence I**

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After reading Rita Dove's poem, "Adolescence I", I noticed that it allowed me to easily relate to it as me being an adolescent once in my life as well. From the beginning, I picked up on Dove's joyful, calm tone that allowed me to read it with grace. It was as if she was reminiscing on the good times she had as an adolescent, although towards the end it seems as if her tone went from excited to somewhat of a sadness when she talks about, " A firefly whirred near my ear, and in the distance I could hear streetlamps ping into the miniature suns against a feathery sky", which in my eyes interpreted that she was disappointed that her late night sneak-out with her friends was coming to an end. I also noticed that she used figurative language such as personification and metaphor. When using the metaphor, "As soft as baby's skin", Dove emphasized the intricate details of how her friend Linda characterized a boy's lips. The personification of the air "clos[ing] over her words" sheds light onto the fact of how momentous and delicate that moment was to where it seemed as if the air even captured the words with ease. For me, I enjoyed reading this poem because it is a poem that teenagers or even older people can relate to. It allows for whoever is reading it to be taken back into that time and refresh those old memories, which I believe was the primary purpose of this poem. I also became aware of the length of this poem, which is fairly short for a regular poem. It seems like, in my opinion, that she made her poem short like that to showcase how your adolescent years are short as well. Dove wanted to engage the reader rather than make it seem like any other poem.

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Just when hope withers, the visa is granted. The door opens to a street like in the movies, clean of people, of cats; except it is your street you are leaving. A visa has been granted, 'provisionally'-a fretful word. The windows you have closed behind you are turning pink, doing what they do every dawn. Here it's gray. The door to the taxicab waits. This suitcase, the saddest object in the world. Well, the world's open. And now through the windshield the sky begins to blush as you did when your mother told you what it took to be a woman in this life. []
 * Exit**

After reading this poem, I automatically took note of the melancholy tone that was evident from the beginning. From my analysis, I felt that this poem was talking about "exiting" into womanhood and starting a journey by yourself. She uses symbolism when showing how the suitcase represents the "saddest object in the world" and from my observation, I feel that the suitcase is what's holding in her thoughts and the things she hasn't got to do as an adolescent/pre-teen that she now gets to do when the world becomes "open". As I was reading, this poem reminded me of how I came out of my somewhat of an immature stage when I began high school. Throughout my years in high school is where I can relate to this poem because just like Dove's world was open my world was open as well. As a young woman, I started to begin new adventures and had to figure out like Dove how "to be a woman in this life". With her use of metaphor, she cleverly contrasts a door opening to a street with that of life when you are exposed to new avenues. To me, I would recommend this poem to anyone one simply because anyone can relate to it. Dove has a way of making sure her poems are relatable in order for her readers to hopefully make a connection in their minds so that they get a taste of how Dove thinks as a poet. When she uses the telegraphic sentence, "Here it's gray", it seems like she did that in order to make the reader pause and think about a "gray" or bad time in their life before the taxicab came and took them to a better place in their lives and opened up new doors. For Dove, advancing into womanhood was something that had to come with trials and tribulations as well as patience as she stated throughout the poem



I was four in this photograph fishing with my grandparents at a lake in Michigan. My brother squats in poison ivy. His Davy Crockett cap sits squared on his head so the raccoon tail flounces down the back of his sailor suit.
 * Fifth Grade Autobiography**

My grandfather sits to the far right in a folding chair, and I know his left hand is on the tobacco in his pants pocket because I used to wrap it for him every Christmas. Grandmother's hips bulge from the brush, she's leaning into the ice chest, sun through the trees printing her dress with soft luminous paws.

I am staring jealously at my brother; the day before he rode his first horse, alone. I was strapped in a basket behind my grandfather. He smelled of lemons. He's died— but I remember his hands.

This poem by Rita Dove almost immediately paints a vivid picture in my mind, while reading, because of the intense imagery and detail that Dove compiled into the poem. She states phrases such as, "My brother squats in poison ivy" or "My grandfather sits to the far right in a folding chair", and from this first stanza, it is analyzed that this poem is obviously about Dove looking through old memories, the picture, which allow the reader to feel as though they are in her state of mind as well as bring back memories in the reader's mind, which is actually what it did to me. Recently, in April, my own grandfather passed away from a massive heart attack, so towards the end as she was saying, "I remember his hands", it brought back all those fun and loving memories that I too had like Dove of my grandfather's hands and character. So while reading, Dove caused me to evoke feelings of pathos as I remembered my grandfather the way that she did. So her goal of getting the reader in an emotional mindset is captured within the poem. What I also noticed was that she had use of the poetic technique of enjambments. These can be seen in the first stanza starting with, "His Davy Crockett cap..." to "the back of his sailor suit", or in the second stanza when she says, "My grandfather sits to the far right...because I used to wrap it for him every Christmas." these multiple enjambments force the reader's eye to the next line before he or she has completed processing the thought. It creates tension between the words and ideas and can allow for a flow of ideas that has a continued enforcement of the poem's main idea without the disruption of punctuation.

After all, there's no need to say anything at first. An orange, peeled and quartered, flares like a tulip on a wedge wood plate Anything can happen. Outside the sun has rolled up her rugs and night strewn salt across the sky. My heart is humming a tune I haven't heard in years! Quiet's cool flesh— let's sniff and eat it. There are ways to make of the moment a topiary so the pleasure's in walking through.
 * Flirtation**

After reading, "Flirtation", I noticed that the tone was quite romantic and optimistic. This also shed light on the theme of this poem which is seeking an interest in someone or like the title flirting with someone. Throughout this poem, the detailed imagery of nature is used to describe flirting. Dove incorporates,"an orange, peeled and quartered", as a visual for two people who have a strong attraction towards each other. That special thing that draws them together is compared to something fresh and natural, which is captured through the peeling of an orange. In line 5 which states, " like a tulip on a wedge wood plate", the speaker begins to compare that to a relationship. Towards the middle of the poem, the speaker writes about entering into the night as the sun sets with the "strewn salt across the sky." The salt acts as a metaphor for stars sprinkled across the night sky, making the speaker's heart feel complete. In the end, Dove shows the reader how they can make the best out of any moment as long as they make sure it makes them happy. For me, I feel like anyone can relate to this poem. Everyone has been in that position to where they have flirted with someone and felt that whimsical, warm feeling in their heart like Dove did. I that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. It's a natural human reaction. With this being free verse, it allows the reader to focus more on the subject and passion of the poem rather than how it doesn't have a natural rhyme scheme. Because of the excitement that Dove exhibits throughout this poem, it also lets the reader into her life when she states, "My heart is humming a tune I haven't heard in years!", which can make the reader assume that something unfortunate happened to her a while back in her life that made her illuminate this newfound joy.

=**Works Cited**= "Rita Dove Poems." //Www.poemhunter.com//. 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. Biography.com Editors. "Rita Dove Biography." //Biography.com//. A&E Televison Networks. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.D