Biography
Rita Dove was born in Ohio in 1952. Her father was one of the first black chemists in the tire industry. She was encouraged to be well-read and excelled in high school. Dove attended Miami University in Ohio then received a Fulbright to study at the University of Tübingen in Germany. She met her husband, German writer Fred Viebahn at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her first published works were a poetry collection titled The Yellow House on the Corner. Her verse-novel Thomas and Beulah later won the Pulitzer Prize.
"Poet Brenda Shaughnessy noted that 'Dove is a master at transforming a public or historic element—re-envisioning a spectacle and unearthing the heartfelt, wildly original private thoughts such historic moments always contain.'"
In 1993, when she was forty years old, Dove was named US Poet Laureate. She was not only the youngest person to ever hold the title, but also the first African American to ever be elected to the position.
Literary Movement & Time Period
Postmodernism (1945-present)
The postmodern era of writing includes the aspect of absenece of traditon and structure. Given that Dove was raised and worte during the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans, which was a time period filled with riots and shootings, many of the conditions that were once normal were drastically changed. Also desegregation during this time period was also out of the norm. Rita Dove exemplifies this in her literary works.
I acknowledge my status as a stranger:
Inappropriate clothes, odd habits
Out of sync with wasp and wren.
I admit I don't know how
To sit still or move without purpose.
I prefer books to moonlight, statuary to trees.
But this lawn has been leveled for looking,
So I kick off my sandals and walk its cool green.
Who claims we're mere muscle and fluids?
My feet are the primitives here.
As for the rest-- ah, the air now
Is a tonic of absence, bearing nothing
But news of a breeze.
Title
Reverie is a dreamlike state or daydream and open air implies that the mind is clear and that the thoughts are refined.
Paraphrase
I know I don't belong here.
I am wearing odd clothing and behave unusually.
I don't fit in with the elements of nature.
I don't know how
To be still or walk without reason.
I favor books over the light of the night, sculpting over nature.
The grass is cut so that the lawn is not an eyesore
So I take off my shoes and walk through it.
Who says humans are just muscle, flesh, blood and water?
My feet don't belong here.
Regardless-- the air
Is a refresher of lack, having nothing
But wind.
Connotations
The alliteration used in line 1, "status as a stranger" gives a sharp sound which show that the society that she is now a part of can be harsh.
The asssonance used throughout the first stanza gives a long "o" sound. Diction such as "don't", "know", "move", and "moonlight" all contain the long "o" sound. This sound exemlfies all the new suprises that she has coming her way.
The metaphor used in line 7 was the "lawn". The lawn is being compared to the new society that she is in and how previously she was an observer. But when she "[kicked] off [her] sandals and [walked] its cool green" she was breaking that barrier and entered the society.
Throughout the entire piece ther is no end-rhyme. The fact that there is not an end-rhyme exhibits how what she was doing was insonsistant and out of the norm for society at that time.
Throughout the poem Dove uses parallelism. By using presesnt tense diction such as "I acknowledge", "I admit", "I prefer", adnd "I kick" shows that she herself is currently still going through teh struggles of trying to be welcomed into the society that she is aloof from.
Attitude/Shift
At the beginning of the piece, the tone was very secluded and aloof. By Dove using diction such as "stranger", "odd", and "out of sync", shows that she was not included with this group and was not welcomed by the others. The shift took place in lines 7 and 8. "But this lawn has been leveled for looking, so I kick off my sandals and walk its cool green." During this shift she realizes that although she is alone in this new society, she is cerating a whole different species in this society. This can relate to her being the first African American poet laureate. Therefore, the tone of the second stanza is audacious. Although she is alone, she has opened the door for a whole new "species" in a society.
Theme
Seclusion can lead to breaking boundaries in a society.
Title
In this poem, the speaker is aware that she is in an environment where humans do not belong but when the wind blows and she feels the refreshing air, she believes that she could belong anywhere.
Dove wrote this piece in first person which made the speaker's account realistic and as human as possible.
Archetypal Perspective
Haven vs. Wilderness
When the speaker first steps into the yard, she feels unwelcome and as if she does not belong with the natural elements surrounding her but after noticing the air and its feeling of absence, she finds a haven-like environment in a place that was once uncomfortable.
Character Perspective
The speaker is at odds with her universal position as a human being because she has found this haven in an otherwise wild environment and is not able to adjust because she does not belong. By the end of the poem, the speaker has found comfort in the environment because she has come to terms with herself and her surroundings.
"Rita Dove." : The Poetry Foundation. The Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
