Thursday, February 27, 2014

Rita Dove:Adolescence I

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



Commentary

This was a very simple poem. This poem is describing a time when girls may be having "girl time." These are teenage girls on a cloudy night sitting in the grass, outside speaker's grandmother's porch having a discussion on a popular topic for most teenage girls, boys. This poem shows how teenage girls interact with one another as friends. It also shows how close the speaker and Lind where because they were at her grandmother's house. 
  Dove paints the poem with imagery. She explain to use how that night was by using vivid details such as "water-heavy nights." These details are used  to put the reader in the the actual setting and make the readers feel as if they are there. She also uses the figurative language of similes to comparing a boys' soft lips to a baby's soft skin. She also compared pining of the streetlights coming on to miniature sun's in the sky.   I believe the speaker in this poem is Dove and she is reminiscing on the times she was a young adults and the nights she experienced. Personification is used make the images that you are reading more vivid and the author does this by giving the grass the humanistic trait of tickling someone, "we knelt in the tickling grass..."  The tone of this poem is relaxing due to them  sitting in the grass on a cloudy night. I believe the theme of this poem is really just to show how teenage girls talk with there friends. I really  like this poem even though it's simple. It remind me of something I would do with my best friend and a conversation I  would have with her. I can really relate to this poem and her descriptive adjectives and use of figurative language really helps me picture myself in this poem. 

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