For Sophie who will be in first grade in the year 2000
Introduction
The poem “for Sophie who will be in first grade in the year 2000” is an amazing piece by Rita Dove. She possesses a great skill of creating tension within the poem and exquisite linguistic tapestry of using connotation and denotation. I have been compelled to analyze this particular poem by the recurring urge to elude from the fatality of reality. To be precise, the melodic subject of the poem is derived from a nostalgic tone and assiduous efforts of a mother who is trying to reach out to a child. The mother is concerned with the future endeavors of the child. She offers to protect and help her soldier on through the savageries of adulthood. With this poem, Dove reveals her “contrived” perception of the world as she sees it. The metaphoric element in her dazzling and lyrical words has been given an opportunity to sentimentalize our intricate reaction. She achieves all this contingent excellence through her ability to generate a lingering tension throughout the piece.
Analysis
Dove charmingly welcomes us to experience the future prepared for a child by those who preceded her. Throughout the poem, Dove beams in her retrospective irony and cleverly woven metaphor. She portrays the world as a dilapidated gift that needs to be handled carefully as the persona says in stanza two that “wait a moment before you pick it up. Study its scratches…”. With an affluent and a personified spirit of inveigling imagery, Dove connotes that we have to happily accept the sorrows which are inseparable from the “gift” that we’ve been forced to receive.
“No bright joy, this world we’ve left you. Even the wrapping is torn…” Dove steps out of the popular mindset and perspective of many individuals to itemize the misgivings of life. From stanza one, she creates a strong description of adult life by a momentary usage of prolific words such as “grease-flecked and askew”. The reason for this is that Dove aims at presenting how absurd and twisted the adulthood life is presumed to be. The image created by stanza one brims with steady youthful will power and energy. A piece of encouragement and advice is made in stanza two. She tells the child to handle every detail of life with absolute care. This is because according to the persona, the conundrums of life require patience and diligence to overcome.
Conclusion
Close analysis of the poem “For Sophie Who Will be in First Grade in the Year 2000” by Dove, we get a glimpse of her mastery in narrative poetry. Reading between the lines innately develops in us an exemplary and vivid description of the life ahead. We are given an opportunity to relate with the life journey of Sophie who is an embodiment of a place we once were. Her understanding of life suggests that life is full of twists and turns. She implies that growth is itself a path of wisdom and there is no way to predict which direction the “new bud” will take. The poem beams with intense lines of pieces of advice. She elevates the journey of life even through a metaphysical dimension by complementing strong attention of figurative details to achieve her ultimate standpoint.