Poetry as a Part of Literature - Essay Example

+ Poetry is a part of literature that uses stylistic devices to bring meaning to words and ideas they want to pass across to the readers. The stylistic devices used by the poets may include the following: symbolism, imagery, metaphors, and many more. A poem always has a meaning to the reader who interprets its meaning in different ways. The poem “Daystar” by Rita Dove is a typical example of literary works that send crucial messages that are vital in the contemporary society. From the understanding of the poem, both parents should participate actively in the upbringing of the children. The poem has a whole bunch of ideas concerning parenthood and the roles of both the parents in bringing up a home. It tells a story of a complete family comprising a father, a mother and children. The mother is a homemaker and takes care of her family by doing home chores such as cleaning the diapers and ensuring her children are safe. The dad on the other hand works to provide for the family, it be evidenced by the fact that it is in the evening that we are introduced to her husband who probably is from work. She tends to the needs of her husband as said in the second last stanza of the poem, “later that night when Thomas rolled over and lurched into her.” From the last two stanzas, the poem introduces the relationship of a couple in parenthood. These two people are in very different situations. One goes to work to provide for the family, the other takes care of the family by looking after the kids. In all these occurrences, we see the way roles are divided in the running of family affairs. The situation of the woman is that which makes her selflessly dedicate herself to her roles as a mother. Despite the fact that she needs time for herself, she has no freedom at all to be herself in the family; she puts her family first in line and only gets the pleasure of resting for an hour. The rest of the time, she is a mother and a wife. This shows her dedication to parenthood. From the last two stanzas, we see the way the woman is submissive to Thomas by taking care of his needs as a husband. Thomas does not notice how tired the wife has been from the day’s activities. She does not complain about it to her husband instead she does what she wants her to do. This portrays Thomas as a man who is not caring about his wife because we are shown from the last stanza that “Thomas rolled and lurched into into her, she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour.” This means that as a wife she is withdrawn from all the husband does to her. This should not be the case in a family; the couple must always have a communication between them. As a result, this hinders parenthood because it presents a woman who does things to impress her husband without really expressing how she feels. The poem also shows a relationship between a mother and her daughter. Her daughter is called Liza who from the poem she has a close connection with the mother this is evident that when she wakes up from her nap she looks for where her mother is.This is the connection that has been created from the bond that is there when mother takes care of her children. It gives them security and a sense of belonging. Therefore, it is important for both the parents to take part in the upbringing of the children. We are not told of the relationship between the children and Thomas but it is not good probably because the whole day we see Liza only relating to the mother. Liza is a young girl as shown in the poem’s fifth stanza. She is oblivious of what the mother is doing during her free hour and even she goes ahead to wonder what the mother is thinking out all alone. A young girl would need the attention of both the parents to grow up the right way. It is therefore the role of both the parents to bring up the children and be role models to them. Rita Dove employs various stylistic devices to articulate her issues; first, the title of the poem “Daystar” is metaphorical in that it represents the whole concept of the woman’s feeling of being free. In the poem, the woman has an hour each day for herself and that is her daystar. The woman enjoys her free resting time in that hour. The poet goes ahead to describe her alone time as “building palaces” and that is what she does best in her free time, just thinking of the good things that she has deprived herself of. This is important in parenthood because it calls for sacrifice to take care of a family, and this self-denial attitude is good. There is also use of imagery in the poem first to describe the tired woman from the activities of the day “a doll slumped behind the door.” The woman is dragging the chair from the house to the garage and this is because of the type of activities she had to do by being a good mother. She has less energy left by the time she goes. There is also use of imagery when the poet says that, “diapers are steaming on the line.” In essence, this reveals to us the responsibilities that come with parenthood. There are things that one has to do every day for the family and it calls for sacrifice The poem is also written in a simple way. Use of simple words has been used as a style in that the poem is understandable to its reader who is perceived to be concerned about parenthood. This way they get to read the poem and understand the words used to articulate issues arising from the subject of parenthood In conclusion, Rita Dove has succeeded in advocating for the parents to both take the roles of bringing the children up. Parents need to work together in ensuring that the children are comfortable and above all, there should be that communication between the parents to allow the children to grow in an environment full of love from both the parents. Read More