Introduction
The themes of the time of the day and seasons of the year are among the most popular with poets. Nature’s changes, different shades of light, people’s feelings: all of these and many other aspects can be reflected in poetic creations. Whereas evening and winter are most frequently associated with some dark and sinister changes, morning and spring are often related to positive and sunny emotions. Rita Dove’s “Dawn Revisited,” Linda Pastan’s “Waking,” and David Romtvedt’s “Sunday Morning Early” depict morning as a symbol of new life, new beginnings, and new opportunities.
Main body
All three poems are focused on the fresh start the morning can set. Whereas Romtvedt describes a real-life situation that happened in the past, Dove and Pastan tell imaginary stories with no concrete narrators or other characters. However, all poems are filled with the charm and vigor the morning brings. In Dove’s piece, the reader is invited to imagine a morning of a new, yet unspoiled day “with a second chance” (2). Poetic devices, such as alliteration, assonance, and personification, help to manifest the author’s optimistic mood. The instances of alliteration and assonance create an effect of special rhyme: “still stands, spreading” (Dove 4), “never know” (13), “rise in sunlight” (7), “blown open” (11). Personification inspires the reader to view the objects as important characters in the poem: “prodigal smell of biscuits” (Dove 8). Hence, even the most common things can be hiding a certain degree of magic for a keen observer.
In her poem, Dove encourages the readers to be curious and active rather than remain uninterested in the world around them. She says, “You’ll never know <…> / if you don’t get up and see” (Dove 13, 15). At the same time, the poet urges people that they should not forget about the past: “If you don’t look back, / the future never happens” (Dove 5-6). Meanwhile, unconditional and unlimited freedom is promised to those who are not afraid of making new starts: “The whole sky s yours <…> / blown open / to a blank page” (Dove 10, 11-12). Dove’s poem is a picturesque ode to a new day.
Romtvedt’s poem is also about nature, but at the same time, it concentrates on the communication between the narrator and his daughter. The intimacy of their relationship is emphasized by the placement of the two characters in the middle of the water, where there is no one to disturb or interrupt them: they “paddle red kayaks / across the lake” (Romtvedt 1-2). Numerous instances of alliteration and consonance help to recreate the tone of the situation by creating the atmosphere of the flow of the water. To name a few: “blue-black” (Romtvedt 8), “learning to leave well enough alone” (14), “live a life” (19), “start to speak then stop” (21). The author utilizes other devices to make the sense of the poem more emphatic, including onomatopoeia, synecdoche, and metaphor. Onomatopoeic words create a sound picture: “chirring / of grasshoppers” (Romtvedt 15-16), “clap of thunder” (17). Instances of synecdoche – “chirring <…> reach us” (Romtvedt 15-16) – and metaphor – “the church of the out of doors” (12) help to make the atmosphere more magical and reverent. Romtvedt’s poem is about the hope and inspiration that a weekend morning can bring.
Finally, the main theme of Pastan’s poem is the possibility of rebirth with each coming morning. However, unlike in the two previous pieces, Pastan does not see anything optimistic and promising in the new options. While she admits that a new morning is a new beginning, the poet associates it rather with a “struggle” than with an opportunity (Pastan 4). To make her opinion stronger, the author utilizes repetitions and similes: “In the first light / In the first slippery light” (Pastan 1-2), “still dark / Still warm” (19-20), “like fading / Lantern fish” (9-10). Consonance, assimilation, and assonance intensify the phonetic impact of the poem: “slippery light” (Pastan 2), “same struggle” (4), “half amphibious” (7), “runs sluggishly” (23), “terminal / Of tracks” (24-25), “far-flung” (26). The pessimistic tone of the poem is revealed in the author’s depiction of everyday routine, which seems almost impossible to bear once one reads how, “Thrown / From the hammock of sleep / Onto the ground” (Pastan 4-6), people have to repeat the same boring activities with a gloomy mood. Compared to the other two poems, this one is more pessimistic and discouraging.
Conclusion
Rita Dove’s “Dawn Revisited,” Linda Pastan’s “Waking,” and David Romtvedt’s “Sunday Morning Early” all depict morning as a part of something new. In each of the three pieces, the relationships between a human with nature and the world, as well as other people, are described. Whereas Dove and Romtvedt consider morning as a symbol of new opportunities, Pastan views it as the beginning of another uninteresting and difficult day. Despite some divergences in the shades of representation, all poets have managed to paint a vivid picture of a morning using carefully crafted poetic devices.
Works Cited
Dove, Rita. “Dawn Revisited.”Poetry Foundation, 1999. Web.
Pastan, Linda. “Waking.”Poetry Foundation, 1982. Web.
Romtvedt, David. “Sunday Morning Early.”The Sun. 2009. Web.