It is important to remember that you will NOT be allowed to take your annotated anthology in to the exam Eac Eac Cozy Apologia by Rita Dove Autobiographical poem in which Dove expresses her love for her husband Fred ID: 682299
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Slide1Slide2
Eac
Each guided poetry lesson will cover a different poem from the 17 in the anthology.
It is important to remember that you will NOT be allowed to take your annotated anthology in to the exam. Slide3
EacSlide4
EacSlide5
Cozy
Apologia
by Rita Dove
Autobiographical poem in which Dove expresses her love for her husband, Fred.
Cozy
Apologia depicts a contented relationship against a backdrop of a hurricane.
AO1
What does the word ‘
cozy
’ make you think of? What does it suggest about the atmosphere of the poem?
The poem is written in first person. How does this affect your response as a reader?Slide6
AO3 Context
Rita Dove is the youngest ever American Poet Laureate. She is the first African American to hold the position.
Rita Dove is the youngest ever American Poet Laureate and the first African American to hold the position.
The poem, written in 2003, refers to her struggle with society’s opinion about whom she should love. Dove is of African American descent while her husband, Fred is of German descent. Slide7
Glossary
Cozy
- American spelling of ‘cosy’
Exudes – oozes/pours out
Drying matte – drying to a dull finish
Dappled mare – horse with a mottled coat
Furrowed brow – wrinkled forehead
Reminiscences – memories
Sissy- girly
Cussing up – blowing up
Aerie
– a bird’s nest on a cliff or mountaintop
Melancholy – deep sadness
The poem mentions ‘Big Bad Floyd’ which is a reference to Hurricane Floyd, a powerful storm that ripped along the Atlantic Coast in 1999, killing many people and causing $6 billion dollars worth of damage. Slide8
Which poems could we compare it to?
Sonnet 43;
Valentine;
She Walks in Beauty;
Afternoons;
Manhunt
What’s it about?
Waiting for a storm to hit, the speaker stays snug and safe in her study. Though Hurricane Floyd disrupts the business of daily life, it also allows time for daydreams. So, with time on her hands, the speaker finds herself daydreaming about her partner.
Everything the speaker sees, from the rain outside to the ink on the page, reminds her of her partner. She pictures him as a knight in shining armour, protecting her. He's a vivid contrast, she thinks, to the 'worthless' boys she used to date. She's embarrassed by how content their cosy, ordinary lives have made them. Yet she draws comfort from filling the 'stolen time' resulting from the hurricane's approach with thoughts of Fred.
The word 'apologia' means 'a defence'. A
paraphrase
of the poem's title might be, 'A Defence of Cosiness'.Slide9
Stanza one
: Dove dedicates her poem to her husband – Fred. She affectionately pens her feelings and includes a medieval image of Fred being her hero and setting her free.
Stanza two
: Dove reminisces about her childish crushes at school. The storm is a metaphor for the bad and awkward memories of these crushes. Towards the end of the stanza, she pushes away the memories and the ‘day-to-day’ activity and focuses on her admiration for Fred.
Stanza three
: Dove and her husband are nestled away from the storm and are content and happy. Perhaps her
idealised
view of love isn’t necessarily evidenced in her experiences, suggesting that we shouldn’t settle for ordinary. She could also be challenging others and their opinion of her marriage. Slide10
For Fred
I
could pick anything and think of you—
This lamp, the wind-still rain, the glossy blue
My pen exudes, drying matte, upon the page.
I could choose any hero, any cause or age
And,
s
ure a
s
shooting arrow
s
to the heart,
Astride a dappled mare, legs braced as far apart
As standing in silver stirrups will allow—
There
you'll
be, with furrowed brow
And chain mail glinting, to set me free:
One eye smiling, the other firm upon the enemy.
Reader is immediately made aware that the poem is dedicated to a specific person – Fred.
‘anything’ emphasises the bond between the speaker and her partner. Romantic – anything she sees in front of her reminds her of her partner.
First person narrative – suggests autobiographical.
Symbol of understanding – shedding light – her partner understands her.
Cliched
simile of arrows and hearts. Sees partner as her hero. Medieval imagery of a knight in chainmail rescuing a damsel in distress.
sure, as, arrows – alliteration confident in her love.
Direct address to her partner. He is her protector – always safe with him.Slide11
Thi
s
po
s
t-po
s
tmodern age i
s
all bu
s
ine
ss
: compact di
s
k
s
And faxe
s
, a do-it-now-and-take-no-ri
s
k
s
Event. Today a hurricane is
nudging
up the coast,
Oddly male
:
Big Bad Floyd
, who brings a host
Of daydreams:
awkward remini
s
cences
Of
teenage crushe
s
on worthle
ss
boy
s
Whose only talent was to kiss you senseless.
They all had
sissy
names—Marcel, Percy, Dewey;
Were
thin as
licorice
and as chewy,
Sweet with a dark and hollow
center
. Floyd's
Sibilance in first two lines emphasises the speed of modern life.
Unexpected full stops in the middle of lines. Suggests the coming storm is disrupting her thoughts.
Verb ‘nudging’ personifies hurricane.
Hurricanes are normally named after women. This hurricane is male and it compels the speaker to think of men before her partner who caused turmoil in her life.
Sibilance of the boys from her youth contrasts unfavourably with the image of the strong hurricane and the earlier portrayal of her partner as a strong knight.
Not real men.
Simile – reinforces their weakness and awkwardness.
Superficially pleasant but dark underneath –capable of causing pain.Slide12
Cussing up a storm. You're
bunkered
in your
Aerie
, I'm
perched
in mine
(Twin desks, computers, hardwood floors):
We're content, but fall short of the Divine.
S
till, it'
s
embarra
ss
ing, thi
s
happine
ss
—
Who'
s
s
ati
s
fied
s
imply with what'
s
good for u
s
,
When ha
s the ordinary ever been news
? And yet, because nothing else will do To keep me from melancholy (call it blues),
I fill this stolen time with
you
.
The speaker and her partner are protected from the storm.
Reinforces idea that the poet is writing about her own experiences. Both partners are writers.
Their relationship is good but she acknowledges it’s not perfect.
Sibilance highlights the smoothness of the relationship.
Aware that their relationship has no drama and may appear boring to others who crave drama.
She wants nothing but him.
He stops her from feeling low. He makes her happy.
Direct address to her partner again.Slide13
Structure
Stanza one is made up of five rhyming couplets, to make a rhyme scheme AABBCCDDEE.
Rhyme scheme starts to break down, as if reflecting the disruption of the oncoming storm.
New rhyme scheme emerges: ABABCCDDDD. A suggestion of order and its progressive disruption thus representing the oncoming storm on the page.Slide14
The poem is written in relaxed, informal language, with lots of conversational
digressions
, as the poet flits from subject to subject. This disjointed feel is emphasised by the use of dashes to break up the text and by sentences that finish abruptly part of the way through a line. It's as if one thought interrupts another, in the flow of ideas.
The speaker uses a
metaphor
, comparing her partner to a knight in shining armour. The imagery of a knight rescuing his maiden is echoed by the
simile
'sure as shooting arrows to the heart'. Elsewhere, Dove uses a simile to suggest her old boyfriends were sweet but insubstantial: 'thin as
licorice
and as chewy,/ Sweet with a dark and hollow
center
'.
The hurricane itself is
personified
as 'Big Bad Floyd' who 'nudges' and 'cusses' in his 'oddly male' way and this helps make the connection with the actual men in the poem.
These disjointed images help to suggest the writer’s daydreaming state of mind to the reader