“Foxtrot Fridays” Through a New Critical Lens New criticism is a common approach to analyze poetry through, and takes all elements of the text into account, but not the author’s intent or reader’s personal identification. “Foxtrot Fridays” is a good poem for this approach because it is relevant to the reader and easy to understand. This poem also has an interesting structure that places emphasis on the both the poem’s subject and elements, adding to its organic unity. “Foxtrot Fridays” is an accessible poem with a strong rhythm and overarching tensions between the calculated yet graceful diction and imagery. “Foxtrot Fridays” is very accessible to readers because it is about something we have all experienced – dancing. It references icons
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The rhythm that structure creates not only makes us feel like we are present in the poem, but is also evident of the message in the poem itself. We see the lines “easy as taking – one day at a time” (ln 9-10) and “stride brush stride” (ln 4) is its own line. It shows how dancing is a not only a distraction from your worries, but a way to way to organize them. Focusing on the steps instead, she is working through her problems like the steps of a dance, breaking them down and taking one thing at a time. The structure of the text plays into her setting and tells a lot about the poem and its overall …show more content…
There is a lot of diction that gives us a sense of compartmentalization that helps underscore the meaning of Dove’s poem. When she talks about “a day each week to tuck in the grief” (ln 1-3) it really gives you a sense of division and breaking down a struggle to fit it into your daily life. She also enforces this concept by counting “one man and one woman” (ln 11-12) separating the two and measuring within the poem, as in “the space of a song” (ln 16). The concept of counting wonders (ln 17) also fits into this category by making everything in her life measurable and easy to distinguish and separate one thing from another. This aspect of her poem demonstrates the ability to take an ambiguous trial and make it a tangible, conquerable object. Dove also uses a lot of elegant imagery that romanticizes the setting and the struggles she mentions. When she mentions pearls and “smooth as Nat King Cole’s slow satin smile” (ln 6-8) we get a strong sense of the luxurious and glossy night she is anticipating. She closes the poem on the note of “just the sweep of paradise” (ln 15) that carries the image of being whisked away to a place without worry. The whole poem reads like a polished dance routine. The contrast of these two feelings illustrated in her poem stresses the balance we seek in our daily
The rhythm that structure creates not only makes us feel like we are present in the poem, but is also evident of the message in the poem itself. We see the lines “easy as taking – one day at a time” (ln 9-10) and “stride brush stride” (ln 4) is its own line. It shows how dancing is a not only a distraction from your worries, but a way to way to organize them. Focusing on the steps instead, she is working through her problems like the steps of a dance, breaking them down and taking one thing at a time. The structure of the text plays into her setting and tells a lot about the poem and its overall …show more content…
There is a lot of diction that gives us a sense of compartmentalization that helps underscore the meaning of Dove’s poem. When she talks about “a day each week to tuck in the grief” (ln 1-3) it really gives you a sense of division and breaking down a struggle to fit it into your daily life. She also enforces this concept by counting “one man and one woman” (ln 11-12) separating the two and measuring within the poem, as in “the space of a song” (ln 16). The concept of counting wonders (ln 17) also fits into this category by making everything in her life measurable and easy to distinguish and separate one thing from another. This aspect of her poem demonstrates the ability to take an ambiguous trial and make it a tangible, conquerable object. Dove also uses a lot of elegant imagery that romanticizes the setting and the struggles she mentions. When she mentions pearls and “smooth as Nat King Cole’s slow satin smile” (ln 6-8) we get a strong sense of the luxurious and glossy night she is anticipating. She closes the poem on the note of “just the sweep of paradise” (ln 15) that carries the image of being whisked away to a place without worry. The whole poem reads like a polished dance routine. The contrast of these two feelings illustrated in her poem stresses the balance we seek in our daily