My Process of Analyzing Rita Dove's Poem Blues in Half-Tones, 3/4 Time

Rita Dove's Blues in Half-Tones, ¾ Time was very challenging to comprehend and especially to decipher a single meaning. Although, after committing a generous amount of time alone to read and reread the poem, I was able to draw a few questionable conclusions. The first time that I read the poem, I simply read it to get a feel for the language and style. The second time I read it through I began to pay closer attention to the specific words that were italicized and in parentheses. I immediately thought that this poem could be about slavery based on some of the metaphors and language used. For example, I thought that "under the skin" could refer to a racial issue. I also thought that the line "I'm not for sale because I'm free" could be related to the business of selling slaves. After raising such questions in my head, I put the poem away and came back to it later in the day. As I re-read the poem this time, I tried to remain open to other possibilities. While slavery could be a basis for some of the metaphors, I attempted to conclude some other meanings.

The more I independently read the poem, it became clear that an elder/adult was giving advice to someone younger. I came to this idea based on some of Dove's language choices. For example, she includes the phrases "sweet thing" and "my dear." However, I was confused regarding the phrases "not a wing nor a prayer" and "Buck 'n' wing." I also was puzzled by the last stanza because I could not relate it to the preceding stanzas of the poem. To develop my interpretation, I focused on the first line of the poem, "From nothing comes nothing, don't you know that by now?" This began to develop the idea in my mind of someone speaking to a child or young adult about becoming successful and how they could not become what they dream of being without hard work. Referring to the first line of the last stanza, "But are you sure you lost it?" I tried to think of what the individual may have lost. I thought it may be an audition for a part in a play and as I looked through the poem I still had some unanswered questions about the language and metaphors.