Last Words by Rita Dove Literary Analysis Essay Sample

I interpret Rita's "Last Words" poem to be written by someone dying. According to the first line of the poem, "I do not want to die in a poem," which indicates that someone is writing a poem when they are dying. The author may have had a near-death experience and chose to write a poem about it. In the first stanza she uses two different type of metaphors when she says "the sun howling why the moon sighing why not." (Dove stanza 1) When I read that I took it in as the sun is this bright light and possibly could be God and she is asking God why she is dying and the moon is the dark or could even be the grim reaper and he is explaining why her time has come and maybe she's the person that says "why not." I even saw this as a mental battle of someone trying to figure out if they are ready for death or not. The word "why" and "why not" are italicized by Rita for a specific reason in those two lines, and I thought the poetic structure was different because a poetic structure usually organizes the words in a line, but in this case, I feel as though Rita is arranging the words so that a different interpretation can be given, such as the possibility that they could be speaking as God or even the grim reaper. In stanza two she says "I don't want to die in bed which is a poem gone wrong" (Dove stanza 2) I thought this line was very helpful to me when I was interpreting this poem because this line could helped me figure out what the poem is saying because when the Rita says "which is a poem gone wrong" it made me think that if this poem ends then the poem went wrong and Dove wouldn't publish a poem that was wrong so it made me think did this poem even have an ending; which I will get to at the end of this essay. In stanza 3, Rita continues her poem by saying, "I will not meet death in a field like the dot punctuating a page." The quotation makes me think deep thoughts about the phrase "I will not meet death in a field like the dot punctuating a page," (Dove stanza 2), since it is a metaphor, and metaphors have a deeper meaning when used in poetry. The dot could be interpreted as meaning "the end," and Rita may be implying that she will not die because death is not the end. The stanzas 4 and 6 of the poem also helped me with my interpretation because when I read "I do not want to pass away...now that is a good death" (Dove stanzas 4 - 6), I interpreted it as the individual in this situation does not want to die in someone's arms like a "gentle parentheses" meaning someone's arm will cover them as they pass away. She made a firm decision that she was prepared for death. In her line, "Let the end come as the best parts of living have come" (Dove stanza 5), Rita has my brain thinking that she is saying death only comes when your life begins to improve. I interpreted her statement differently and thought about my own life because, even when things seem to be going well, dark clouds always lurk around the corner, ready to catch me unawares. However, I feel as though she is saying the same thing with a permanent ending. However, I do not believe this poem ends since Rita Dove did not add a period at the end of her poem, suggesting that the story continues and may even continue to the afterlife since she was discussing the sun (light/God) and the moon (darkness) and Rita does not know what happens in the afterlife or whatever occurs after death. In general, I interpret this poem by Rita Dove as someone writing a poem as they were dying, but they never completed it. Perhaps someone is also watching someone die, but they cannot conclude the poem since they do not know what happens after death. This is the reason why the poem ends without a period. Finally, I would like to point out the last line of this poem which states, "what nonsense you say that is not even worth writing down," which was italicized. The writer may have been conveying that nonsense thing are not worth writing about, as it is more valuable to write about important and challenging issues that are rarely discussed like this poem. Dove breaks down barriers and pushes the envelope in this poem by tackling a subject that is difficult to discuss.