To Dorthy
You are not beautiful, exactly.
You are beautiful, inexactly.
You let a weed grow by the mulberry
and a mulberry grow by the house.
So close, in the personal quiet
of a windy night, it brushes the wall
and sweeps away the day till we sleep.
A child said it, and it seemed true:
“Things that are lost are all equal.”
But it isn’t true. If I lost you,
the air wouldn’t move, nor the tree grow.
Someone would pull the weed, my flower.
The quiet wouldn’t be yours. If I lost you,
I’d have to ask the grass to let me sleep.
Title
The title of the poem is To Dorthy. Based on the title I can infer that he, Marvin Bell is writing to a young lady, maybe his lover named Dorthy. From this I can predict that the poem will be about maybe an ex lover or about someone he is currently in love with.
Paraphrase
Line 1: "You are not beautiful.exactly". I think Marvin is trying to say that 'Dorthy' is different from the normal stereotype of beautiful. She is her own self form of beauty. Line 2: "You are beautiful, inexactly". He says that she is inexactly beautiful, meaning she is not the your everyday beautiful. I think he uses the term inexactly to say like you are not beautiful...but you are still beautiful, or different. Line 3: "You let a weed grow by the mulberry". I may be thinking about this wrong but I think he is saying that she enjoys the little things in life, even when she has the bigger things. A weed is like a annoying piece of grass that most people cut but she let that grow by a Mulberry, which is a big deciduous tree. It could also mean she is not letting the small things effect her, so she is focused. Line 4: "and a mulberry grow by the house". I believe line 4 is saying the same thing as line 3 because she is letting something small grow by something bigger. A mulberry is obviously smaller than a house. Line 5: "So close, in the personal quiet". This line may mean that she keeps to herself and does not need anyone but herself. Line 6: "of a windy night, it brushes the wall". The tree at this point is brushing up against the house. So all the things around her now starting to get to her. Line 7: "and sweeps away the day till we sleep". This line means it her problems get to her so much that she cannot even stop thinking about them til she sleeps. Line 8: "A child said it, and it seemed true:". Something that a child said stuck with them and they feel the child is right. Line 9: ""Things that are lost are all equal"". This is the quote the child said. This line is saying everything and everyone dies, that is why it is equal. Line 10: "But it isn't true. If I lost you". He is saying it may be equal but it does not have to be your life forever. Now he goes into what life without her would be like. Line 11: "the air wouldn't move, nor the tree grow". If the girl, Dorthy, were to die then his life would pause at the moment. Everything would be dead to him. Line 12: "Someone would pull the weed, my flower". If she were to die then someone would be pulling the life out of him. Disconnecting his life line, the flower. Line 13: "The quiet wouldn't be yours. If I lost you,". The silence would not be filled her grace, it would just be dead. Line 14: "I'd have to ask the grass to let me sleep". If Dorthy dies then he could no longer live with himself, he would have to lie in death with her. Stanza 1: Stanza 1 as a whole is talking about how perfect Dorthy is and how she couldn't be better. Stanza 2: Stanza 2 as a whole is talking about how he, Marvin, could not live without Dorthy. If she was to die he would have to lie in death with her.
Connotation
The literal is saying that Dorthy is not pretty in a stereotypical way that she is her own person. If Dorthy, was to die then Marvin would want the grass to let him sleep. Beyond the literal meaning Marvin is saying that Dorthy is beautiful in her own way and that he would die for her. Marvin uses figurative language to make Dorthy seem more exuberant and more like a perfect woman. Throughout the story we see imagery with the wind and the trees and movement. It creates a sort of allusion in my opinion. Another figurative language we see is metaphors. He says "Someone would pull my weed, my flower". He gives the flower a real life sense, almost giving the sense of a heart stopping. He uses simple word choice but the main words that are relevant to the story are 'beautiful, grow, and lost'. This words have a positive meaning because They explain Dorthy and how he feels about her. It sends a positive message throughout the poem, letting the reader know Dorthy is something special. He uses allusion from tree's, to weeds, to wind. He wants you to see the imagery of the poem by telling how the wind blows and how the tree grows next to the house. He establishes sarcasm at the end by saying he wants the grass to let him sleep with her. It is sarcastic in a way that he wants to sleep but he really wants to die with her.
Attitude/Tone
The author has many tones int his poem. It shifts from loving, to appreciative, to sad. At the beginning of the poem Marvin sounds very much in love. He is calling her beautiful and saying all these good attributes about her. Then the tone goes to appreciative. He says "you let a weed grow by a mulberry". He sounds really happy even of something so small showing that he appreciates her. Then towards the end the tone is sad but beautiful. He talk about if he lost her that he would want to be left alone and let sleep. He would be saddened so much by losing her that he would want to die himself.
Shifts
The overall aspect of the poems shifts from happiness to sadness. In the first stanza Marvin talks about how he loves and appreciates her for her difference from the norm. Then in the second stanza we see it gets a little deep when he talks about what would happen if he lost her. "someone would pull the weed, my flower". He says if he lost her his life line would be cut off and he would not be complete. From the beginning to the end we see that he loves her and he would be empty without her.
Title/New Perspective
Now that I have analyzed the poem and see the title again I can say I understand why the poem is called to Dorthy. I am sure that the title is referring to him speaking to someone he loves, someone he cannot live without. 'To Dorthy' means to the one I love, he loves Dorthy so he writes her a love letter and this is the title because it is all about Dorthy.
Theme
The theme of the passage is love. The poem is about a man who has fallen in love with a girl, Dorthy, for all the right reasons. He see's her true beauty deeper than just the surface, and he will do anything to be with her. Marvin is saying that Dorthy is perfect for him, if he lost her he himself would want to die to be with her. In this poem, Marvin shows the true meaning of love.
You are not beautiful, exactly.
You are beautiful, inexactly.
You let a weed grow by the mulberry
and a mulberry grow by the house.
So close, in the personal quiet
of a windy night, it brushes the wall
and sweeps away the day till we sleep.
A child said it, and it seemed true:
“Things that are lost are all equal.”
But it isn’t true. If I lost you,
the air wouldn’t move, nor the tree grow.
Someone would pull the weed, my flower.
The quiet wouldn’t be yours. If I lost you,
I’d have to ask the grass to let me sleep.
Title
The title of the poem is To Dorthy. Based on the title I can infer that he, Marvin Bell is writing to a young lady, maybe his lover named Dorthy. From this I can predict that the poem will be about maybe an ex lover or about someone he is currently in love with.
Paraphrase
Line 1: "You are not beautiful.exactly". I think Marvin is trying to say that 'Dorthy' is different from the normal stereotype of beautiful. She is her own self form of beauty. Line 2: "You are beautiful, inexactly". He says that she is inexactly beautiful, meaning she is not the your everyday beautiful. I think he uses the term inexactly to say like you are not beautiful...but you are still beautiful, or different. Line 3: "You let a weed grow by the mulberry". I may be thinking about this wrong but I think he is saying that she enjoys the little things in life, even when she has the bigger things. A weed is like a annoying piece of grass that most people cut but she let that grow by a Mulberry, which is a big deciduous tree. It could also mean she is not letting the small things effect her, so she is focused. Line 4: "and a mulberry grow by the house". I believe line 4 is saying the same thing as line 3 because she is letting something small grow by something bigger. A mulberry is obviously smaller than a house. Line 5: "So close, in the personal quiet". This line may mean that she keeps to herself and does not need anyone but herself. Line 6: "of a windy night, it brushes the wall". The tree at this point is brushing up against the house. So all the things around her now starting to get to her. Line 7: "and sweeps away the day till we sleep". This line means it her problems get to her so much that she cannot even stop thinking about them til she sleeps. Line 8: "A child said it, and it seemed true:". Something that a child said stuck with them and they feel the child is right. Line 9: ""Things that are lost are all equal"". This is the quote the child said. This line is saying everything and everyone dies, that is why it is equal. Line 10: "But it isn't true. If I lost you". He is saying it may be equal but it does not have to be your life forever. Now he goes into what life without her would be like. Line 11: "the air wouldn't move, nor the tree grow". If the girl, Dorthy, were to die then his life would pause at the moment. Everything would be dead to him. Line 12: "Someone would pull the weed, my flower". If she were to die then someone would be pulling the life out of him. Disconnecting his life line, the flower. Line 13: "The quiet wouldn't be yours. If I lost you,". The silence would not be filled her grace, it would just be dead. Line 14: "I'd have to ask the grass to let me sleep". If Dorthy dies then he could no longer live with himself, he would have to lie in death with her. Stanza 1: Stanza 1 as a whole is talking about how perfect Dorthy is and how she couldn't be better. Stanza 2: Stanza 2 as a whole is talking about how he, Marvin, could not live without Dorthy. If she was to die he would have to lie in death with her.
Connotation
The literal is saying that Dorthy is not pretty in a stereotypical way that she is her own person. If Dorthy, was to die then Marvin would want the grass to let him sleep. Beyond the literal meaning Marvin is saying that Dorthy is beautiful in her own way and that he would die for her. Marvin uses figurative language to make Dorthy seem more exuberant and more like a perfect woman. Throughout the story we see imagery with the wind and the trees and movement. It creates a sort of allusion in my opinion. Another figurative language we see is metaphors. He says "Someone would pull my weed, my flower". He gives the flower a real life sense, almost giving the sense of a heart stopping. He uses simple word choice but the main words that are relevant to the story are 'beautiful, grow, and lost'. This words have a positive meaning because They explain Dorthy and how he feels about her. It sends a positive message throughout the poem, letting the reader know Dorthy is something special. He uses allusion from tree's, to weeds, to wind. He wants you to see the imagery of the poem by telling how the wind blows and how the tree grows next to the house. He establishes sarcasm at the end by saying he wants the grass to let him sleep with her. It is sarcastic in a way that he wants to sleep but he really wants to die with her.
Attitude/Tone
The author has many tones int his poem. It shifts from loving, to appreciative, to sad. At the beginning of the poem Marvin sounds very much in love. He is calling her beautiful and saying all these good attributes about her. Then the tone goes to appreciative. He says "you let a weed grow by a mulberry". He sounds really happy even of something so small showing that he appreciates her. Then towards the end the tone is sad but beautiful. He talk about if he lost her that he would want to be left alone and let sleep. He would be saddened so much by losing her that he would want to die himself.
Shifts
The overall aspect of the poems shifts from happiness to sadness. In the first stanza Marvin talks about how he loves and appreciates her for her difference from the norm. Then in the second stanza we see it gets a little deep when he talks about what would happen if he lost her. "someone would pull the weed, my flower". He says if he lost her his life line would be cut off and he would not be complete. From the beginning to the end we see that he loves her and he would be empty without her.
Title/New Perspective
Now that I have analyzed the poem and see the title again I can say I understand why the poem is called to Dorthy. I am sure that the title is referring to him speaking to someone he loves, someone he cannot live without. 'To Dorthy' means to the one I love, he loves Dorthy so he writes her a love letter and this is the title because it is all about Dorthy.
Theme
The theme of the passage is love. The poem is about a man who has fallen in love with a girl, Dorthy, for all the right reasons. He see's her true beauty deeper than just the surface, and he will do anything to be with her. Marvin is saying that Dorthy is perfect for him, if he lost her he himself would want to die to be with her. In this poem, Marvin shows the true meaning of love.
I like poem as well as your interpretation of it. I had to reread it multiple times in order to understand the poem beyond its literal meaning. However through reading it many times, I can see the author's love for Dorothy and that if she died, basically he said his whole world would stop.
ReplyDelete