My favorite poem from this year was a very easy choice for me. Just by looking at the current title and background of my blog, you should be able to guess it already; it is “Lady Freedom Among Us” by Rita Dove. My love for this poem started with the very first time I saw a picture of the statue named Lady Freedom on a handout from Ms. Serensky. Immediately I thought that Lady Freedom was “the most cultivated of ladies, and the very picture of respectability” (Wilde 50). The speaker in the poem targets people with unenthusiastic and negative views of America to emphasize that the right to freedom and democracy makes the United States one of the greatest nations on earth. The speaker wants people who take freedom lightly to remember the struggles our country has endured to preserve freedom. It is no secret that I am a very patriotic person so it should come as no surprise that I loved reading a poem about the positives of America. And although Lady Freedom’s gaze has seen some blemishes in American history, like the civil rights conflict with Martin Luther King Jr., Dove wants Americans to never forget that freedom makes us one of the greatest countries on earth. And it is this freedom that is exactly what she, Lady Freedom, represents. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights that Lady Freedom protects while standing atop the Capitol. These are the type of pillars that nations will continue to survive with forever, and currently, “Few girls of the present day have any really solid qualities, any of the qualities that last, and improve with time,” but Lady Freedom clearly possesses both (Wilde 47). Dove continues to urge Americans to thank the government for its success in preserving democracy and freedom for over 234 years. People all over the world willingly fight for democracy every day, especially within the last several months in Northern Africa. However, we have been fortunate enough to be afforded this privilege since the signing of the Constitution in 1787 and, “this is a matter of no small importance to me,” and I surely hope it is not a matter of small importance to you either (Wilde 51). I am very sorry to do this to you, but I must analyze my favorite two lines from the poem, “she has fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap/ and spruced it up with feathers and stars” (Dove 12-13). Dove uses the “hand-me-down cap” as a synecdoche for Britain and since hand-me-downs have a negative connotation, Dove suggests that maybe America does not deserve the praise they receive for gaining freedom from England. However, Dove juxtaposes the positive diction like “spruced it up” with the “hand-me-down cap” in order to convey that America exists as much more that a mere “hand-me-down.” In fact, America exists as a free and independent country. Essentially, when Britain wanted to be our brother, America responded with, “I have no brother, I never had a brother, and I don’t intend to have a brother” (Wilde 48). America stood up to Britain and assertively took the stage as a new world power. Also in Dove’s original quote, she uses the “feathers” as a symbol for the bald eagle and the “stars” to represent the flag of the United States. Both the bald eagle and the American flag create a sense of patriotism from Americans. The feeling of patriotism, which I love so much, allows Dove to create a positive and jovial tone and assert that America exists as far more than a mere “hand-me-down,” America rules as a SUPERPOWER.
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| Lady Freedom on top of the Capitol Building |
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