The Bistro Styx and Sonnet in Primary Colours PDF

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some notes on lorna goddison poems...

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The Bistro Styx The Bistro Styx uses Greek mythology of Demeter and Persephone in order to depict the troubled relationship between mother and daughter. To mix-up both myth and the context of the poem, the poem is about modern Demeter (the mother) who in her search discovers modern Persephone (the daughter) in the underworld of modern Paris abducted by the Hades of modern civilization. The poem begins with a narration of the mother who is waiting for her daughter. In her description of her daughter and in the conversation between mother and daughter, we can sense the trouble in the relationship which often results in communication gap. The readers can observe artificiality in the daughter’s manner of clothing and an accent (language). The daughter was dressed in gray skirt which is symbolic of the death of human emotion and sensibility and the daughter becomes more formal than affectionate. The daughter works as a model for an artist who runs a studio that features the futuristic paintings. The daughter tries to prove the significance of her life in the city taking the reference of the love of tourist and Parisians. The central theme of the poetry is the act of eating and drinking at the restaurant. The daughter partakes in drinking and eating rather than having a conversation with her mother. The way she is centered on drinking and eating gives the reader a clue that modern Persephone is not going to be fully restored (saved). According to ancient Greek myth, it was eating of few seeds of pomegranate that was a reason behind Persephone failure to restore herself completely in the world of living beings. Eating the seeds of pomegranate, Persephone becomes half living and half dead. Similarly, in the poem the different varieties of dishes, that the daughter orders can be compared to seeds of pomegranate. Therefore, this modern Persephone will forever be in the underworld with the Hades. Another mythical allusion in the poem is of the river of forgetfulness; Styx. According to the myth, if the dead drinks water from Styx while crossing the boundary between the world of living being and the world of dead, they forget everything about their previous life. The daughter’s drinking of wine resembles the dead drinking water from Styx. The daughter has forgotten her relation, life in the village, tradition and rural values. The pain of mother is losing her child in the chaotic world even if she wants to bring back her to home (earlier state) but she can’t do so as it has become too late. Modern daughters are not being abducted by Hades per se, but in the name of careers, jobs, personalities, they are abducted. The ancient Persephone was always urging to go back to her mother but this modern Persephone has willingly chosen to be the victim of the modern Hades.

Sonnet in Primary Colours In the poem, “Sonnet in Primary Colors,” Rita Dove paints a poetic picture of painter and activist Frida Kahlo. Dove uses this poem to reveal her admiration of Kahlo and to reveal a little bit more about her. Based on the title, one understands that this poem is a sonnet, it does contain fourteen lines, but does not have an apparent rhyme scheme. The diction in this poem is very elegant; the words were chosen very carefully to fit a specific quality that Dove feels about Kahlo, such as describing her unibrow as a wing perched over her eyes. Through metaphor, simile, and imagery she describes this woman and her very iconic artwork. The poem is a typical sonnet as the title does suggest, and the first stanza describes Frida and some of her works of art using imagery and metaphor. In the line “This is for the woman with one black wing perched over her eyes…”, Dove uses metaphor to describe Frida’s infamous unibrow as something that is viewed as beautiful. The line “Standing erect among parrots, in the stern petticoats of the peasant.” paints Frida amongst parrots, which are very colorful birds, and are very talkative, but despite her clothes compared to that of a peasant, she is standing out amongst them. There is a lot of natural imagery in this stanza, and by using such a colorful word choice and descriptions of Frida, it is as if Dove is painting her portrayal of Frida. A dash is used in the coming lines which adds and emphasis to the phrase, and adds a pressure to what comes next, “who painted herself a present – wildflowers entwining the plaster corset.” This line is referring to another painting she created, but that dash emphasizes what was just written, and adds a pressure as to what is to come. A corset is used by women, to obtain a specific shape of body. By having wildflowers painted on to her corset it shows that Frida is very connected to nature, and wildflowers are a metaphor for beauty. Dove’s use of the structure of lines in this poem is utilized stylistically throughout the whole poem, but the following line is perhaps the best example of using line structure for effect by simply using one word “Diego’s”. Based off the fact that Diego is the only person or word on this line goes to show he has some sort of importance to the poem and obviously to Frida.

The ending lines of the poem do show that whatever love Diego and Frida had affected her in a negative way perhaps the reason for her pain mentioned a few lines before. These last three lines are the most powerful of the poem. The love that Diego and Frida had has died, shown by metaphor described by a skull, and it is still on her mind- very much so, and it is searing her immutable brow which is a representation for it being something that obviously lingers in her thoughts....