MB UNIUD

THE DOVE

... and here is

old Picasso and the dove

and dreams as fragile

as pottery with dove

in white on clay

dark brown as

earth is brown

from our old

battleground...

TITLE

The title does not create specific expectations. If I read the title, before reading the poem, I expect the text may tell about the symbol of the dove: peace.

DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS

In this poem there are two opposite figures, the white dove and the battleground. The white dove is the symbol of peace, innocence, freedom and purity and the battleground means region where a battle is being (or has been) fought, so it is symbol. The white colour of the dove is in contraposition  with the colour brown of the earth. The first one represents something  abstract and good, while the second represents something negative like war. 

The poet says that dreams are fragile as pottery, because dreams can be broken, because people may encounter some obstacles.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

The poem consists of 9 lines. The function of the stanza is to describe a Picasso's paint comparing it to some real figures as the dove, earth, dreams and battleground.

CONNOTATIVE ANALYSIS

In the first and in the last line there are three dots: the poet reminds something that is suspended.

All the poem is made by run on lines. It implies you have to run on the next line to make sense of what read and therefore you have to be quick.

The text is in free verse. There are some rhymes: dove - dove (2^nd and 4^th line), brown - battleground (7^th and 9^th line).

In the poem there are:

•1.      Sound patterns:  alliteration of "d" (dove, dreams, dark), "o" ( old Picasso, brown, our old battleground), "s" (Picasso, dreams as), "w" (with, white); assonance of vowel "e" (dove - fragile); consonance of consonant "d" (old - battleground)

•2.      simile (the dove and dreams as fragile as pottery, dark brown as earth)

On the semantic level you can divide the word into two groups represented by the words peace and war.

The word "peace" is represented by "dove", "white", "dreams" and the word "war" by "fragile", "pottery", "clay", "brown" and "battleground