Poetry Analysis: Rita Dove's "Describe Yourself in Three Words"
This paper offers a two-part explication and analysis of Rita Dove's poem "Describe Yourself in Three Words or Less." Part I examines the poem's formal elements, including its irregular free verse meter, absence of rhyme scheme, stanza structure, syntax, and overall organization. Part II explicates the poem's central themes—self-assertion, freedom, and unapologetic individuality—while analyzing key poetic devices such as symbolism, alliteration, consonance, and assonance. The paper draws comparisons to the spirit of Nina Simone's music and Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," situating Dove's poem within a broader tradition of celebratory self-expression.
- Introduction: A Defiant Poetic Voice: Dove's poem as unapologetic self-assertion
- Scansion: Meter, Rhyme, and Structure: Free verse meter, absent rhyme, stanza divisions
- Form, Syntax, and Organization: Syntax, diction, and inside-out organization
- Explication: Theme and Lyric Situation: Freedom, non-judgment, and lyric inspiration
- Poetic Devices and Imagery: Symbolism, alliteration, consonance, and assonance
- Overall Meaning and Conclusion: Celebration of self and eccentric individuality
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What makes this paper effective
- The two-part structure—scansion first, explication second—mirrors standard academic approaches to poetry analysis, giving the paper a clear and logical organization.
- The paper grounds abstract thematic claims in specific textual evidence, quoting the poem directly and citing line numbers throughout.
- Cultural and intertextual comparisons (Nina Simone, Walt Whitman) enrich the analysis without overwhelming it, situating Dove's voice in a recognizable tradition of defiant self-expression.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates close reading as an analytical method: it moves systematically through formal elements (meter, rhyme, stanza, syntax) before turning to meaning and devices. This separation of "how the poem is built" from "what the poem means" is a disciplined technique that prevents premature interpretation and keeps formal observation distinct from thematic argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into two labeled parts following a brief introduction. Part I covers scansion and formal analysis—meter, rhyme scheme, punctuation, capitalization, stanza structure, and overall organization. Part II covers explication—central idea, themes, lyric situation, poetic devices, and final meaning. A Works Cited section follows MLA conventions. This clean two-part framework makes the paper easy to follow and replicates the structure common in undergraduate literary analysis assignments.
Introduction: A Defiant Poetic Voice
Rita Dove's Describe Yourself in Three Words or Less is a poetic slap in the face to politeness and manners. She makes no apologies and no excuses. Her words resound with the spirit of Nina Simone, who sang similarly in her songs about independence and doing as she pleased. Dove echoes that sentiment in her poetry, admitting that she has "a wild, thatched soul" (Dove 8).
Scansion: Meter, Rhyme, and Structure
The meter used by Dove in "Describe Yourself in Three Words or Less" is somewhat random, almost like a jazz rendition: it proceeds at whatever pace the poet prefers, jumping about haphazardly or resting and allowing the words to roll out leisurely. The meter is not consistent throughout, but the rhythm does pick up and move at a quick clip, with barely three to four beats per line in the middle of the poem.
There is also no rhyme scheme in the poem. Dove essentially tells the reader that she is not going to try to please anyone but herself, and she is certainly not going to describe herself in under three words. She talks at length, without rhyming her words, and then tells the reader straight out at the end of the poem that she has forgotten all about him. The poem does rely on traditional punctuation, but the beginning of each new line is not capitalized—only the words that start a new sentence are capitalized.
The poem is divided essentially into three stanzas: the first with eight lines, and the second and third with seven lines each. In the first stanza, Dove describes herself as being "itchy and pug-willed" (Dove 5). In the second stanza, she describes her "boats," which symbolize her spirit and how she lets it roam free at night. In the third stanza, she describes her environment and how she takes ownership of everything around her—and how she does not need the reader's approval to be happy.
Form, Syntax, and Organization
The poem is grammatical; syntax and diction are used appropriately, and Dove follows English conventions throughout. The poem is essentially free verse and not truly metrical, though it does have a poppy kind of rhythm to it. The feet are not consistent, with some lines having only three feet and others having six or more.
The poem is organized from the inside out. First, Dove describes herself; then she describes her spirit as she lets it loose; and finally she describes her surroundings and how she possesses everything around her: "You are mine" (Dove 16). The poem has no special form or mode unless one were to call it an ode to herself.
Explication: Theme and Lyric Situation
The poem's main idea is that Dove, the subject of the poem, is not one who bows down or submits to others. She does not yap or bark or sing praises for money or for any other reason. She states that she is like a pugnacious dog: she likes to quarrel rather than comply. The larger themes hinted at in the poem include freedom and a non-judgmental approach to life. She states that she does not ask where her "boats" have been, and since these "boats" symbolize her spirit, she is saying that she does not criticize her soul for what it wants. The poem is, in this manner, rather social and serves as a commentary on what others might do or say when someone lives a lifestyle that does not correspond with their values.
There are no allusions to other poetic works, though the attitude and tone of the poem echo the spirit of Nina Simone very closely. The lyric situation suggests that the poet was inspired by the absurdity of being asked to describe yourself in two or three words—as though anyone would really want to do that. Dove asserts herself in many words and shows that she has no interest in summarizing herself in only three. She will take as many words as she wants to show who and what she is—and it is nobody's business if she wants to take more. Moreover, she sings her poem only because it pleases her; she is not doing it because she has been asked. She does not care if she has a reader. She already has everything in the world she could want. She is at peace with herself and confident in her person.
Works Cited
Dove, Rita. "Describe Yourself in Three Words or Less." Structure and Style.
Wimsatt, William Kurtz. The Verbal Icon: Studies in the Meaning of Poetry. University Press of Kentucky, 1954.
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