Poem For A Lady Whose Voice I Like

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Free-Verse Dialogue

Giovanni typically writes in free verse, a style of poetry that does not adhere to rules of meter or rhyme. It’s meant to mimic modern speech and make poetry more accessible to a wider audience. “Poem for a Lady Whose Voice I Like” appears like the dialogue of a script, using colons to distinguish who is speaking. This allows the reader to feel that they are directly overhearing a conversation, without it being filtered by the voice of a narrator or speaker. It makes the creator of the poem seem more impartial, allowing the reader to interpret the dialogue and its meaning for themselves.

Juxtaposition

The poem relies on juxtaposition to make a comparison between the two speakers. Each speaker’s voice is distinct from the other’s, and the two voices next to one another create a strong contrast. Not only is the content of their speech distinct, but their attitudes toward the world are different. The woman’s attitude is decidedly positive, the man’s decidedly negative as he tries to harm the woman’s self-esteem. The title “Poem for a Lady Whose Voice I Like” makes it clear which voice the speaker prefers. Readers can infer Giovanni agrees with what the woman is saying.

Metaphor

Hunger can be both literal and figurative. Food nourishes the body, giving a person energy to take actions and to grow and maintain health. Metaphorically, being hungry means the spirit does not have what it needs to grow and develop. To be full means to have what one needs to grow and have the energy to take actions and to develop. To be “full of yourself” (Line 19) usually has a negative connotation, meaning that a person is stuck-up or thinks highly of themselves, but the lady says that a person who is not “full of herself” (Line 20) is a hungry person. She reverses expectations and redefines the phrase to mean that being full of yourself is being nourished. She gives permission to people, specifically women and African American women, to take pride in and nourish themselves with positive self-regard. This is a way to combat metaphorical hunger.