Cozy Apologia Literary Elements

The speaker is a firm "I" who appears to be Rita Dove herself; this is made apparent by the epigraph, which dedicates the poem to Fred, referring to Dove's husband of over forty years.

This poem is divided into three stanzas and does not adhere to any formal structure. Some lines are iambic, such as the final line, but most do not appear to have a set meter.

"And, sure as shooting arrows to the heart,"
This use of "as" to create a simile is developed sonically in the following lines; the next line begins with the word "Astride," and the line begins with "As" as well, but here it is being used to show how sturdy the speaker's loved one is in his imaginary stirrups. This simile compares a feeling of sureness to the action of skillfully shooting arrows.

"legs braced as far apart
As standing in silver stirrups will allow—"
Unlike the last simile, which compares a feeling to an action that may or may not be occurring in this scene, this simile shows how firmly the speaker imagines her partner is planted in the stirrups.

"Today a hurricane is nudging up the coast,
Oddly male: Big Bad Floyd, who brings a host
Of daydreams..."
The speaker here describes how she perceives the hurricane as male due to its name, Floyd, and uses language that describes it as if it were a person throughout the rest of the poem.

"They all had sissy names—Marcel, Percy, Dewey;
Were thin as licorice and as chewy,
Sweet with a dark and hollow center."
The speaker here compares actual people she has known to candy for their sweet emptiness; the metaphor shows how distant these old relationships feel to her.

"Floyd's
Cussing up a storm."
Here the speaker continues to describe the hurricane as if it were a person. This line also contains a metaphor within a metaphor; cleverly the speaker compares Hurricane Floyd to a man, then compares Floyd's language back to a storm.

"You're bunkered in your
Aerie, I'm perched in mine"
Here the speaker compares the two office spaces that she and her partner inhabit to bird's nests. She describes her partner as being "bunkered," a word that implies safety, and "perched" for herself, a word that implies uprightness and awareness. Maybe she chose these words because her partner's office is in the basement or bottom floor of the house, like a bunker, while she is on a higher floor, perched like a bird in a tree. This may also be a simple expression of the speaker's protectiveness and defensiveness.

My pen exudes, drying matte, upon the page.
I could choose any hero,

Here the words "choose" and "exude" are an example of assonance. They are also an example of an internal rhyme. Assonance and internal rhyme are very similar; assonance is a repetition of vowel sounds, while an internal rhyme is a rhyme within or across lines, when the rhyme does not occur on the end words of two lines. If "can" and "man" appeared close together in a poem, but not on two end lines, they would be examples of both assonance and internal rhyme. However, if "cat" and "man" appear in the same places, they would be examples of assonance but arguably not internal rhyme. "Cat" and "man" are examples of a slant rhyme.

And, sure as shooting arrows to the heart,
Astride a dappled mare, legs braced as far apart
As standing in silver stirrups will allow
There you'll be, with furrowed brow
And chain mail glinting, to set me free:
One eye smiling, the other firm upon the enemy.

The first stanza repeats "sh," "s," and "f" sounds a number of times. This first stanza uses the most alliteration of all the stanzas; it lends the scene described, which could have fallen out of a fairytale, a more formal and dramatized tone.

Who's satisfied simply with what's good for us,
When has the ordinary ever been news?

Here we know that the speaker is voicing the doubts she can imagine an onlooker having about her relationship. The reader knows that, by saying this, she indicates that we can be satisfied with what's good for us and the ordinary can be news, making this an example of verbal irony.

Poetry

This poem takes place partially in the poet's imagination and partially in her house.

The tone of this poem is thoughtful, nostalgic, and deeply appreciative despite any melancholy the speaker feels.

The speaker of this poem is the protagonist, as is the addressee; she literally places them in the roles of a hero and a damsel, the starring roles of many romantic fantasies. She also mentions an enemy but does not describe what or who that is; the enemy serves as part of the backdrop to the scene she is imagining. The poem also serves as a defense against anyone who insists true love cannot exist without melodrama and narrative to prop it up.

The major conflict in this poem is within the speaker, though she does appear to be responding to common romantic tropes or ideas that have been projected onto her relationship by others. She thinks about how practical and commonplace her relationship is; it seems to pale in comparison to torrid love affairs or the stories about love told by books and movies. She resolves this conflict not by arguing that her love is in fact as exciting as a youthful fling or a fairytale but by accepting its commonplaceness and reflecting upon the peace of mind her relationship brings her.

This poem does not have a clear climax, but a moment of strong energy comes at the end of the second stanza and the beginning of the third stanza: "Floyd's/Cussing up a storm. You're bunkered in your/Aerie, I'm perched in mine..." From the noise of the hurricane, the speaker is drawn from daydreams of her past back into reality, and the reader finally gets to see both her and her partner as they truly are, working in their home offices. The drama of the storm and this sudden clarity, as well as these lines' position near the end of the poem, make this moment feel like they are the apex of the poem's energy.

This poem does not allude to any specific works, but it alludes strongly to the trope of the damsel in distress who requires saving. Examples of such damsels and heroes include Andromeda and Perseus from the Ancient Greek myth, as well as Olyve Oyl and Popeye from the cartoon.

"Today a hurricane is nudging up the coast,
Oddly male: Big Bad Floyd, who brings a host
Of daydreams:"

"Floyd's
Cussing up a storm."

The personification of the hurricane is crucial to this poem. The speaker reflects upon the strange practice of giving hurricanes human names. Either the name, or the hurricane's swift and stormy nature, remind the speaker of her past flings; the personification of the hurricane thus acts as an important vehicle driving the poem's momentum.