DOVE, Rita.

£1,250 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Yellow House on the Corner. First edition, wrappers issue, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "for Michael S., with love, respect, comraderie [sic]. Rita, 16 November 84", and signed on the title page. Michael S. Harper's poetry was renowned for its musical influences; Dove asserted that "no other poet has embodied the riffs and modalities of jazz and blues more exquisitely" (Washington Post).Her first full volume of poetry, The Yellow House on the Corner established Dove's (b. 1952) vivid and lyrical style and launched her ongoing ruminations on family, personal struggle, and the Black American experience. Representing the latter through poetry was an interest she shared with Harper (1938-2016), to whom she dedicated her 1989 poem "Canary".In 1970, Dove was ranked as one of the top hundred high-school students in the USA and named a presidential scholar. In 1993, she was appointed poet laureate, becoming the youngest person and first African American to hold the post. Her poetry aimed "to create harmony out of disjunction", as she explored her "fragmented and hybrid cultural heritage" to find "not only frustration and invisibility, but also richness" (Steffen, pp. 164-65). Although The Yellow House on the Corner primarily reflects on Dove's childhood and personal experiences, the final poem, "Ö", anticipates her future political work.This edition was also issued in cloth, without known priority.

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