Reading Thomas And Beulah By Rita Dove

Literature can be a difficult art to comprehend. Reading Thomas and Beulah, the book poem by Rita Dove, initially confused me. I felt as if I had all the pieces yet I was having trouble piecing them together. I understand that the book of poems is meant to be read in sequence, the first section, being that Mandolin discusses Thomas, while the poems discussing Beulah are titled Canary in Bloom. It seems as if these two parts must be read together and each poem has its counterpart in the opposing section, hence Thomas and Beulah being one another’s counterpart in life. I realize that a more in depth read of this collection of poems will go a long way. The book has central characters, and a voice that seems to develop throughout all the poems.

One poem that I found particularly interesting in this section of the book is Recovery. In this poem, Thomas and Beulah have been married for a while now and it is becoming obvious they have lost their spark. Beulah is reminiscing on a younger, more romantic Thomas and states, “Years ago, he had promised to take her to Chicago. He was lovely then”. It seems that Thomas has put away his romantic side. I suppose couples that have been married for a long time it’s not unusual to see them become less affectionate to one another. Maybe after being with one person for forty plus years you might not be so excited to cook their breakfast or even sleep in the same bed with one another. Though the romance has died down in their relationship, I do not believe that the love has. When Beulah describes the mandolin hanging on the wall, it opened my mind and I finally understood Variation on Pain and the role that Beulah really played in Thomas’s life and truly helping him heal. When Thomas met Beulah, he was hurting and coping with his issues as he hadn’t learned how to actually deal with them and grow from them. Thomas had found a way to cope with Lem’s death by taking up the mandolin. He played the mandolin passionately because he used it to manage his guilt. Now we see years later after him and Beulah have weathered many storms together, the mandolin hangs on the wall to be seen. Beulah

As I read Thomas and Beulah I could not help but think of my own great-grandparents and find similarities in the tales of their lives. The confusion that I initially felt was not confusion at all but simply the text urging me to deepen my thinking and to let the words guide me. Once I readjusted my thought process I read the poems again, slower and more eager to read Dove’s words. I started making connections and understanding what I was reading. It was refreshing and nostalgic. Thinking of my own family history as compared to someone else’s of a similar background and finding commonalities between her family and my own. Opening my young mind to see the things that go into maintaining a serious relationship until death separates them. Thomas and Beulah was an unexpected surprise that I find myself wanting to read again to see what else I may