Epigraph

Dunn begins "The Reverse Side" with an epigraph, which is a short quotation used to introduce a literary piece. When a poem begins with an epigraph, the author typically intends the reader to read everything that follows in reference to that quotation. An epigraph usually provides a clue about a theme or situation in the poem or about the identity of the poem's speaker.

In the case of "The Reverse Side," the epigraph "The reverse side also has a reverse side" is an English translation of a Japanese proverb and serves as the source of the title of the poem. In the original Japanese, this proverb Monogoto niwa taitei ura no ura ga aru mono da literally means "in most things generally there is a reverse to the reverse." The Japanese word ura can mean "the reverse" as well as "a place which cannot be seen" or...