Anonymity

Rita Dove’s poem reflects on certain pleasures that anonymity affords in the context of travel. None of figures portrayed in the poem are named. Instead, they are identified with somewhat superficial descriptors of the kind a not too disinterested observer might concoct: “the heeled bachelorette” (10); “the exhausted mother” (12); “the lone executive” (16); “the athlete” (13). These are identifiable, interchangeable social types, evoking the panoply of perceived personae one might encounter on a flight. Beyond this, there is an anonymity of place that marks the poem. No specific airport name features in the poem. Nor does a named destination or a trajectory provide context as to place. Rather, Dove only gives an all-purpose reflection on travel in the abstract, with recognizably generic details as placeholders. The description of the “grey vinyl seats” (3) help connote this anonymity. That the “linked” (3) seating is compared to “unfolding paper dolls” (4) only offers...