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A Song In The Front Yard Poem Analysis

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As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. This is the case in Gwendolyn Brooks’ “a song in the front yard,” which tells the story of a young girl who yearns to live a life different from her own. This is something that just about anyone can relate to, whether you’re rich or poor. This poem starts off with the narrator saying “I’ve stayed in the front yard all my life.” (Brooks). This metaphor sets the scene for the rest of the poem, which talks of her desire to “peek at the back” (Brooks). The front yard symbolizing the safe, upper-class life that she has been privileged enough to be born into, and the backyard being the more dangerous, promiscuous life that she craves. Brooks manages to accurately portray the secret desires of all adolescents to experience the lives of others, not realizing that these lives come with their own set of ups and downs.
“A song in the front yard” is told from the perspective of a seemingly young girl. From the way that this girl describes the “wonderful” yet “rough and untended” backyard, the reader can infer that this is all just a dream of hers …show more content…
If everyone were satisfied with the life they were given then there would be no motivation for change, and the human species would likely die off. However, Irvine’s analysis suggests that the search for desire is endless and unfulfilling, since it is impossible to quench the unquenchable need for more. Brooks narrator is too young to understand this, though. Brook, however, seems to have an understanding of this, and illustrates this want for a more rugged life in her poem. The ending lines leave the reader wondering whether or not the narrator ever makes it out of her sheltered front lawn to explore the mysterious back: “And I’d like to be a bad woman, too. /And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace/And strut down the streets with paint on my face.”

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