The Gift Poem By Li Young Lee

As humans, our family and environment at large influence us. Our experiences form the building blocks of who we become, and this is particularly true for artists and poets alike. It is not unusual for artists to draw inspiration from their surroundings be it natural, societal, and even political. One of such artists who in my opinion has been greatly influenced by his surrounding is Li-Young Lee. Born to Chinese parents and witnessing his family sojourn to an "unknown" land (America), Lee 's poetry draws on his memories and stories recounted by family members. I believe that the author 's theme revolves around relationships - relationship with oneself, his family and surrounding, and with nature. Humans try to make sense of everything that concerns and surrounds them - both internal and external. The author tries to identify himself having been uprooted from his culture and still seeking acceptance in a new land. His theme of relationship also …show more content…
“The Gift” is such a great poem that even though the poem is about a father taking out a splinter from his son’s palm, the reader can still get an idea of the love between the father and son. We see how gentle the father is with his son then later, the son with his wife. He was someone who looked up to his father and was happy to have him in his life and he shows this with a few lines from the poem, “I watched his lovely face and not the blade,” “you would have thought you saw a man / planting something in a boy’s palm,/ a silver tear,” “I did what a child does / when he’s given something to keep. / I kissed my father” (The Gift, 15-16). Li-Young Lee shows us in the words and phrases that he uses that he appreciates his father, and I believe the “silver tear” he mentions are tears of joy. With just a small action like a father taking a splinter out of his son’s palm, we see the love and a close relationship between the