“The Gift” – Poem Essay
Li-Young Lee, an Indonesian-American author, uses phenomenal diction and literary devices to represent the passionate adoration and affection that a father will show his son. The prying of the thorn out of the son’s hand is not only a physical occurrence to explain to his son how to live a fulfilling life, but is the main theme of the poem. The theme is the key for one to realize how they are living, which is not likely to be in accord with what they strive to be. With metaphors pertaining to the “thorn” that is an untaught child within the boy, he learns about the wisdom and knowledge of the world.
“Had you entered that afternoon, you would have thought you saw a man planting something in a boy’s palm… A silver tear, …show more content…
I watched his lovely face and not the blade. Before the story ended, he’d removed the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.” It seems that our perspective on many things can change with the swiftness of another’s actions and speech. The father does not fret nor speak sternly, but he instead tells his son to be calm. He proceeds to sing a low voiced song while tenderly tending to his son’s hand. “Before the story had ended…” This is the true way of knowing that the father had given him a way to focus on other things when in pain or struggling; the boy had taken notice to the story ending, not the pain of the thorn. The author is so intensely focused on the calming voice of his father that the pain and the reality of the word seems to lessen its grip on him with every word spoken.
Throughout the poem, Li – Young Lee uses multiple examples of literary devices to represent the love and wisdom of a father that is being passed on to his son, and any problem that may come into one’s path may likely be solved with calmness and care, not fear and fretting. With this peace of mind implanted in the mind, one may continue down the path of life, carrying an awareness of how life’s complications can be reduced with only calming words of
Li-Young Lee, an Indonesian-American author, uses phenomenal diction and literary devices to represent the passionate adoration and affection that a father will show his son. The prying of the thorn out of the son’s hand is not only a physical occurrence to explain to his son how to live a fulfilling life, but is the main theme of the poem. The theme is the key for one to realize how they are living, which is not likely to be in accord with what they strive to be. With metaphors pertaining to the “thorn” that is an untaught child within the boy, he learns about the wisdom and knowledge of the world.
“Had you entered that afternoon, you would have thought you saw a man planting something in a boy’s palm… A silver tear, …show more content…
I watched his lovely face and not the blade. Before the story ended, he’d removed the iron sliver I thought I’d die from.” It seems that our perspective on many things can change with the swiftness of another’s actions and speech. The father does not fret nor speak sternly, but he instead tells his son to be calm. He proceeds to sing a low voiced song while tenderly tending to his son’s hand. “Before the story had ended…” This is the true way of knowing that the father had given him a way to focus on other things when in pain or struggling; the boy had taken notice to the story ending, not the pain of the thorn. The author is so intensely focused on the calming voice of his father that the pain and the reality of the word seems to lessen its grip on him with every word spoken.
Throughout the poem, Li – Young Lee uses multiple examples of literary devices to represent the love and wisdom of a father that is being passed on to his son, and any problem that may come into one’s path may likely be solved with calmness and care, not fear and fretting. With this peace of mind implanted in the mind, one may continue down the path of life, carrying an awareness of how life’s complications can be reduced with only calming words of