The hands of the child’s father here are hands of teaching and of healing. Donate Donate. The main theme from The Gift by Li Young Lee is about the care and tenderness that his father gave him. The Gift, Li-Young Lee. (The Gift by Li-Young Lee.) © Poems are the property of their respective owners. Had you followed that boy Teaching, by example and through discipline. Todd Breyfogle. Metal that will bury me, Look how I shave her thumbnail down What kiss can we give to those who have met us gently in our pain? What silver tear or tiny flame can we plant in others? if someone is reading, please help me to understand. search. Published September 2012. i think that this poem represent the relationship between the father and the son. Tone. All Rights Reserved, August 7, 2020 of dark water, a prayer. Great analysisreally makes sense :) Thank you! Lee seems to be recalling a memory from his youth when he had a splinter in his hand. where I bend over my wife’s right hand. This poem has not been translated into any other language yet. Aspen Digital, October 9, 2020 the iron sliver I thought I’d die from. my father recited a story in a low voice. Both of Lee’s parents came from powerful Chinese families: Lee’s great grandfather was the first president of the Republic of China, and Lee’s father had been the personal physician to Mao Zedong. The hands that attend to us in pain are two measures of tenderness. I can’t remember the tale, took my hand like this, Here he is more soft and sensitive and takes/gives off a sort of mother-like action to not worry his son? two measures of tenderness Register now and publish your best poems or read and bookmark your favorite popular famous poems. To pull the metal splinter from my palm my father recited a story in a low voice. **This father was not only a loving, caring Dad, but, more than that, he was a true gift in the life of his son. In "The Gift" Lee expresses how much of a significant figure his father has been in his life. when he’s given something to keep. In Li-Young Lee’s poem, “The Gift,” the speaker describes a memory with a tender tone. so carefully she feels no pain. The writer evokes this response using a specific kind of diction and writing style, creating a certain atmosphere in the body of the poem. I watched his lovely face and not the blade. i think that this poem represent the relationship between the father and the son. Li-Young Lee was born Djakarta, Indonesia in 1957. Read poems about / on: father, silver, remember, child, water, pain, dark, death, children, kiss, wind, The Gift Poem by Li-Young Lee - Poem Hunter. Pain is never a gift. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. To pull the metal splinter from my palm - The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets. he laid against my face, thank you. Watch as I lift the splinter out. In "The Gift" Lee expresses how much of … He also mentions death and higher power phrases. For example, when Lee watched his father remove the metal splinter from his hand he had learned from this and, The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams. This proposes the idea that Lees father may have had a great impact on Lees life. In the poem when he says “you” he is talking to the audience which once again seems to … what i don't realise is why? The Gift. Death visited here! **This father was not only a loving, caring Dad, but, more than that, he was a true gift in the life of his son. Ore Going Deep for My Heart. I can’t remember the tale, but hear his voice still, a well you would have thought you saw a man Had you entered that afternoon Find and share the perfect poems. I was seven when my father why come? I did what a child does Lee has learned so much from his father that paved him into the person he was. The poem takes a holistic approach towards healing, be it physical or spiritual. At root, however, the hands’ gentle dexterity expresses a deft and nimble heart. And I recall his hands, he raised above my head. between my fingers and think, by Li-Young Lee. Li-Young Lee'is the author of numerous books including Behind My Eyes (2008) Book of My Nights (2001), which won the 2002 William Carlos Williams Award; The City in Which I Love You (1991), which was the 1990 Lamont Poetry Selection; and Rose (1986), which won the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award.  • (The Gift by Li-Young Lee.) christen it Little Assassin, He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house. The speaker's attitude, or the tone of the poem, elicits a particular kind of emotional response in the reader. but hear his voice still, a well you would have arrived here, The poem is tender in its portrayal of a father-son relationship. I think you'll see, too, as you study different representations of the father in differnt poems, that it becomes a somewhhat complex and amibiguous symbol. why come? To pull the metal splinter from my palm Well you basically explained just as i would..He valued his father a lot and his approach to things in life. Lee’s family fled Indonesia to escape to escape anti-Chinese sentiment in 1959 and settled in the United States in 1964 after traveling through Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan. Poets.org. Copyright © 2008 - 2020 . It is as though the father’s hands are transmitted to the child, to heal and heal again. This proposes the idea that Lees father may have had a great impact on Lees life. what i don't realise is why? find poems find poets poem-a-day library … Teaching, by example and through discipline. The hands of the child’s father here are hands of teaching and of healing. and I did not hold that shard For some ideas about focusing an analysis on this particular poem, from another perspective, see my comment on Desiree's blog. Poems. Before the story ended, he’d removed They help us see pain differently, not as an assassin but as the occasion of a greater love. the flames of discipline "The Gift" By Li-Young Lee One thing i notice about Lee in most of his poetry is his mention of his parents, predominantly his father. It might be interesting to trace the "figure" of the father through several of Lee's poems: what does this figure represent, symbolically, in the terms of the poems?--i.e., not to be confused with simply a literal description of the father--and how does the father figure here contrast, for eg., with the stereotypical father/authority figure in western culture? In Indonesia, Dr. Lee helped found Gamaliel University. I watched his lovely face and not the blade. And I did not lift up my wound and cry, The hands that attend to us in pain are two measures of tenderness. The Gift - To pull the metal splinter from my palm. A transcendent poem on motivation and kindness, ‘The Gift’ achieves that unique outlook of a spiritual holism. October 7, 2020 ©2020 The Aspen Institute. All Rights Reserved. “The Gift” appears in Rose (1986). Brianna Curran, Aspen Tech Policy Hub Expands Reach with Support From Five Leading Foundations, Invocation of the Creator By the Yoruba people (translated by Ulli Beier), COPS Announces New Tribal Methamphetamine Fellow Program. Pain is never a gift. They help us see pain differently, not as an assassin but as the occasion of a greater love. A removal, yes, but an infinite addition also. He's basically saying that his father is his savior in a great deal of words. a silver tear, a tiny flame. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge... Recite this poem (upload your own video or voice file). The father removes a splinter but plants in his son’s heart a silver tear that waters others, a tiny flame that warms the soul. Do you mean that his father is not the tough, strick, disciplinary, typical stereotyped father? planting something in a boy’s palm, Meditation. Todd Breyfogle, October 8, 2020 Li-Young Lee was born in Djakarta, Indonesia in 1957 to Chinese political exiles. I kissed my father. Li-Young Lee was born in Djakarta, Indonesia in 1957 to Chinese political exiles. To pull the metal splinter from my palmmy father recited a story in a low voice.I watched his lovely face and not the blade.Before the story ended, he'd removedthe iron sliver I thought I'd die from.I can't remember the tale,but hear his voice still, a wellof dark water, a prayer.And I recall his hands,two measures of tendernesshe laid against my face,the flames of disciplinehe raised above my head.Had you entered that afternoonyou would have thought you saw a manplanting something in a boy's palm,a silver tear, a tiny flame.Had you followed that boyyou would have arrived here,where I bend over my wife's right hand.Look how I shave her thumbnail downso carefully she feels no pain.Watch as I lift the splinter out.I was seven when my fathertook my hand like this,and I did not hold that shardbetween my fingers and think,Metal that will bury me,christen it Little Assassin,Ore Going Deep for My Heart.And I did not lift up my wound and cry,Death visited here!I did what a child doeswhen he's given something to keep.I kissed my father. , Meditation boy ’ s father here are hands of the child s... 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