Comments For Lyssa's Letter

Dear Lyssa,

Your letter to Li-Young Lee was very thorough and easy to follow. I liked how you first talked about the literal story in the poem, since that’s a good way to get started trying to find the deeper meaning in a poem. Then you moved on to talking about how different word choices and specific devices, such as assonance, contributed to the atmosphere and tone of the poem.  I liked how you pointed out specific words and lines, like when you talked about how the speaker felt about all the objects laying around. You pointed out that the speaker used words like “unmade” and “piles”. Then you talked about the change in tone in the third stanza, which I think will help you understand this poem better. It shows you are well on your way to doing so, as you did a very good job of pointing out specific parts you understood about the poem.

The one part of the poem you found difficult, as you stated in your letter, was finding the deeper meaning of the poem. I read over it while reading your letter and after, and this is my interpretation. I agree with you on the literal story being the speaker in the house on a winter day, writing. Then, at the end of the day, the speaker turns on the lamp, and the light reveals the objects around the house.  You said you noticed the speaker’s disdain of the objects, but you weren’t sure why the speaker felt this way about them. My interpretation is that during the day, the speaker was very content to be writing. Then, when the speaker turns the lamp on and sees all the neglected objects, like the plate, cup, and papers, it reminds the speaker of all the worldly tasks, such as washing dishes and putting papers away. This is why the speaker feels disdain toward the objects. Then, in the fourth stanza, the speaker becomes contented again because “the heart’s sphere squared to make a room, / the mind’s love entrusted/to a few words on a page.” This stanza is talking about the speaker remembering all the joy he or she gets out of writing, and how all the worldly objects around him or her don’t compare to that. I hope my explanation is helpful.

Last, the one thing I would add to your letter is when you talk about the poem using assonance, you give examples of specific sounds, but no lines from the poem that contain those sounds. Adding in a few example lines of assonance from the poem would strengthen that portion of your letter. Otherwise, I think your letter is well thought out and organized, which, I think, will make it easier for you to make it into an annotation.

Sincerely,

Melissa Cobb

Letter to Li-Young

Dear Li-Young,

     In reading your poem, "Virtues of the Boring Husband", I had a couple of questions pertaining to some of the imagery used to elaborate on the nature of love.  One section of stanzas from the poem states:
            "It isn’t that lovers always speak

            together in a house by the sea, or in a room

            with shadows of leaves and branches

            on the walls and ceiling.

            It’s that such spaces emerge

            out of the listening

            their speaking to eachother engenders.

            I mean, maybe…"

By this is the speaker referring to the way in which love does not begin in the gardens or houses that lovers reside in, but rather it is their conversation that makes them fall in love, and puts them in such settings? 

     Secondly, I would like to clarify what is meant by the stanza which compares lovers to "heaven and earth, body and soul..." and etc.  By this does the husband mean that true lovers are exact opposites of eachother, and yet they work together perfectly to create a complete entity?       

     My third and final question come from the middle of the poem, in which the speaker mentions that God's first nature is "I love!" and that the "You" is an echo of this nature. From this I can only assume that humans are "You" being personified, and that "I" is God.  The speaker then states that often time we mistake the "I" for the "You". Does this mean that as humans we find our love to be self generated, when in actuality it comes from God and is simply channeled through us?

     Thank you for your time and effort.

                                                  

                                                   With respect,

                                                                     Alex Prather

       

Standard Checklist for Amateur Mystics

Dear Mr. Li-Young,

                As I was reading your book, Behind my Eyes, I came across the poem, “Standard Checklist for Amateur Mystics” and had a question about the reasoning and mechanics through the speaker’s use of tone and diction. In contrast to much of your poetry, this poem seems to be highly simplistic and straightforward, and I must admit, this nature of the poem is what really interested me. At first I thought the speaker was simply listing items, qualities, or skills needed for what one might deem an actual “mystic” to be, but then it became evident as to why the speaker most likely chose to describe mystics in your title as “amateur”.  I feel as though the speaker’s aim suddenly became derogatory towards them as he or she used such modern terms and expressions such as “shit” to describe stuff or belongings or “filch” to represent beg, steal, or attain.

This brings me to the question of why the speaker might be talking about such an old and ancient figure in such a modern way. I couldn’t possibly see why he or she might have such a dislike for these people, but is it possibly because the speaker feels that the entire idea and existence of mystics themselves is just ludicrous? And did you possibly make this poem so list-like and simple because of this supposed derogatory tone towards them? Lastly, the speaker notes that in order for a mystic to “see the all-in-one”, he needs seven eyes; what exactly is meant by this? Possibly (and honestly just a complete, but educated guess) seven eyes because in many cultures, the number seven is believed to be a theoretical “magic” number which could correlate with the “magic” mystic, and which in turn mocks them?

With Regards,

Ashton Woodall

Letter to Li-Young

March 7, 2012

Dear Li-Young,

                I have been reading your poetry in your book Behind My Eyes. I’ve recently come to enjoy the poem Virtues of the Boring Husband. I understand most the events in this poem, from the husband helping his wife sleep to his explanations of his theories of love. However, two of his methods of portraying this theory elude my understanding, and I’d like to ask for clarification. One, when he beings to describe love as the coming together as opposites, is this deeper than the simple play on “opposites attract?” I find that your words often have multiple meanings and can be interpreted many ways and I wanted to know if there was something I was missing. Secondly, what is it that you are referencing in the speaker’s remark about the sages’ saying about moving up the ladder of love? It seems foreign to me and I can’t think of any sayings that I’ve heard that resemble it. If you could clear up my questions it would be greatly appreciated.

                                                                                                                                Respectfully,

                                                                                                                                Emilio Ramirez

Example letter

March 5, 2012

Dear Li-Young,

When I first started reading your book, Behind My Eyes, I admit I couldn't handle it. I grew irritated and couldn't hold more than one or two poems in my mouth at once, which in reflection isn't necessarily a criticism. I read the whole of it. Then, again. And as usual, that which is my first irritant became my next last love.

I wanted to ask you about "To Hold," how in the middle of the last stanza there's a shift to "what isn't for our having" and how "to abandon what I know I must relinquish/ in time." I love that choice in line break between "relinquish" and "in time" because for a moment I'm able to focus on the relinquishing as though it must happen right now. In a sense, it is happening right now, as I read the poem. Then when I come to "in time," it almost suggests the speaker has considered relinquishing immediately, but has decided to put it off until a distant moment in the future when that letting-go would be better, more appropriate, or perhaps just right.

The aside is so brief, yet when we return to "the light/ of a joint and fragile keeping" between the speaker and his wife, it seems like an attempt at condolence. There's real pain in the fear of eventual relinquishing that paints the sweetness of the end. On the surface, by placing these lines about the "fragile keeping" at the end, this suggests the poem is meant to be about this "fragile keeping" between the two, but is it really about the speaker's fear of loss, even a loss of possibility?

With deep regard,

A. Kay Emmert

Letter to Newbern

March 7, 2012

            Dear Laura Newbern,

            I was reading Love and the Eye recently, and I came across the poem “Gandhi’s Ashes”. I absolutely adored it, but I will explain why a little later. Firstly, I had one quick question about the poem. Why did you decide to begin and end the poem with a speaker that was removed from what was occurring on the television as they are watching Gandhi’s funeral procession? It created a very different and unexpected perspective on the situation at hand, and I also think that you might have done so in order to juxtapose the cynicism and lack of concern that the individual watching the television feels about the event, it being just another television program, with the “sea” of Gandhi’s supporters. I felt like this aspect of the poem showed the type of impact Gandhi had on the world, but shown in a very interesting and unique light. All the people who were directly impacted by the deeds he performed worshipped him and created this massive body of people and flowers to show their love for him, while the people outside of this ring of impact knew about what he did, but did not really care or pay much attention to the problems that he was bringing forward. Please let me know what you think of this assessment of the poem and what your thoughts are on it.

            Other than that, I just wanted to discuss one aspect of your poem that I truly adore. The use and transition of sea imagery that occurs when the poem focuses on what is happening on the television, truly describes the scope of adoration that the people of India must have had for Gandhi at the time of his death. The transition from the “sea of people” to the “sea of humanity” appears to suggest a change in the scope of the sea, not just a sea of ordinary people who loved Gandhi, but to a sea of human beings, from around the world and from all walks of life, all united in the death of a great leader and protector of the common humans. I adore how it then focuses on an individual within the crowd, “a woman/ wearing a flowery dress”, who is described as the “moment’s narrator”, depicting the scene and the sentiment of the people who attend the funeral with her. I also love how it eases the transition from the “sea of humanity” to the “sea of flowers”, with the combination of her humanity and the flowers on her dress. These “seas” of love for Gandhi create a form of water for his boat to travel down the streets until it reaches the literal “sea”. These descriptions of his supporters drive home the impact that he had on his people and the extent of their love for him. Please let me know if you have any thoughts that you would like to point out about your experience with writing this poem.

With regards,

Jordyn Farrell

"A Winter Day" by Li-Young Lee

Dear Mr. Lee,

            I would like to ask you about your poem “A Winter Day” as published in your book Behind My Eyes.  I greatly enjoy this poem and the rest of your work, but I am slightly confused as to the greater meaning behind the piece.  The literal narrative that takes place is that on a winter day, the speaker is sitting in some “sunlight room”, reading and writing.  The day ends, and the speaker turns on a lamp to see all the objects in the room.  The poem begins with a lot of assonance, especially of soft sounds like a long “u” and “ah”.  This brings the reader into the idea of a quiet winter day and the solitary peacefulness of the subject as he immerses himself in his activity.  This changes in the third stanza, which lists the objects around him without any outstanding repeating sounds, demonstrating a change in what the poem is trying to convey.  In the fourth stanza, the writer compares his surroundings to “wreckage from a ship spoiled by storm,” intensifying the change in tone from that of a lulling one in the opening, to a dark discontent.  In the final stanza, the speaker speaks of emotion with phrases like “the heart’s sphere” and “the mind’s love”.  This is a drastic difference from the previous idea of “rising dark” and shipwreck.  The reader is easily able to follow the changes in tone and emotion, but I remain confused as to the overall meaning.  There is the literal story and the emotional roadmap, but I have trouble connecting the two to form an overall idea.  The moment of harshness is directed at something having to do with the objects in the room, but whether it is the amount of objects, the objects themselves, or the speaker’s original neglect of them, I am unsure.  The items themselves suggest clutter, using words like “scattered”, “unmade”, “piles”, and “crumbs”.  This supports that the poem is disdainful of the neglect, but it could easily be argued that it is the objects themselves that are offensive, and that the speaker is not at fault.  This second idea is supported by the soft tone taken towards the speaker’s work in the final stanza.  Is the poem encouraging writing, but warning against neglect of worldly things? Is the poem disdainful of the worldly things that dare interrupt writing?  Or is the poem a neutral observer of the experience?

                                                                                                With Regards,

                                                                                                            Lyssa Hoganson

Letter to Newbern

Dear Laura Newbern,

I was looking at your Poem "The Man (On my birthday)" and I had a question about the tone used within this poem. More specifically I was wondering about the tone directed towards the state of Florida, or the image portrayed by the state of Florida. What I see happening is an initial tone of awe and wonder towards the scenery and state of Florida as shown with the word choice of "aqua thicket" and "the crystal sea". However there seems to be a shift in tone near the end of the poem. I noticed this when the scenery turned into "scrubby tree" and by describing the surrounding water, not as a crystal sea, but as lurking presence. It is almost as if you are trapped and Florida is a prison to you. It seems to me that this tone is brought on by the thought that Florida will continue to exist without the peanut man. Is this what you are trying to convey? That Florida will no longer be a beautiful place without the peanut man? It is clear that the poem takes a much sadder tone after you say that in the future it will be impossible to see another man like this man and his peanut stand. Thank you for your time and any insight you can offer to me on this subject.

Your fan,
Evan

Dear Laura Newburn,

I was looking at your poem “The Speaker”, and I had a question about why you decided to use parenthesis twice in the first stanza of this poem. The first time you use them is when you say “(as She/ recounts it now)” in lines 12 and 13, and the second time you use them is in lines 15 and 16, when you say, “(because you are/ so good, and so quiet).” What I see happening is both times you use parenthesis, you use them to set off the spots that directly refer to the mom, to show that in this memory, the mother’s perspective was important. I noticed the mother was very important throughout the poem. When the daughter describes her looks and her mothers, she describes them both as “terrible beauty” in stanza one, lines 9 and 11. I think it shows that the daughter thinks of herself as just like her mother, at least when she was young.

            However, this does change in the second stanza, after the stranger has asked the mother if the daughter sitting on the shelf is a little girl or a doll. When, in her childish way, she establishes herself as both of these, you describe it as “So you follow the old/makers, the masters: you fashion/ your mouth…” (stanza 2, lines 22-24). The line break gives emphasis to the word “fashion” in line 23, which suggests the daughter has decided on an identity for herself rather than relying on her mother for that.

            There was also something else I noticed about this poem, and that was its sonnet-like form. The first stanza was like the exposition part of a sonnet with how it described the setting and the people in it, in this case the library with the mother and daughter in it. The second stanza provided the twist with the daughter’s answer to the stranger’s question. Instead of answering it, because it was most likely directed toward her mother, she purses her lips in an attempt to become both a doll and a little girl. I thought this structure worked very well for this poem because it allowed me to first take in the situation, and then the twist left me with something to think about, in this case the daughter’s identity. I was curious if you went with this form on purpose, or if you were not really thinking about the sonnet form and just liked this particular structure. Either way, it’s very effective.

I really enjoyed this poem’s creative way of exploring identity through the situation in the library, and thank you so much for taking time to read my letter.

Sincerely,

Melissa Cobb

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is for students of writing and literature to share their ideas on poetry. Posts should be in the form of a letter to the poet, focusing on one specific poem, and a specific theme and/or motif within that poem.

This is also a place of feedback and discourse as we work toward strengthening our annotations and our understanding, and even love, for poetry.