Poem Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

The Tone of “Daddy” and “My Papa’s Waltz” is what differentiates the two child-father relationships in the poems from one another with “Daddy” having a tone of hate and fear

The fifth line says, “maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage.” This implies the father may have had a drinking problem since alcoholics tend to display violent behavior unexpectedly while under the influence. The poet extends the idea of a hot-tempered alcoholic in lines six and seven which state, “or making us nervous (6) because there never seemed to be any rage there at all (7).” This is say that the violent outbursts occurred on a regular basis and even though the father was not violent at certain moments the child knew it was the calm before the storm. The idea that this happened regularly further emphasizes that the father had an addiction to alcohol and his rage was the outcome of it; all of which, portray horrendous events a child lived through in their youth as a result of an unfit father.

As in the beginning of the fourth stanza, the first word of the stanza brings the reader back to a different part of the boy's life and a different event. This new event shows the character as no longer a boy, representing innocence, but in the company of "godless money-hungry back-stabbing miserable so-and-sos". We can tell from this that Dawe is trying to show that the boy has now grown up and has been introduced to the "real world" and is now already a middle-aged man. The phrase "goodbye stars" relates back to the fourth stanza. He must also farewell the "soft cry in the corner"; a farewell to any emotions. It is at this point that Dawe includes the adult voice of the boy. The character speaks the need to care for yourself first and foremost, no need to think about the effect it may have on others, shown in the statement "hit wherever you see a head and kick whoever's down". This harsh change from innocent boy to selfish man is how Dawe is creating the character. The adult man is shaped by his dialogue in the poem. The character has grown up and no longer discusses his family, yet no mention of a wife or children is present until the next stanza, and then only to criticize. This fifth stanza is the first one to portray him as an adult, and Dawe has managed to make the character seem harsh and unkind.

The most complex relationship one could ever try to understand is the relationship of a child and his or her parents. In the poem, “Our Son Swears He Has 102 Gallons of Water in His Body,” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the speaker effectively portrays the damaged relationship between a child and his parents. The son in the poem believes he knows everything, and his “know-it-all” mentality is the source of the family’s troubles. Through details, imagery, and a shift in the last stanza, the speaker conveys the son’s stubbornness.

Poetry is like a song without music, it has the ability to awaken your emotions and the ability to tell stories that can paint beautiful, relatable, imagery in the viewer’s mind. Upon reading the poem, “My Son the Man” by Sharon Olds, she presents a unique view on her bittersweet experience of watching her son gravitate towards manhood, “Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider” (line1), while realizing he is astute enough to escape his mother’s strong hold, “to learn the way out” (line 16). As a mother myself, I began to recognize how I can relate to the speaker’s challenges of understanding a child’s need to test limits and break free from dependency. I realized through the speaker’s obvious allusions to Houdini expressing the need to break free, the contrast used to convey the indirect references to Houdini, and the similes used to express emotion toward reflecting back on a time of innocence, accepting the need of a maturing child’s independence proves the strength of a mother’s love.

Several things that happen in this book are a result of what the father and son do in their relationships for

In the poem, A Story, by Li-Young Lee, a father struggles with the thought of his son growing older. The poem clearly shows fears of how he is afraid of their complex relationship. Lee uses many literary devices to convey this complex relationship of the father and the son through point of view and structure.

Although single parenthood is on the rise in homes today, children still often have a father role in their life. It does not matter who the part is filled by: a father, uncle, older brother, grandfather, etc...; in almost all cases, those relationships between the father (figure) and child have lasting impacts on the youth the rest of their lives. In “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World,” Jimmy Carter tells the audience no matter the situation with a father, hold onto every moment.

The poem “A Story” by Li young Lee tells of a young child asking his father for story. The boy simply wants a story that he has never heard, his father is bombarded with panic as he seems to think he is disappointing his son. Through analysis of structure, points of view and metaphors this seemingly simple story is transformed into a deep meaningful poem about a complex relationship between a father and son.

The second stanza is almost like the first in the fact that it appeals to the same senses. It talks about the actions and the feelings of the child. It describes how the child would wake and wait for his father to call him. The second stanza also describes the mood of the house in the line, "fearing the chronic angers of that house." Perhaps that line is

Few relationships are as deep as those between child and parent. While circumstance and biology can shape the exact nature of the bond, a child’s caretaker is the first to introduce them to the world. And as they grow and begin to branch out, children look to their parents as a model for how to interact with the various new situations. Through allusion, potent imagery, and nostalgic diction, Natasha Trethewey constructs an idolized image of a father guiding their child through life’s challenges only to convey the speaker’s despair when they are faced with their father’s mortality in “Mythmaker.”

Companionship plays an important role in the storyline of this novel. The bond between the father and son gives them the love they need in order to keep them in touch with humanity.

The poem starts to narrow in on the relationship of apprentice and master with the lines, “This was his son, who sat, an apprentice, night after night, his glass of coals next to the old man’s glass of coals.” (ll 12-14). “This was his son,” is a powerful statement that gives not only a parental relationship but also of a father forging his son into a man. We all learn from our fathers and in the old days a lot of sons stayed home and

In the poem, I get a sense that there is no bond, like my father and I have which leads to confusion in the narrator's life. For instance, in line eight when he says, "I would slowly rise and dress,/ fearing the chronic angers of the house"(8-9), this gives me a strong sense of sadness, for him because I feel that he is greatly deprived of what every child should have a good role model as a father, and someone to look up to. “Speaking Indifferently to him, / who had driven out the cold”(10-11) is saying that they really did not know how to communicate with each other. I feel that the boy will regret not having and knowing what it is that makes you who you are, and may never get a chance to have and hold a special bond with his father and having a relationship with a person that can not be held with anyone else. This would bring an enormous amount of sadness to my life had I not had my Dad there to guide and protect me, when I could have used tremendous support and security.

A father and son relationship is very important. It is the foundation for boys to become men. The article, “Why the Father Wound Matter: Consequences for Male Mental Health and the Father-Son Relationship”, by Eric D. Miller explains the concept of a father wound that can manifest in males due to a father neglecting or abusing them. Miller stresses that by becoming fathers’, men can overcome father wounds. He touches upon the idea of masculinity, and how it can be a factor to why there is sometimes a distant relationship between a father and a son. The “A Father’s Call: Father-Son Relationship Survival of Critical Life Transitions”, by Ivory Achebe Toldson and Ivory Lee Toldson explains the relationship between a father and a son from adolescent into adulthood. Lee who was the father describes his struggles through a divorce and how he stayed connected to his son no matter what occurred. Lee’s son Achehbe is also featured in the article and expresses the rough childhood he went through without his father being directly in his life. Together these two articles show that a father is essential to the raising of a boy because without one many form father wounds along with emotional problems.