Poetry Handout By Kusumitha Nekkanti

Li- Young Lee Born August 19, 1957 in Indonesia Parents were political exiles Attended University of Pittsburgh Developed his passion for writing with his father’s help Wrote his own poems under the guidance of Gerald Stern Influenced by classic Chinese poet

Eating Alone Summary The speaker remembers walking with his father His father shows him different things in the outdoors The speaker feels as if his father is there with him, only to find out he is not there The speaker feels alone as he has to eat by himself

Thoughts “Once, years back, I walked beside my father among the windfall pears. ” Remembers memories with his father so vividly Memories are pleasant “The garden is bare now. The ground is cold, brown and old” Imagery Only remembers negative aspects of the fall; negative connoation “What more could I, a young man, want Left alone at a young age Eating is a communal activity. Even though the speaker seems to have filling food that can feed many people, he is left eating alone. Life, death, and loneliness are a part of life

Robert Hayden Born August 4, 1913. Died February 25, 1980. Taken in by foster family Witnessed many fights and had a traumatic childhood Majored in Spanish at Detroit City College Worked for the Federal Writer’s Project Studied poetry under W.H. Auden in at University of Michigan Most famous poem is Those Winter Sundays Hayden witnessed frequent verbal and physical bouts between his foster parents during his childhood years. The trauma he sustained as a result of this experience spurred periods of debilitating depression.

Those Winter Sundays Summary Father got up early to make house warm for the family No one thanks the dad for his hard work The speaker would only talk to his dad after getting up, but with no affection Ends the poem saying he did not know much about his father’s love, but now he does.

Thoughts “Sundays too my father got up early/ and put clothes on in the blueblack cold” Before sunrise and super cold Synesthesia: coldness is being described with colors instead of feeling “Then with cracked hands that ached/ from labor in the weekday weather made/ banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.” Alliteration: sounds very harsh Family is ungrateful “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking” Personification of the cold The harshness of the alliteration reflects the cold and unpleasant condition the father is working in.

Thoughts ”Fearing the chronic angers of that house” The people in the house are unhappy Contrast from the beginning of the poem “What did I know, what did I know/ of love’s austere and lonely offices?” Speaker finally understands his father’s love Love is not all rainbows and sunshine; it can be tough

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