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Analysis Of The Poem ' Early Of The Morning ' By Li Young Lee

Good Essays

Winnie Chang
ENG 120
November 14, 2014
Analytical Essay

Sound and Imagery in “Early in the Morning” by Li-Young Lee
Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese parents, who fled communist China as political exiles. The family eventually relocated to the United States, where Lee began to formally write poetry. Lee often draws from personal memories and uses narrative in his poems, frequently touching on themes of family, childhood, and memory, intertwined with Chinese culture. (Poetry Foundation) Peggy Kaganoff, a Publishers Weekly reviewer, describes Lee’s imagery as “economical yet fluid, and his language is often startling for its brave honesty”. (Poetry Foundation) “Early in the Morning”, published in Lee’s first book of poems, Rose (1986), is a reflection of childhood, as the speaker observes his mother’s daily ritual of making breakfast and doing her hair. Through the depiction of everyday routines – their tangibility evoked by sound and diction – Lee builds a quiet, nuanced understanding of love.
Sound and diction shape help to reader’s experience of a poem. Especially given the conciseness of “Early in the Morning”, the use of two craft elements is especially influential. At once, Lee establishes a feeling of comfort and familiarity in the first stanza with his diction. Lee writes the first line, “While the long grain is softening”, in passive voice, highlighting the verb “softening”. This helps to evoke a sense of gentleness and safety in the reader. The sounds

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