‘Persimmons’ is an autobiographical reflection upon growing up and adapting to life as a Chinese immigrant in the USA.[1] Lee was potentially destined to struggle with his identity: after his parents left their native China he spent the first few...

As young kids we hold our parents to a supernatural standard, only to feel the same level of duty when we grow older and uphold the same mantel. In "My Father in Heaven Is Reading Out Loud," Li-Young Lee writes from a growing perception of his...

First influences and early lessons in life from one or both parents last a lifetime and heavily influence the growth and maturity of the child. In terms of the poem, a son’s growth is heavily influenced by the actions of his father, and small...

Both the speakers in “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke look up to their fathers with wide-eyed admiration. In comparing the two poems, what stands out the most is the similar theme; that is, each boy has received...

Sonnets are traditionally fourteen line poems written in iambic pentameter. They often adhere to either a Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or Spenserian rhyme scheme, or they can contain a mixture known as a diaspora rhyme scheme. Many times, sonnets...

One of the most potent works by the writer D.H Lawrence is The Piano, a poem that explores the role of memory in life. A similar idea is explored in The Gift by Li Young Lee. These two poems show that memory plays a complex role in the journey of...

Famous Romantic era poet Percy Shelley once noted that “a poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds”. In his 2008 poetry anthology Behind My Eyes, IndoChinese-American author Li Young Lee...