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

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As a parent, it is so hard to watch your child grow older because you would prefer them to stay little forever. Thinking about your child getting older is scary and can often make you forget to truly take in the special moments while they are young. In Li-Young Lee’s poem A Story he represents this parental feeling throughout the entire poem that focuses on the relationship between a father and his son. Li-Young Lee uses different poetic elements throughout the poem to develop the father’s complex attitude towards his relationship with his son, worried for the future, but still cherishing the present. Lee uses shifts in tense as well as assertive diction throughout the poem in order to convey the worrisome attitude that the father has when …show more content…

By shifting into the future tense, it shows that the father is so worried about his son growing up that he is already beginning to think about it while his son is still young, and the thoughts of him packing up his things and leaving his nest overtake the present, which is symbolized by the shift from present tense to future tense. The shift conveys the idea that the father is scared of his son getting older, because he wants to have the same relationship with his son for his entire life. The father’s worried attitude is further developed through assertive diction when the father begs the son to listen to one more story when the poem is in present tense. This diction is seen when Lee writes, “Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more! / You love the spider story. You laugh at …show more content…

Lee begins the story with a description of the father and his son as the young son is wanting another story from him as a way to show what the father is wanting to hold on to. Lee writes, “His five-year-old son waits in his lap. / Not the same story, Baba. A new one.” (Lee 3-4). The image of the son begging his father for new stories shows readers the moments that the father is worried about losing as his son gets older, because he wants these moments to last forever. The father wants to be able to remember moments like these, so he tries to mask the worry of his son getting older with adoration of the special moments he has. He knows these moments won’t last forever, but he doesn’t want the worry to shine through the love he has for his son while he is young. Lee further develops the complexity of the relationship at the end of the poem when he shifts back from future tense into the present tense and writes, “But the boy is here. Please, Baba, a story?” (Lee 19). The shift back to present tense shows how the father realizes he needs to cherish the time he has with his son now, instead of spending his time worrying about the future. The father realizes that he is scared and nervous for what is to happen to their relationship, but then concludes that he has

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