Poetry can be found in many different places. Li-Young Lee is one poet who often writes about nature and his own personal experiences. In the poem “Persimmons”, Lee talks about how the fruit of the same name can be both bitter and sweet. This is a reflection of how life itself can be full of both good and bad moments.
Lee was born in Djakarta, Indonesia to Chinese parents who had fled China during the Communist Revolution. He spent his early childhood in Indonesia until his family was forced to move to Hong Kong due to political unrest, and eventually moved to the United States when he was six years old.
This poem is based on a story from Chinese folklore concerning a young boy who is cursed by a persimmon tree. The curse cannot be lifted until the boy eats 100 unripe persimmons, which will make him very sick. However, once he eats the 100th persimmon, the curse will be broken and he will be able to understand animals. In the poem, Lee uses the Persimmon story as a metaphor for cultural understanding and forgiveness.
The speaker in “Persimmons” is trying to apologize to his girlfriend for something his father did, but she does not understand his words because they are in different cultures. The speaker is also trying to explain to her that an apology does not have to be understood in order to be forgiven.
One of the most important aspects of this poem is the imagery. The poem is full of images of different kinds of fruit, which symbolize different things. For example, the persimmons represent the speaker’s culture and history, while the apples represent the girlfriend’s culture.
Another important aspect of this poem is the use of literary devices such as similes and metaphors. For example, in line 17, the speaker compares his father’s hands to “a pair of old shoes” This is a metaphor because it is comparing two things that are not alike. In addition, in lines 21-22, the speaker compares the persimmons to “a hundred little bombs” This is a simile because it is comparing two things that are alike.
Overall, “Persimmons” is a very powerful and moving poem about culture and forgiveness. The imagery, symbolism, and literary devices help to create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind and make the poem more enjoyable to read.
In the poem, the truth that we will one day pass away from others and this world is exposed. But it’s during our lives that the real beauty lies, and we are the ones to preserve the delicious, ripe “Persimmon,” a sacred and unique “sun within [each of us]… golden” with a warm heart. Li-Young Lee employs imagery and symbolism to emphasize the transformation of a young American Chinese boy’s early life difficulties into adult deep passions.
The poem starts with the speaker’s father teaching him how to tell a persimmon is ripe. The father uses an example of a “green one,” which is unripe and “bitter as gall.” The father then compares it to a “ripe one,” which is sweet. He goes on to say that if you eat a unripe persimmon, it will give you “diarrhea for three days.” However, the speaker interrupts his father and says that he knows how to tell when a persimmon is ripe. The father then asks the speaker how he knows this and the speaker responds by saying that he just knows.
The father then gives the speaker a persimmon and tells him to eat it. The speaker takes a bite of the persimmon and finds that it is not as sweet as he thought it would be. The father then tells the speaker that he needs to let the persimmon ripen more before he eats it. The father also says that the persimmon is like life and that we need to let life ripen before we can enjoy its sweetness.
The poem then shifts to the speaker talking about how his father used to take him to the park to watch the birds. The speaker recalls how his father would tell him about the different birds and what they ate. The speaker then talks about how his father is no longer alive and how he misses him.
Towards the end of the poem, the speaker talks about how life is like a persimmon. He says that we need to let life ripen before we can enjoy its sweetness. He also says that we will all fade away someday, but that the beauty lies in the journey, not the destination.
Li-Young Lee’s poem “Persimmons” is a beautiful and moving poem about life, death, and the beauty of both. Through the use of imagery and symbolism, Lee explores the idea that life is like a persimmon: we need to let it ripen before we can enjoy its sweetness. He also touches on the theme of death and how we will all fade away someday, but that the beauty lies in the journey, not the destination. This poem is a beautiful and moving tribute to life and death and the beauty of both.
“Persimmons” suggests that even if we go blind, like the poem’s father, it will show that our life experiences, regardless of whether or not they are appreciated by everyone or fully understood, will be forever etched in our souls.
“Persimmons” is a poem by Li-Young Lee that tells the story of a young boy learning about life from his father. The father is blind, but he still has many stories to share with his son.
One of the things the father teaches his son is that even though bad things happen to good people, they can still find beauty in life. The father tells his son that “the world is full of Persimmons,” meaning that there are still good things out there despite the darkness.
This poem is teaching us that we should never give up hope, even when times are tough. We should always look for the beauty in life, even when it’s hard to find.