What does the speaker in the gift mean when he describes his fathers voice as a well of dark water

Ordinary acts of caring often go unnoticed. What does the speaker in “The Gift” mean when he describes his father’s voice as a “well of dark water”? His voice sounds deep and soulful.

What does a well of dark water mean?

‘but hear his voice still, a well/of dark water, a prayer’ – This expression indicates the deep voice of the poet’s father. The word ‘dark’ emphasizes the richness of the healing voice. The voice is also compared to a prayer, which indicates the tender and compassionate tone of the voice.

Had you entered that afternoon you would have thought you saw a man planting something in a boy's palm a silver tear a tiny flame?

Had you entered that afternoon you would have thought you saw a man planting something in a boy’s palm, a silver tear, a tiny flame. Had you followed that boy you would have arrived here, where I bend over my wife’s right hand. Look how I shave her thumbnail down so carefully she feels no pain.

Why does the grown speaker refer to the splinter as little assassin and ore going deep for my heart?

Here, Lee uses synecdoche to refer to the blade. Besides, he uses hyperbole in order to portray his childhood fear. He thought that little blade would cost him his life. He christened it by the name “Little Assassin” and thought that the “ore” (another use of synecdoche) would go deep for his heart.

What is the central conflict of the gift poem?

Answer and Explanation: In “The Gift of the Magi,” the main conflict is that Della does not have enough money saved to buy the gift she thinks Jim deserves.

What does swimming in dreams mean?

In dreams, water can represent similar ideas, and swimming within water suggests that a new start is coming, especially if you cannot see land in your dream. If you dream of swimming in deep water, this indicates that a change will become a pivotal point in your life, a clear line of before and after.

What is the meaning of those winter Sundays?

“Those Winter Sundays” is a deceptively simple poem that highlights the sacrifices—often unseen—that parents make for their children. Written from an adult perspective, the poem sees the speaker reflecting on the parenting style of his father. … The poem thus presents parenting as selfless and often thankless work.

What does the speaker mean when he says that he feared the chronic angers of that house why does he speak indifferently to his father?

He was a little bit afraid of his father, and the house was filled with “chronic angers,” rather than, say, sunshine and rainbows and lollipops. … The speaker implies in the poem’s final lines that he didn’t understand that his father’s behavior (lighting the fires, shining the shoes) was an expression of fatherly love.

What is the significance of the speaker giving his story to his father my old man?

The speaker recalls how his father once removed a splinter from his palm by merely telling him a story in a low, reassuring voice. Though the speaker was in acute pain, yet his father’s storytelling technique helped him forget the pain he was suffering.

Who is the speaker in the gift?

The speaker of Li-Young Lee’s “The Gift” describes a memory from his childhood. The speaker addresses the reader in a direct manner, as if he is telling someone a story.

Article first time published on

What can you infer about the feelings of the speaker after his father removes the splinter?

What do you learn about the father from images in the second stanza? … What can you infer about the feelings of the speaker after his father removes the splinter? The speaker is trusts and loves his father. Why might Li-Young Lee have chosen to call his poem the gift?

What is the tone of the poem The Gift Outright?

The tone is set in tune with the love of ownership. It is a nationalistic poem with a tone which is peculiarly American.

Which figurative language is used in the poem the gift in wartime?

We find the use of irony, apostrophe, anaphora, and metaphor as the figurative language here in this poem. The poet has used imageries and metaphors much. The title of this poem itself is ironic which refers to the gifts of war as pains, sorrows, losses, blood etc to humans.

What does Della's hair symbolize in The Gift of the Magi?

Della’s hair Symbol Analysis. Della’s hair and Jim’s gold watch are the young couple’s most prized possessions at the start of the story, and their eventual sacrifice of these items represents the couple’s love. More specifically, however, Della’s hair represents her beauty and youth.

What does the speaker recall his father doing in those winter Sundays?

‘Those Winter Sundays’ is a short poem about a childhood memory. The speaker recalls the actions of a father who each Sunday rises early to dutifully make a fire and polish the good shoes for his son. It’s only later on in life that the child becomes aware of the sacrifice his father, a hard-working parent, made.

What is the falling action in the gift of the Magi?

The falling action of the story is the realization of Della and Jim that they are unable to use each other’s gifts as of now as they both sacrificed their favorite things to buy gifts for each other but it proved that their love for each other is invaluable just as the biblical gift of Magi.

What does Blue Black Cold mean?

Even though “blueblack” isn’t something you can feel, it creates an impression of the cold that includes how it looks rather than just how it feels. The speaker says it is early morning, so “blueblack” might be describing what the sky looks like outside the window or how the room looks in the early light.

What does cold splintering breaking mean?

He only wakes to find the cold “splintering, breaking.” It’s like the cold is something tangible that he can hold in his hand—something that can break.

How does Hayden present the relationship between fathers and sons in Those Winter Sundays?

In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” (prepositional phrase) by Robert Hayden the son is scared, fearing his father and the strained past that lingers in the house. The bond that the father and son share is the fire the father builds every morning to keep his son warm.

What does it mean when you dream about someone who is already dead?

The most common reason you might dream of someone who is already deceased is that your brain is trying to process your feelings about this person that have come to your conscious awareness. When the thoughts and feelings buried deep in our subconscious rise to our conscious awareness, they manifest in dream form.

Can water dreams mean pregnancy?

Water in dreams may take on a dramatic form as pregnancy progresses. Toward her due date, a pregnant woman is more likely to dream of water as a symbol of the “breaking waters” that announce imminent childbirth. One woman at the end of her second trimester dreamed of big ocean waves that rose around her.

What does it mean when you dream about someone?

When you dream about someone, it is usually a reflection of how you feel about them in your waking life. Your dream may be telling you to pay attention to that person in your waking life. Your subconscious may be trying to connect the dots on something and needs your conscious mind to help them figure it out.

How does Father William reprimand his son?

Father William says that three questions are enough for him to answer and criticizes his son for “giving himself airs,” or being self-important and conceited. He says he doesn’t have time to listen to his son’s nonsense and tells him to leave or he will kick him down the stairs.

What is the theme of this poem?

Theme is the lesson about life or statement about human nature that the poem expresses. To determine theme, start by figuring out the main idea. Then keep looking around the poem for details such as the structure, sounds, word choice, and any poetic devices.

How does Heaney present relationship between father and son?

In his poem ‘Follower’, Heaney present attitudes of love and admiration from the narrating son to his father through the son’s apparent reverence and veneration of his father’s skill in farming and his desire to emulate this.

Is Those Winter Sundays about abuse?

In this stanza of ‘Those Winter Sundays’, it seems, the idea that the father is abusive loses a portion of possibility as the speaker admits that his father had been there for him against the “cold” and through preparing his “good shoes,” and because the speaker in his older years describes his father’s feelings for …

What does Speaking indifferently to him mean?

adjective. without interest or concern; not caring; apathetic: his indifferent attitude toward the suffering of others. having no bias, prejudice, or preference; impartial; disinterested.

Who did the speaker speak indifferently to why?

Maybe the speaker (though he was just a tyke at the time) has something to do with those angers. In this line, we learn that he he speaks “indifferently” to his good ol’ dad. We could even say that he’s “cold” to his dad—cold as an icy winter morning. The speaker is acting like the weather to his poor ol’ dad.

What is the purpose of the speaker in the gift of India?

Answer: Explanation: the speaker of poem the gift of india is the mother india. this is adressed to foreigners especially the british. the purpoase of the speaker is that mother india has not witholded anything from anyone but she sacrficed her brave sons to british to fight the world war 1 .

Who is the speaker in the poem The Gift of India '? Who is addressed to and why what is the purpose of the speaker?

The speaker of the poem is Mother India herself, who has decided to speak up for the sake of her sons’ honour. The theme of this poem is the queries of Mother India that she makes to the colonizers for whom her sons sacrificed their lives.

Who is being addressed in the poem The Gift of India explain how the poem is emotionally surcharged with sentiments?

The poem ‘The Gift of India’ by Sarojini Naidu sounds like an appeal made by mother India to the world to remember the contribution of Indian soldiers during World War I. It is surcharged with the emotional outpouring of a mother, reminiscence on how her children fought and died during World War I.

You Might Also Like