The Gift by Li-Young Lee

Every book, poem, novel and many other things you can read have a little meaning, message, and just little things that make up the story. Basically anything that keeps the story interesting and makes the reader want to read more right? We are all different and have different taste in books whether it’s action, comedy, romance, drama and all that great stuff. In this poem, “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee, the author uses point of view, rhythm, and metaphor to create a sad mood and keep us interested.
The point of view reveals a sad mood because it is written in 1st person. For example the speaker was given a precious but potentially dangerous object by his father as a memory of what almost killed him. Just the fact that you’re dad helps you out but you have to keep an object that you could’ve died from and remembering that day’s pretty sad.
The rhythm of this story shows how the speaker feels which is sad. The speaker used a lot of rhythm in this story and with the falls from his voice, all the pauses, and balance between long and short lines, and the tone of his voice does make the story a little bit sadder. Just the way he speaks out and how he expresses his feelings in the story can really touch someone.
Metaphors in this story also helped create a sad mood in this story by the way he uses them and just the way that they’re said. He used some metaphors like, “Metal that will bury me; and ‘Death visited here.” To hear what this man has to live with since he was a little boy is just touching. Thinking of a little object that almost killed him.
In “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee, the author uses point of view, rhythm, and metaphor to create a sad mood and keep us interested. From the speaker to have been the little boy in the story, to the way he spoke out to us in his tone of voice, to just the phrases he used to touch us deep down in the heart and knowing that he was almost killed by a little metal object is just sad. It’s amazing how little details you can add to a...