LITTLE FATHER BY LI-YOUNG LEE

Meaning
This poem, Little Father, truly represents how much Li- Young Lee's father meant to
him. It talks first about his fathers death, but then about how much his father
impacted and changed his life for the better and that Lee hopes when he raises his
own child he will be able to have that kind of effect and relationship that Lee and his
father had, and how it truly represents a cycle in raising children in a family.

Theme
1. Responsibility of a father
- In this poem, Li- Young Lees father has guided him in a very good way.
His father has impacted and changed his life for the better. So, Lee hopes
when when he raises his own child he will be able to have that kind of
effect and relationship that Lee and his father had.
2. Raising a child
- In this poem, Lees father has raised Lee very well. His father impacted
and changed his life for the better. Lee hopes when he raises his own child
he will be able to have that kind of effect and relationship that Lee and his
father had.
3. Relationship of father with his child
- In this poem, Lees father has a good relationship with him. He has guided
him a lot in a good path.

What is the persona trying to say ?

The persona in this poem is trying to say that a father should raise his child in a good
way. A father should play his responsibility completely in raising a child. The persona
also says that a father should have a good relationship with his child. A father also
should guide a child in a correct way. He should make his childs life better. So that
the child can then continue to pass that on to their child of their own.

Literary Devices
1. Free verse - a form of poetry that does not use consistent meter patterns,
rhyme, or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of
2.
3.
4.
5.

natural speech.
Alliteration - the repetition of the initial consonant
to the tables spread for a wedding feast
Assonance - the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence.
and all the earth has become a house
Hyperbole - a figure of speech involving exaggeration.
I buried my father in the sky
Anaphora - repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring

clauses, thereby lending them emphasis

little pale foot sunk in unheard-of night,
little clock spring newly wet
6. Metaphor - A comparison in which one thing is said to be another.
EX : Unheard- of night
Parent to the future wine