After reading Words Under The Words by Naomi Shihab Nye my preconceived notions on poetry were shattered. For one of the first times in my life I enjoyed reading poetry. Her contrasts of emotions, feelings and thoughts, coupled with her ability to weave a web of words made this book enjoyable. Evidence of her travels as well as her Palestinian-American heritage show through in portions of the book and make her poetry very diverse. A common theme I picked out between the two poems: "You Have to Be Careful" and "What He Said to His Enemies" is trust or lack there of. .
After reading "You Have to Be Careful" I received the impression that the author was looking for someone to trust with her secrets. Throughout the stanzas of this poem many types of listeners are described, most notably the talkative one. Evidence of this is shown in part of the first stanza: "You have to be careful telling things. Some ears are tunnels."(1-2) These represent the people that will hear one thing and before you know it someone else knows it as well. These two lines give me the notion that the meaning behind the poem is trust. It also brings to mind the question of whether or not the author has been hurt by a false sense of security with someone in the past.
This poem gives me a feeling of caution and somberness throughout. The attitude is a sobering one. In the second stanza an example of this mood occurs:.
You look a long time till you find the right ears.
Till then, there are birds and lamps to be spoken to,.
A patient cloth rubbing shine in circles, (7-9) .
The use of the word "patient" in the second line represents great diction by Nye. Patience is exactly the type of mood presented at this point in the poem. The speaker is definitely taking time and waiting for the right person as if they have one in mind. In another odd sense the speaker gives off a feeling of trustworthiness by opening up to the reader with their cautiousness.
Lebanon Lebanon today, much as in ancient times, consists of a strip of land at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea. With its western edge on the Mediterranean and its western limits generally the Lebanon Mountains, Lebanon has four cities which are of importance. Anciently, two major cit...
