The Gift

“The Gift” is an autobiographical free verse poem that explores the past and the present, and shifts between descriptions of real events and imagined alternate realties. The poem begins in the past, with Lee describing something that happened when he was a child: “To pull the metal splinter from my palm / my father recited a story in a low voice” (Lines 1 and 2). The quality of the father’s voice is significant as it symbolizes the man’s kindness, which mesmerizes the child until he “watched his lovely face and not the blade” (Line 3). In the second stanza, Lee emphasizes the importance of his father’s loving manner: “I can’t remember the tale / but hear his voice still, a well / of dark water, a prayer” (Lines 6-8). The father’s mood and behavior is focused on keeping his son at ease during this event; his gentleness is not a front, but is a deeply seated quality, like the dark still water in a well.

Stanza two highlights the importance of point of view in this poem. The father’s actions are filtered through the son’s remembrances and sensations.