2 Poems

The first poem I selected was "The Quiet Life". I thought that this poem was saying that it is important for a person to be comfortable with their environment before they can assume an identity worth living. I got this from the lines that say, "Content to breathe his native air In his own ground." Also, these lines stood out to me: "Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire; Whose trees in summer yield him shade," This line said to me that your culture is based heavily upon how you take care of your day to day needs. The author's culture consists of him relying on nature for his well-being. Another thing that I thought the author was trying to say was to not let others define you. "Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die" I think that the author wanted to live without scrutiny from to world so he could successfully live out his identity without biased influences. The other poem I chose was "Identity Card". I selected this poem because of the use of the stereotype that the author seems to be playing into. He doesn't mind to be classified as an Arab because he knows his morals to be greater than anyone that sees him merely as an Arab. This contrasts to the other poem because the author of "The Quiet Life" seems to want people not to judge him and live in the shadow, hidden. The message of both is similar though. Both authors are seperated because they see their lives as greater than what anyone could say about them.