A Tear And A Smile


A Tear and A Smile


I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
For the joys of the multitude.
And I would have the tears that sadness makes
To flow from my every part turn into laughter.

 I would that my life remain a tear and a smile. 

A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding
Of life’s secrets and hidden things.
A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and
To be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.

 A tear to unite me with those of broken heart;
A smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.

I would rather that I died in yearning and longing than that I live weary and despairing.

 I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in the
Depths of my spirit, for I have seen those who are
Satisfied the most wretched of people.
I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and longing, and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody.

 With evening’s coming the flower folds her petals
And sleeps, embracing her longing.
At morning’s approach she opens her lips to meet
The sun’s kiss.

 The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment.
A tear and a smile.

 The waters of the sea become vapor and rise and come
Together and area cloud.

And the cloud floats above the hills and valleys
Until it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weeping
To the fields and joins with brooks and rivers to Return to the sea, its home

 The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting.
A tear and a smile.
And so does the spirit become separated from
The greater spirit to move in the world of matter

And pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrow
And the plains of joy to meet the breeze of death
And return whence it came.

To the ocean of Love and Beauty ….. to God

Kahlil Gibran

 He was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and artist, and also a great philosopher.  He is the author of the “The Prophet” which was published in the United States in 1923, and it is one of the best-selling books.

 He was from Ottoman of Maronite family, then he migrated with his family to United States in 1895.  He did his school at Boston, his creative abilities made him to meet photographer and publisher F.Holland Day.  His first book in Arabic was published in 1905.  While he was studing art in Parish from 1908 to 1910 he had a chance to meet Syrian political thinkers in Ottoman Empire.  His books on revolution and anti-clericalism were banned by the Ottoman Authorities.  His first book in English “The Madman” was published in 1918. 

 At the age of 48 he died of Cirrhosis and Tuberculosis in one lung.  He is well-known for his literary achievements.  His body was given to his birth village of Bsharri Lebanon, he had given all royalties to his books and a museum was dedicated to his works.  Gibran touched in depth all different themes in his writings and explores various literary forms.  Still he is a literary her in Lebanon.

 Summary of the poem

 The poem reveals the truth of life.  They talk about the different views of life which are quite puzzling.  A tear must unite the broken hearts as there could be a clear understanding of life.  A smile is to share the joy of life and our existence.  One of the finest work of Gibran.  He starts the poem by saying how a tear could bring all together and a smile could flow and change the anger into joy and happiness giving the meaning of our existence.   A tear would clear our mind and purify our thoughts and visions and make us to realize the sides of life.  The whole poem shows the struggle between and life and death.  Life and death both are same to the poet.  But his skillful description reflects the how he would like to view those two challenges and how to get rid of it in a positive way.

 Detail analysis of the poem

 “I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
For the joys of the multitude.
And I would have the tears that sadness makes
To flow from my every part turn into laughter.”

 The first four lines say the value of joy and happiness.  The poet is not ready to destroy the joy of many by a drop of tear.  For sorrow and sadness could destroy the happiness of many.  He loves the life even though it could be challenging but he enjoys the joy of existence.  How that could be destroyed.  Every one come across the tear and the smile.  But it could teach them a lesson or they could have transformed them.  It depends how each of us view the tears and smiles of our life.

 “A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding
Of life’s secrets and hidden things.
A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and
To be a symbol of my glorification of the gods.”

 A tear is a result of an emotional feeling.  It could give a clear understanding of life and the truth behind out existence.  Similarly the smile make a person close to the people of joy.  According to the poet a smile is a powerful feature which could sole the disputes and disagreements.  A genuine smile can melt the heavenly Father our Creator.  It is a symbol to glorify the gods. 

 “A tear to unite me with those of broken heart;
A smile to be a sign of my joy in existence.
 I would rather that I died in yearning and longing than that I live weary and despairing.”

 A tear could comfort the sad and broken hearts, the poet compares the smile as a sign and symbol of joy in the universe.  A smile is a silent language which could convey many emotions.  The language bring all heart together.  He prefers death in longing and yearning for love than living in desperation.

 “I want the hunger for love and beauty to be in the
Depths of my spirit, for I have seen those who are
Satisfied the most wretched of people.
I have heard the sigh of those in yearning and longing, and it is sweeter than the sweetest melody”

 The poet describes those who are longing for love.  They are hungry for love.  It is a desparate lonely feeling.  The soul and the spirit longs for love.  He has seen those who are satisfied with such desperate people.  Joy and happiness should be shared and spread.  The long breathing of those who longs for love and compassion are compared to a music.  It is the sweetest melody of which has the real tone of expression.  This brings out the feeling of emptiness.

  “With evening’s coming the flower folds her petals
And sleeps, embracing her longing.
At morning’s approach she opens her lips to meet
The sun’s kiss.”
The life of a flower is longing and fulfilment.
A tear and a smile.

A beautiful description on a flower’s natural life.  The poet says even the flower which fold her petals in the evening, goes to sleep with an expectation to wake up to embrace and to kiss the sun.  Nature has been portrayed as a living thing which gives a message of longing and expectation.

 “The waters of the sea become vapor and rise and come
Together and area cloud.”
And the cloud floats above the hills and valleys
Until it meets the gentle breeze, then falls weeping
To the fields and joins with brooks and rivers to Return to the sea, its home
“The life of clouds is a parting and a meeting.
A tear and a smile.

 Again the poet points out about the nature.  Nature has so much to say to us.  Now he talks about the life cycle of water.  The rain, vaporization, condensation and perspiration.  There is an unbroken continuity in the life cycle of water.  If this continuity is broken then the whole creation would come to an end.  This stanza paints the picture of nature with great imagination.  It gives a great pleasure to the readers to read and enjoy with deep thinking. “The clouds floats around the valleys and hills”, “falls weeping” are adorable imaginations.  Then “the rain joins with brooks and rivers and return to its home” home to sea is a beautiful comparison.  The cloud’s life is a continuous parting and meeting with nature.  There is no end for this natural process. They do their duties with humbleness.

 And so does the spirit become separated from
The greater spirit to move in the world of matter
And pass as a cloud over the mountain of sorrow
And the plains of joy to meet the breeze of death
And return whence it came.”
 “To the ocean of Love and Beauty ….. to God”

 Last stanza talks about the spirit of the human.  Our spirit moves in the world of matter where it could join and transform into cloud to become the part of nature. Again the nature plays its role in our life cycle.  Our spirit goes away from us and becomes the part of the creation.  It floats over the mountain of sorrow, the poet is sad and expresses his grief over his emptiness. They huge as a mountain.  And the joy is compared to plain as it is very simple.  He prefers to meet the death as breeze.  Death is compared to breeze for he says suffering is very painful than the death.

So he longs for death.  After death the soul transform to become a part of nature and to surrender at the feet of the Creator GOD.

 Conclusion

Gibran’s A Tear and A Smile is a well-known work.  It brings out the philosophy effects of life.   The poet has used a perfect language to bring out the impact of Tear and Smile.  The title is an interesting example of two opposite forces of life.  An oxymoron of title is used to establish the relationship of two different dominant forces of life.  There are differences between the tears and smiles.  Also they are interconnected to influence an individual.  For one could cry to express their grief likewise one can cry with joy. Different emotions could be expressed with tears. Smile also could be expressed for grief and joy.  Some hide their grief with a smile.  It is a great cover to hide their feelings.  Innocent smile of a baby could heal a wounded heart.

 The poem is an eye opener for those experience emotional disasters.  A tear has the ability to transform a person with clarity.  It is a teacher to teach lessons of life.  It gives great strength and courage to move forward.  It could be a stepping stone to reach our dream.  A tear warns us not to do the same mistakes.  It gives determination not to give up our destiny.

 The smile on the other hand is a complete opposite force of tears, conveys messages.  A smile too can do many wonders.  A smile has the capacity to comfort a person.  It is a symbol of peace, unity and acceptance.  Smile is the best medicine for a good health. It could heal a broken heart.  It could make the bitter into sweet and impossible into possible.

The poet talks about those who longs for happiness and peace.  It is too hard to find a self-content life in the war torn and materialistic world.  Rich becomes richer and richest.  Poor becomes poorer and poorest in the commercial world.  Planet Earth has no time to value a tear or smile as it too busy in turning into materialistic. Everyone have their own selfish way to lead a happy life.  They are ignorant about the tear or smile which could reflect a feeling of loneliness or joy of existence.

 The poet now compares the life of nature without our life style.  The nature of the flower is its expectation to kiss the morning sun with a smile.  They don’t shed tears. For they worship their creator and satisfied with what they have.  The clouds which become a part of nature do their duties without expectation.  Form earth they transform and undergo different process before they come back to earth.  They give, they share, they are happy with what they give without any expectation.

 The final part of the poem is with a different message. It relates the departing spirit.  They go away and become one with the universe.  The spirit “pass over the mountain of sorrow” is a perfect description to realize after the death, no sorrow could disturb the everlasting sleep of the deceased.  The soul is freed from all his sorrows and tears, at least now the broken soul could find peace and joy which it could not find during its existence. 

 The poet prefers death than a suffering life.  His choice of language is so perfect to bring out his grief.  He represents the broken souls who love to be happy and smile but they are chained to suffering and pain.  They prefer death than to live in poverty.  The theme of pain and death, smile and joy, life of and nature are well painted by the poet.  The arrangement of lines in the poem gives a deeper meaning to think the hidden secrets of life.


Thank you

All the best

 



 

 

 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Friends and Flatterers by William Shakespeare

TOM SAWYER

Two's Company