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
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