Post by dagalla35 on May 21, 2012 20:15:22 GMT -5
Good Evening,
Li Young Lee has certainly travelled a long way to be here with us tonight. And while Chicago is by no means close to Westfield, his complete journey, beginning all the way in Indonesia, is far more impressive. Lee’s life has been interesting, to say the least. Born to a family of prominence, with his great grandfather being the first president of the Republic of China and his father being the personal physician to Mao Tse-Tsung, it seemed that Lee would simply lead a charmed life of power. But his life took a tumultuous turn after anti-Chinese sentiment began to arise in Indonesia and his father was arrested as a political prisoner. When his father was released, his family fled through China, Japan and Seattle, eventually winding up in Pennsylvania.
While you may be wondering when I am going to start actually talking about Lee’s poetry, his life is actually an integral part of his work, and some part of his past comes out in nearly every one of his poems. He utilizes the unique experiences of his life, both good and bad, to gain a greater perspective of life as a whole while simultaneously granting the reader the same. Lee’s poetry has a particular emphasis on memory, and how the past must not only be completely and constantly relived, but reflected upon in order to achieve ultimate enlightenment. Lee’s poetry masterfully juxtaposes his past experiences with present and future situations, melding together the corresponding perspectives to create a more full and profound lens in which to view the world. Through this, Lee achieves, as Alex Lemon states in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “near mysticism” which is nonetheless “fully engaged in life and memory while building and shaping the self from words.”
Yet, realizing that time is not the sole determinant of the Universe, Lee expands the connections between his experiences to connections between every-day objects. Through poems such as This Room and Everything in It, Lee acknowledges the mundane that we are always surrounded by as necessary parts of a whole. Lee emphasizes the undeniable existence of a greater whole as well as the contributions of every little detail to that whole, saying himself that, “It feels like something bigger than me—that I can’t possibly fathom but am embedded in.” Whether he is analyzing a scent or the sun on a wall, Lee recognizes the universal truth present in the mundane. This recognition allows him to connect every-day phenomena to himself, his life, and the rest of the universe, and by making each stand for a “separate idea,” he uses those ideas to form “the constellation of [his] greater idea.” All about this “greater idea,” Lee uses the mundane as he does the past, present, and future, seamlessly weaving together the ordinary into a single, extraordinary fabric.
Lee’s recognition of the connection between all things has an undeniably grand impact on his poetry. By combining the past with the present with the future, his poetry seems to take us to a place that transcends time. By combining the mundane into a single, grand picture, it nearly transcends separation and physical limitation. All that is certain is that Lee’s works bring us closer to understanding and appreciating a more complete view of our Universe.
Hopefully, the reading planned for today can add to your perspective of life, and enlighten you all as Lee’s poetry has enlightened me. And so, without further hesitation, please join me in welcoming Li Young Lee.
Word Count: 583
Li Young Lee has certainly travelled a long way to be here with us tonight. And while Chicago is by no means close to Westfield, his complete journey, beginning all the way in Indonesia, is far more impressive. Lee’s life has been interesting, to say the least. Born to a family of prominence, with his great grandfather being the first president of the Republic of China and his father being the personal physician to Mao Tse-Tsung, it seemed that Lee would simply lead a charmed life of power. But his life took a tumultuous turn after anti-Chinese sentiment began to arise in Indonesia and his father was arrested as a political prisoner. When his father was released, his family fled through China, Japan and Seattle, eventually winding up in Pennsylvania.
While you may be wondering when I am going to start actually talking about Lee’s poetry, his life is actually an integral part of his work, and some part of his past comes out in nearly every one of his poems. He utilizes the unique experiences of his life, both good and bad, to gain a greater perspective of life as a whole while simultaneously granting the reader the same. Lee’s poetry has a particular emphasis on memory, and how the past must not only be completely and constantly relived, but reflected upon in order to achieve ultimate enlightenment. Lee’s poetry masterfully juxtaposes his past experiences with present and future situations, melding together the corresponding perspectives to create a more full and profound lens in which to view the world. Through this, Lee achieves, as Alex Lemon states in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “near mysticism” which is nonetheless “fully engaged in life and memory while building and shaping the self from words.”
Yet, realizing that time is not the sole determinant of the Universe, Lee expands the connections between his experiences to connections between every-day objects. Through poems such as This Room and Everything in It, Lee acknowledges the mundane that we are always surrounded by as necessary parts of a whole. Lee emphasizes the undeniable existence of a greater whole as well as the contributions of every little detail to that whole, saying himself that, “It feels like something bigger than me—that I can’t possibly fathom but am embedded in.” Whether he is analyzing a scent or the sun on a wall, Lee recognizes the universal truth present in the mundane. This recognition allows him to connect every-day phenomena to himself, his life, and the rest of the universe, and by making each stand for a “separate idea,” he uses those ideas to form “the constellation of [his] greater idea.” All about this “greater idea,” Lee uses the mundane as he does the past, present, and future, seamlessly weaving together the ordinary into a single, extraordinary fabric.
Lee’s recognition of the connection between all things has an undeniably grand impact on his poetry. By combining the past with the present with the future, his poetry seems to take us to a place that transcends time. By combining the mundane into a single, grand picture, it nearly transcends separation and physical limitation. All that is certain is that Lee’s works bring us closer to understanding and appreciating a more complete view of our Universe.
Hopefully, the reading planned for today can add to your perspective of life, and enlighten you all as Lee’s poetry has enlightened me. And so, without further hesitation, please join me in welcoming Li Young Lee.
Word Count: 583