By Khalil Gibran
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
In the first line, the persona is asked what friendship means to him. He starts off by saying that a friend is someone who will be there for you when you may need them. In the next line, he compares a friend to that of a field in which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. This means that you treat them with love and care and in return, you will gain something such as a favour as an expression of thanks. As inferred from the saying 'You reap what you sow', your friend would also treat you the same way you did to them- with love and care.
In the fourth line, the persona says that a friend is someone who acts as your 'fireside'. The word 'fireside' means 'home'. Home is where you should feel the safest and the most comfortable. By using this word, the persona is trying to say that a friend is someone whom you should feel comfortable around and safe with, or at home with. In the next line, he says that you go to your friend with hunger. This can mean that you either go to your friend with hunger for knowledge or hunger for food. This can also mean that you go to your friend when you have a need to fulfill. The persona then proceeds to say that you find your friend for peace. This means that when you are ill at ease or when you are feeling conflicted, you can always seek your friend for help, advice or comfort.
The persona also says that when your friend speaks his or her mind, you do not mind whether or not they disagree with you. This goes to show that as a friend, you should respect their opinion, even if they do not agree with you. He says that when your friend is silent, you can still sense that there is something wrong or there is something on his mind. You will be able to tell even if he does not say it out loud. This shows how close friends should be as they need not speak in order to convey their message. Everything is shared among friends and any kind of joy brought by one another or the objective to accomplish is welcomed in friendship.
The persona talks about how when his friend leaves him either because of death or moving away to someplace else, even though you may be sad, you will not grieve over the loss. The attributes you appreciated the most in that friend will be very clear to you when they are no longer around. And the persona compares it to that of how a 'mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain'. This shows how your love for that one trait in that friend will be much clearer to you and you will be able to see it better when your friend is gone as you will not experience it for yourself, or caught in the process of experiencing it- the joy of having that friend with that trait around you.
Other than bonding two people together, there should not be any superficial reasons or purpose in a friendship. You should not give too much thought about the benefits you might gain from being that person's friend. This also means that you should only be friends with a person for who they are, not what they are. You should do the very best you can for your friends. You must let your friends know the way you do certain things. This will help to bring you and your friend closer to one another because there is a better understanding between the two. This can be inferred from the line 'If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also'.
When you and your friend have gotten closer, you will 'seek him for hours to live' instead of 'hours to kill'. This shows that you will enjoy your time with your friends because you will 'live' with them. When finding something to kill time, it means that you are bored and there will be a feeling of emptiness that needs to be filled. You will only be with your friends for the sake of killing time. When you 'live' with your friends, you will find time to spend with them, not only when you are bored or have nothing better to do, but because you want to be with your friends and enjoy time together.
At the last part, the persona then concludes that friendship should be filled with happiness and pleasure. Friendship is a sweet thing that can be shared among friends. These little joys in life will help to make life much more interesting and fruitful.
This poem tells me how important friends are and how they can play a huge part in our lives. Friendship is about the things friends have gone through together. The persona understands the true meaning of friendship when he describes how he went through troubles with his friend by his side, to stand by him, and vice versa. This shows that we all need a friend. It also tells me how important friendship is to someone. The persona might have been talking about friendship in this way because he had just lost a friend. He has just lost someone to share time with and is reflecting upon how sweet their friendship was.
This poem tells me how important friends are and how they can play a huge part in our lives. Friendship is about the things friends have gone through together. The persona understands the true meaning of friendship when he describes how he went through troubles with his friend by his side, to stand by him, and vice versa. This shows that we all need a friend. It also tells me how important friendship is to someone. The persona might have been talking about friendship in this way because he had just lost a friend. He has just lost someone to share time with and is reflecting upon how sweet their friendship was.
A portrait of Khalil Gibran
Credits: http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/khalil-gibran-4.php
It looks like there has been a lot of effort put into this analysis. There are some really good ideas from your close analysis.
ReplyDeleteDo reconsider the colour and the font because it makes your entry difficult to read.