Analysis Of Li-Young Lee's Poem Eating Alone

Li-Young Lee’s poem “Eating Alone” expresses a son’s loneliness and love for his father that has passed away. He continuously connects the father to all that the speaker does whether it is lifeful or not. Lee does so in a way through imagery, tone, and irony. Li-Young Lee uses imagery in “Eating Alone” through life and death. Lee begins to capture death through imagery while the speaker talks about the lifeless garden: “The ground is old, / brown and old” (Lee 2-3). The description of the garden allows the reader to fully, and clearly picture the garden and feel the cool air. While picturing the garden one might even say they can picture the speaker 's father standing there. That is due to the sense the garden is a representation of the father himself. Once someone passes away their body becomes cold and they are usually old. Since the speaker is now pulling the last remains for the garden it is now lifeless: “... the last of the year’s young onions. / The garden is bare now” (Lee 1-2). Along with the garden, the father is lifeless. Not only does Lee express imagery through death but he also does so through life. He does so through life while he expresses

Lee doesn’t show examples of irony throughout the majority of his poem. However when it comes to the last time he expresses it in fullforce. The speaker understands that he is lonely for he no longer has his father. He uses that loneliness and turns it around on himself: “What more could I, a young man, want” (Lee 23). The speaker is clearly upset about losing his father but uses irony to cover it up. The man thinks he is way to young to lose his father. Due to that he pities himself since he is alone. His father left him and the speaker does not think he deserves that.
Within Li-Young Lee’s poem “Eating Alone” many different poetic elements are used. Although he uses imagery, tone and irony in ways that really pull the poem together to make it what it