Symbolism In Richard Blanco's 'Shaving'

Like many things, life itself is a cycle: there are the ups and downs, the unexpected and mundane elements that fill each and every day. This idea is clearly represented in the poem “Shaving”, written by Richard Blanco in 1998, where the speaker uses various literary techniques to first symbolize the growth of his beard with awe-inspiring natural phenomena, then dedicate the act of shaving to mourn the untimely loss of his father, and finally compare the ritual of shaving to the cyclical nature of life, revealing the underlying theme that life could be beautiful at times, but also tragic, so it is important to savor the moments with your loved ones. In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker uses literary techniques to symbolize the growth

In line 22, the speaker references the “hundred faces” that sees in the mirror. Here, the hundred faces refers to his male ancestors, and the legacies they have left on this world; by observing his family heritage, the speaker realizes that life is a cyclical process where one grows with triumph, but decays with tragedy. He sees his future in that “hundred faces,” which will have its ups and downs just like the lives of his ancestors. Indeed, the speaker follows in the next two lines with the comparison of his shaving ritual to natural phenomena that he opened with at the beginning, where he describes how the growth of his beard can be majestic but also how quickly shaving can erase its progress. This suggests that the speaker has come to peace with nature in a new understanding, where he appreciates the awe-inspiring phenomena nature may bring, but also recognizes the tragedy that impacts each and everyone of us. By using the act of shaving as an extended metaphor, the speaker suggests that life itself is cyclical: no matter who we are, we will go through the good and bad times, so it is important that we savor and cherish the moments that we hold dearest at