Bilingue By Rhina Espaillat

The Poem Bilingual/ Bilingue by Rhina Espaillat is a narrative poem which suggest a epigram, it has a deep message about the language barriers between two different cultures and relates to the struggles that everyday bilingual people have to face, especially when growing up. But, it’s written in a way that the message is very clear and to the point using informal and at times witty language, grasping the reader’s attention. This poem uses figurative language to help get the message across. Metaphors like “still the heart was one” (462) even though the speaker is learning English, she still holds on to her culture and native tongue, she’s still the same person with the same heart. The writer also uses rhymes like with the words: “there & aware” “name & claim” at the end of her sentences to create a flowing tone.
Most all Spanish words are in parenthesis throughout the poem until last few lines, "he stood outside mis versos, half in fear/ of words he loved but wanted not to hear." (462) which can suggest that the speaker is now free from the pressure of her father not wanting the English language to take over her.
The father of the speaker forces her to speak: “English outside this door, Spanish inside” in attempt to holding on to their culture and native language. He is not as accepting to her learning English as she wishes he’d be. So, almost as if going against her father’s demands she writes that, “late in bed I hoarded secret syllables I read until my tongue (mi lengua) learned to run where it stumbled”
(462)
The theme of this poem is closely related to the theme of the short story A&P. Sammy the main character doesn’t agree with the norms of his times. Everyone in that time was supposed to act a certain way, dress a certain way, and even think a certain way or it was thought of as wrong. Just like the speaker of the poem, her father only wanted her to speak Spanish, if she spoke English it had to be outside of her home. Her father is much older and stands strong against his beliefs and traditions and doesn’t want to seem to change. Unlike his daughter, who is living in a different world where being bilingual is the norm, she’s determine to learn to speak English and does without her father’s approval. In A&P Sammy stands up to his boss and quits showing us he’s finally standing up for what he believes, at the end of the poem we see there are no parenthesis around the Spanish words “mis versos” as if the speaker is also standing her ground and hoping her father will soon be accepting of her choice of cultures.