Little Father By Li-Young Lee

I am from Taiwan, and Taiwanese culture have the same mourning ceremony to China, where Li-Young Lee, the author of “Little Father,” is from. After reading this poem, I had the most vivid memories of the moment when our family was holding a mourning ceremony of my grandfather. Taiwanese believe that when a person died, his or her soul will be send to the heaven where the emperor of sky lives, and in heaven, souls are treated well by various animal. Stanza one signifies the spiritual aspect of when Lee’s father died. Lee believes that his father will rest well and treat nicely in heaven.
At the beginning of my grandfather’s mourning ceremony all kinds of foods are prepared such as poached chicken, rice, and fruits, in order to feed the emperor, my grandfather and the guest, and this ceremony represent the last goodbye from the family. It was actually like a “wedding feast” at my grandpa’s house. People come and go during the feast time. Also, all the doors and windows are opened to let the soul of my grandfather and guest to leave the house, which Lee precisely captures the scenery in his poem ”...,whose doors / stand open at evening, receiving / guest
Lee is focusing on the psychological aspect of the death of his father. My grandfather was a very important person for me. My grandpa taught me the knowledge of machinery, and he is a kind and a well dressed gentleman, and his trait grows within me aswell, just like Lee’s father “grows in [him]” (17). From line 18 to 23, Lee is using metaphors to describe how his father “grows” in him. Lee cleverly used the relationship of grapes and wine to imply his feeling to his father. Grapes are the main material for producing wine, and wine will taste differently depends on the various species of grapes. So essentially, the taste of different grapes will “grow” into the wine itself, so the trait from Lee’s father grew into Lee when his father passed