A Comparative Analysis of "The Piano" by D.H. Lawrence and "The Gift" by Li Young Lee Anonymous College

One of the most potent works by the writer D.H Lawrence is The Piano, a poem that explores the role of memory in life. A similar idea is explored in The Gift by Li Young Lee. These two poems show that memory plays a complex role in the journey of life and that it often poses a dichotomy, acting as a boon as well as bane at the same time. These two poems essentially explore both the facets of memory and delineate memory as a potent force in life.

In The Piano, D.H. Lawrence talks about how memory brings with it an uncontrollable sense of nostalgia. This nostalgia, however, may bring joy as well as suffering in the mind of a person. In this poem, the sound of the piano "betrays" the speaker back into the past, an he is forced to revisit a part of his life he had so far buried in his mind.

The tone of the speakers of both the poems is heavily laced with nostalgia, but this nostalgia affects them in very distinct and contrasting ways. The poem The Piano has a melancholic tone, and it is abundantly clear that the poet wishes to deny himself the misery that comes with revisiting the past.

The Piano explores the experience of a man who is resisting nostalgia because he knows that his dialogue with the past would weaken him emotionally...