Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 kingsley tufts poetry award, for neon vernacular and the 1994 pulitzer prize for poetry. I go down the 58,022 names58,022 names the number of names of dead soldiers etched on the wall at the time of komunyakaas composing. Author of nine books and winner of a pulitzer prize for poetry, komunyakaa sets a provocative stage by rejecting. He sees the gruesome deaths of his compatriots in the many. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york. Yusef komunyakaa poems, quotations and biography on yusef komunyakaa poet page. Yusef komunyakaa is the author of twelve books of poems, including talking dirty to the gods, thieves of paradise, neon vernacular. The seven oclock whistlemade the morning air fulvouswith a metallic syncopation. Jun 30, 2009 i met my wife in a bookstore and read her my poetry before our first conversation was over. Feb 19, 2015 in the poem facing it by yursef komunyakaa talks a lot about people facing war and guilt and sorrow. Analysis of poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa owlcation. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa poems academy of american poets. Start your 48hour free trial to unlock this facing it study guide and get instant access. Facing it is a free verse poem of 31 lines in total, a single stanza.
He has a nearrevelatory capacity to give himself over to his subject matter and to the taut concision of his free verse. Get all the lyrics to songs by yusef komunyakaa and join the genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics. The son of a carpenter, komunyakaa has said that he was first alerted to the power of language through his grandparents, who were church people. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa what lies within the text. Read more at by visiting the link beneath the video. The dangerous road before martin luther king james baldwin letter from a birmingham jail martin luther king, jr. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Pieces from his war collection dien cai dau, a vietnamese term for american soldiers, meaning crazy, are widely taught and include examples of vivid and devastating imagery. Yusef komunyakaa is an actor, known for the oa 2016, my shot with 2005 and operation homecoming. Yusef komunyakaa has 64 books on goodreads with 167 ratings. He sees the gruesome deaths of his compatriots in the many names scribed on the monument and suffers from the guilt of returning home physically unscathed to his life in america.
One of the first connections yusef makes with the memorial is that it is black, as he associates that with his own race. Environmental education resources to commemorate earth days 50th anniversary. The first line of the poem, my black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. In the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa the author uses great imagery that has both literal and figurative meaning behind them.
Komunyakaa uses his childhood experiences to inform many of his works. Pleasure dome gathers over twentyfive years of work, including early uncollected poems and a rich selection of new poems. I met my wife in a bookstore and read her my poetry before our first conversation was over. David wojahn, poetry warhorses is galvanizing in its fury and decisive in its rare power. Facing it facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a poem about an. Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office at 26 red lion square london wc1r 4hq. Several years following the vietnam war, yusef komunyakaa, being a vietnam survivor himself, writes the poem, facing it, allowing his emotions to resurface while he views the vietnam memorial. Audio recordings of classic and contemporary poems read by poets and actors, delivered every day. Use of imagery and figurative language in facing it by. A powerful mustread for those who have forgotten those days.
He served a tour of duty in vietnam, where he was also a. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa hyptertext of the poem with an audio file of the poet reading 1. Click here for a guide to the hypertext version of this poem. Dec, 2011 detailed in his poem facing it, yusef komunyakaa recounts his experiences from the war along with the emotions running through his mind as he gazes at the vietnam veterans memorial in washington d.
Every time that he is looking at the names on the memorial he is seeing his friends and himself fighting side by side. This one i have explicated differently than the previous posts. In the past, yusef has also been known as yuser komunyakaa, musef komunyakac, komunyakaa yusif, komunyakaa yusef and komuntakaa yusef. Yusef komunyakaa grew up in the deep south during the dawn of the civil rights movement. This poem was very well written, and i respect all that was said in the context of the poem. Thieves of paradise, which was a finalist for the national book critics award. Finish your response by explaining how these images and their metaphorical meaning helps your understanding of the theme of the poem. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. Dec 09, 20 first, the title is a clear summary of yusef komunyakaas poem. Article on komunyakaa from the journal, ploughshares. Facing it facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a poem about. Facing it, discusses his visit to the vietnam memorial in washington d. Start reading the collected poems of ai on your kindle in under a minute. Yusef komunyakaas numerous books of poems include pleasure dome.
So announces yusef komunyakaa early in his lush new collection, the emperor of water. Bradley sampson and lauren walsh theme short summary literary elements the theme for glory is that no matter where you come from or what you look like we can all achieve glory. Yusef komunyakaa has become one of americas most compelling poets. Produced by david grubin productions and wgbh boston, in association with the poetry. There are no numbers because the devices seemed to interconnect in my mind. In the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa, the author uses first person narration, metaphor, simile, images of light and darkness, personification, allusion and word connotation in order to convey to his detached audience the intimate. The new yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. This is a 10 question quiz on yusef komunyakaa s facing it. The poet, who received the bronze star and edited the southern cross, dedicates this book to his brother glenn, who saw the nam before komunyakaa did. Connell 8 october 20 komunyakaas poems of sorrow and guilt yusef komunyakaa was born in 1947, in bogalusa, louisiana. Part of the poetry everywhere project airing on public television. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a poem about an african american that was a part of the vietnam war. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york university and is a member of the fellowship of southern.
Facing it by yusef komunyakaa the creators conscience. Feb 19, 2015 in the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa the author uses great imagery that has both literal and figurative meaning behind them. Profile and poems of yusef komunyakaa, including audio files, at the poetry foundation. Like maya lin, whose goal in creating the vietnam veterans memorial was to strip things down. The speaker of the poem is at the vietnam veterans memorial in. Yusef komunyakaa is known as a jazz poet, a southern writer and a soldier poet. An essay or paper on use of narration in the poem, facing it. Deep down he would like those names to disappear with that woman, in the here and now. Yusef komunyakaa speaks in a gravelly southern baritone, tinged with a cajun flavor that reflects his childhood years in louisiana. Poetry of yusef komunyakaa read and discussed by david m.
Scroll down to a link on how to read a memorial, an excellent brochure on a different kind of literacy. Previously cities included bloomington in and princeton nj. This website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions. Facing it is a poem that encapsulates numerous themes and points of view regarding the vietnam war and related issues. This is a 10 question quiz on yusef komunyakaas facing it. Yusef komunyakaa writes movingly about his vietnam war experience in his poem facing it. Yusef komunyakaas dien cai dau is another collection of vietnam war poetry. Here is a video of yusef komunyakaa reciting his poem, facing it, which is about the vietnam memorial. Facing it, by yusef komunyakaa talks about a war which most, if not all americans are familiar with. Yusef komunyakaa, 72 trenton, nj has court or arrest. The poem begins with the reflection of komunyakaas face dissolving. Harris from the radio show difficult listening, wrfnlpfm, radio free nashville. Komunyakaa in sense tells us that he was there and witnessed many of the tragic.
He identifies himself in the first lines of the poem saying my black faces fades, hiding inside the black granite pg. The best writing weve had from the long war in vietnam has been prose so far. In memoriam this lesson uses facing it to explore poems written for a specific occasion. This fivepart bibliography lists komunyakaas primary works in poetry and prose, as well as the books he has edited or coedited and the cds on which he performs. Glory by yusef komunyakaa by bradley sampson on prezi.
About this poet yusef komunyakaa was born in bogalusa, louisiana. One of komunyakaas most frequently anthologized poems, facing it was first published in his collection dien cai dau, 1988. I would characterize the tone of the poem as being emotional. Read all poems of yusef komunyakaa and infos about yusef komunyakaa. The exsoldier finds himself staring his past in the face. He is a man who chooses his words carefully, splicing his speech with long silences, until his conversation resembles something close to a jazz riff very fitting for this acclaimed poet who says oral language is our first music, and the body is an. Facing it by yusef komunyaka by danilsa ynfante on prezi. Yusef komunyakaa is 72 years old and was born on 04291947. May 06, 2009 here is a video of yusef komunyakaa reciting his poem, facing it, which is about the vietnam memorial. Mar 30, 2009 yusef komunyakaa reads his poem facing it. Reflecting on his experiences, yusef expresses his conflicting feelings about the vietnam.
First, the title is a clear summary of yusef komunyakaas poem. Books by yusef komunyakaa author of neon vernacular. Yusef komunyakaas poem facing it is not broken into stanzas. I will remember that i am free because of someone elses. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york university and is a member of the fellowship of southern writers. William matthews so finely tuned are komunyakaas images, so faultless his vision, that the reader sees precisely what the poet recalls.
My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. Facing it is telling a story of a person who is visiting the vietnam war memorial. Clip 1m 30s yusef komunyakaa writes movingly about his vietnam war experience in his poem facing it. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa that english teacher. Yusef komunyakaas most popular book is neon vernacular. In yusef komunyakaas poem facing it, a quality the narrator. Yusef komunyakaa yusef komunyakaa poems poem hunter.
William faulkner prize from the universite rennes, the thomas forcade award, the hanes poetry prize, fellowships from the fine arts work center in provincetown, the louisiana arts council, and the national endowment for the arts, and the bronze star for his service in vietnam, where he served as a correspondent and managing editor of the southern cross. Komunyakaa began writing in 1973, after achieving his bachelors degree university of colorado springs. Use of imagery and figurative language in facing it by yusef komunyakaa in his poem, facing it, yusef komunyakaa describes his ambivalent emotions towards the vietnam war of which he was a veteran. Yusef komunyakaa was born on 29 april 1947 in bogalusa, louisiana. Black and white portrait of yusef komunyakaa, resting his left hand. He is a man who chooses his words carefully, splicing his speech with long silences, until his conversation resembles something close to a jazz riff very fitting for this acclaimed poet who says oral language is our first music, and the body is an amplifier. One of komunyakaas most frequently anthologized poems, facing it was first published in. Yusef komunyakaa, whose surname he took from his grandfather, a west indian refugee of west african ancestry, was born in 1947 in bogalusa, louisiana. The ever so controversial vietnam conflict, also known as the vietnam war. Feb 15, 2008 yusef komunyakaa is known as a jazz poet, a southern writer and a soldier poet. A vietnam veteran, yusef komunyakaa faces his past whilst visiting the.
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