Early in the Morning

Li-Young LeeFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1986

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Early in the Morning” is a short lyric poem composed of four stanzas. A lyric is a type of poem that is not focused on describing a narrative (or telling a story) but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker. For example, “Early in the Morning” does not outline the events of the speaker’s day or tell the story of how his parent’s met. Rather, the poem is told through the perspective of the speaker and highlights his thoughts and interior dialogue. A stanza is a break in the lineation of a poem’s organizational structure. Stanza breaks often occur when the subject, idea or thought of the previous stanza concludes. They are similar to paragraph breaks in prose. In “Early in the Morning,” the first stanza’s subject is what occurs before his mother makes breakfast. Lee utilizes a stanza break to signify a shift in subject before continuing on to the next stanza.

The poem is written in the free-verse style and has no regular meter or rhyme scheme. Line breaks occur by natural