"Remember" by Joy Harjo

 Joy Harjo 

    Joy Harjo (1951). She is from Oklahoma, United States, where she become an American poet, also a musician and a writer. Over the years she has received many awards, for example, the American Book Award in 1991. In 2019, she become aware as 23th poet laureate in United States.

Remember 

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother's, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember

Analysis 

 Joy Harjo wrote “Remember” in 1951.This poem relates about do not forget who we are, and that we have bonds with nature and the people who bring us to life. Furthermore, it presents the following characteristics. The theme of the poem focus on that all humans had experienced many situations in their life, so in the first two lines it tries to raise aware, and that readers remembered who exactly they are, and where they are from. Also, the theme is shown through the poem, and sometimes it uses personification to give the message, for example lines 14, 15 and 16 are making reference to the idea that nature keep us alive, and without them we could not exist.

    Additionally, the speaker seems to be a mother who talks with her child. Mainly, the speaker is trying to make people conscious about the little things in life and what is really important in it. On the other hand, its purpose is to motivate people to be thankful for all what surrounds people in life.

    Another particular characteristic is that it repeats some words, but each of them have the purpose of makes people feel more familiarized with the poem. For example, the word “remember” which the author repeats sixteen times is emphasizing the fact of being grateful with the people who always is helping us in every moment of our life, and to remember all what we have done to be where we are right now. Another one, is the pronoun “you” which helps readers to feel more related with the poem, so in that way the poem can impact in some way on each of us.

    Finally, this poem is formed by 1 stanza of 26 lines. 

References 

Academy of American Poets. “About Joy Harjo | Academy of American Poets.” Poets.org, 2019, https://poets.org/poet/joy-harjo. November 22, 2020.

Academy of American Poets. “Remember by Joy Harjo - Poems | Academy of American Poets.” https://poets.org/poet/joy-harjo. November 22, 2020.

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