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Poetry Devices in the Prophet

The Prophet is a book written by the American-Lebanese writer and poet Kahlil

Gibran. Published in 1923, the Prophet has twenty-six prose poems; most of the poems have

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been translated into many languages (Hajj 401). There are various themes in the book,

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including marriage, love, stewardship, children, pleasure, eating, pain, laws, religion, and

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death, among others. 'on the children is apiece from the Prophet full of parenting messages. A
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significant theme from the children is that of stewardship. The theme explains that parents are

merely stewards taking care of the children; however, they do not belong. Children have their
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mind and the free will to do as they please, but parents act as if the children are their puppets
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to control. The author has used several poetic devices to bring the message home, and some
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of the devices include personification, metaphors, alliteration, enjambment, and connotation.

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The poem's message is straightforward, and the use of poetic devices is to impart knowledge

and wisdom to the audience about raising children.

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The author has used oxymoron as a poetic device to show the readers the true

meaning of the poem. For instance, the author writes that 'your children are not your own';

this is an oxymoron (Gibran 10). Seemingly, the author uses this poetic device to show the

audience that children are not property that has to be owned by parents. Instead, children

have their minds and souls and the free will as they like, not as their parents like. The author's

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use of oxymoron depicts his desire to express that parent should not be possessive of their

children because they are not their belonging.

The author’s continued use of personification expresses his desire to bring words and

different meanings to life. By writing that life longs for itself, the author personified life and

gave it meaning so that the reader can get a clear meaning of the poetic message (Gibran 10).

There are several instances where the author personifies various aspects to bring the poem to

'life,' albeit literary. The speaker in that poem is optimistic and clear that the audience should

live for the future and prepare the children for life (Gibran 10). Such a personified force

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explains to the listener that all people belong to life and no one else. The author personified

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life to imply that life is a legged object that neither tarries with the past nor goes backward.

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Without a doubt, personification gives meaning and life to the poem and gives the reader the
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urge to read even more.
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According to Hajj, poetic devices employed in the poem help the author transition via
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many stages (stanzas) before attaining the final output, which is to impart knowledge to the
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audience (398). Notably, the Prophet has employed the use of metaphors to bring the
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message close to home. Metaphors are generally used to compare, unlike things or objects,
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through perceived similarities. Overall, the Prophet is metaphorical poetry regarding the

mysteries of life. For instance, stanza four explains is full of metaphors explaining that
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'children are not born to their parents, but rather via their parents' (Gibran 10). The author’s

use of metaphors in the Prophet explains the distinct relationships between parents, children,

and life. This metaphor ‘their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow’ compares tomorrow to a

dwelling place to imply that children's souls are living in the future (Gibran 10). While the

author uses metaphors, albeit briefly, they help him describe different aspects effectively to

the audience. Metaphors in the poem have also been used to compare paths to the future.

This, therefore, means that children's paths are infinite, leading them to the future. It is

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metaphorical that parents are regarded as teachers. While teachers impart knowledge and

wisdom to the young ones, teachers have significant control over the children. Nevertheless,

as teachers, parents ought to develop and encourage children to develop their paths that lead

to a fruitful future. The comparison between parents and bows is metaphorical as it

encourages parents to be effective tools to facilitate children's growth in finding their life.

The use of symbols in the selection of the children gives symbolic meaning to a

different aspect. The symbolic meanings are quite distinct from their literal meaning. For

instance, bow and arrows' use symbolizes parents and children, respectively (Gibran 10).

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Enjambment has been used in the poem to explain why parents should enjoy being parents to

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their children. Even though parents do not own the children, the parents were also loved and

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adorned while young and will always be loved and adored for as long as they love their
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children. The use of enjambment in the poem enables the author to connect his beliefs about

children and whom they truly belong to. The use of alliteration incorporated with
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connotations gives the reader a clear picture of the author's initial intent. The author is a
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visual artist who uses different poetic devices to impart so much knowledge to the reader

regarding various aspects such as life, love, marriage, parenting, children, and pleasure,
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among others. Overall, the author employed various poetic devices to draw a clear distinction

between parents, children, and parentage's role in children and life.

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Work Cited

El Hajj, Maya. "Aporias in Literary Translation: A Case Study of The Prophet and Its

Translations." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 9.4 (2019): 396-404.

Gibran, Kahlil, and Suheil Badi Bushrui. The PRoPHET: A new annotated edition. Simon and

Schuster, 2012.

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