Give Me Your Hand
By Gabriela Mistral
Give me your hand and give me your love,
give me your hand and dance with me.
A single flower, and nothing more,
a single flower is all we’ll be.
Keeping time in the dance together,
singing the tune together with me,
grass in the wind, and nothing more,
grass in the wind is all we’ll be.
I’m called Hope and you’re called Rose:
but losing our names we’ll both go free,
a dance on the hills, and nothing more,
a dance on the hills is all we’ll be.
Summary of Give Me Your Hand
- Popularity of “Give Me Your Hand”: This short poem comprising just three stanzas by Gabriel Mistral, a renowned Chilean writer and poet, perhaps first appeared in her first book that bagged a prize for her in Chile. It first appeared in English when the novelist, Ursula K. Le Guin, a popular American writer, translated her poems and published them in Selected Poems of Gabriel Mistral. The poet’s call of having the support of her lover is the main idea around which the whole poem revolves and herein lies the popularity of this short piece.
- “Give Me Your Hand” As a Representative of Love and Life: Gabriel Mistral presents herself as a person who is in love with somebody to whom she calls to give her his hand. She is of the view that the person should give her a hand and love her to dance with her. In this way, they would turn into a single flower and nothing else. The second stanza continues with the same strain in which the poet is of the view that this time of dancing and singing together wound turn both of them into the grass in the wind. However, the third stanza gives a slight turn to this stream of thought, showing the poet herself as Hope and calling her lover Rose the meeting of which will turn them into a lovely couple dancing on the hills. In fact, the main strain of all three stanzas is love and life.
- Major Themes in “Give Me Your Hand”: Love, the moment of enjoyment, and companionship are three major thematic strands of this poem “Give Me Your Hand.” The poet presents her thoughts in the very first stanza, showing her intense love and her intense desire to be one with her lover. The second and the third stanza present the same thing but with a touch of enjoyment during the time of love and companionship with her lover in the sense that both would enjoy dancing together. The use of grass in the wind, a flower, a rose, and dance shows that the poet wants to enjoy with her lover for the time being. However, this is the only desire that she wants, and in it lies her intense wish of being with her lover – perhaps a lifelong companionship.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Give Me Your Hand
Gabriela Mistral uses various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of her poem. Some of the major literary devices she has used are as follows.
- Anaphora: It is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of the verses. The poem shows the use of “a single flower, grass in the wind, and a dance on the hills” as anaphoras.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “give me your hand and dance with me” and the sound of /o/ in “A single flower, and nothing more.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /t/ in “tune together.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /m/ and /n/ in “give me your hand and dance with me” and the sound of /z/ in “but losing our names we’ll both go free.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Gabriela Mistral used imagery in this poem such as “a single flower is all we’ll be”, “grass in the wind, and nothing more” and “but losing our names we’ll both go free.”
- Irony: It means to the contradictory meanings of the words used in different contexts. The verse that they will be “grass in the wind, and nothing more” shows irony in that the poet wants to be grass while wishing to dance on the hills.
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet has compared their love with a flower, then with the grass, and then with dancing on the hills.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as dance, flowers, and wind to show her intense love for her lover.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Give Me Your Hand
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal and poetic and simple diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Gabriela Mistral has used end rhyme in this poem such as me/be.
- Quatrain: It is a Persian stanza having four verses. The poem shows the use of quatrain as every stanza has four verses.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABCB rhyme scheme in the first stanza, and it continues in the rest of the two stanzas.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a loving and exciting tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote about love and dance.
I’m called Hope and you’re called Rose:
but losing our names we’ll both go free,
a dance on the hills, and nothing more,
a dance on the hills is all we’ll be.
