In Exile
By Emma Lazarus
“Since that day till now our life is one unbroken paradise. We live a true brotherly life. Every evening after supper we take a seat under the mighty oak and sing our songs.”
—Extract from a letter of a Russian refugee in Texas.
Twilight is here, soft breezes bow the grass,
Day’s sounds of various toil break slowly off.
The yoke-freed oxen low, the patient ass
Dips his dry nostril in the cool, deep trough.
Up from the prairie the tanned herdsmen pass
With frothy pails, guiding with voices rough
Their udder-lightened kine. Fresh smells of earth,
The rich, black furrows of the glebe send forth.After the Southern day of heavy toil,
How good to lie, with limbs relaxed, brows bare
To evening’s fan, and watch the smoke-wreaths coil
Up from one’s pipe-stem through the rayless air.
So deem these unused tillers of the soil,
Who stretched beneath the shadowing oak tree, stare
Peacefully on the star-unfolding skies,
And name their life unbroken paradise.The hounded stag that has escaped the pack,
And pants at ease within a thick-leaved dell;
The unimprisoned bird that finds the track
Through sun-bathed space, to where his fellows dwell;
The martyr, granted respite from the rack,
The death-doomed victim pardoned from his cell,—
Such only know the joy these exiles gain,—
Life’s sharpest rapture is surcease of pain.Strange faces theirs, wherethrough the Orient sun
Gleams from the eyes and glows athwart the skin.
Grave lines of studious thought and purpose run
From curl-crowned forehead to dark-bearded chin.
And over all the seal is stamped thereon
Of anguish branded by a world of sin,
In fire and blood through ages on their name,
Their seal of glory and the Gentiles’ shame.Freedom to love the law that Moses brought,
To sing the songs of David, and to think
The thoughts Gabirol to Spinoza taught,
Freedom to dig the common earth, to drink
The universal air—for this they sought
Refuge o’er wave and continent, to link
Egypt with Texas in their mystic chain,
And truth’s perpetual lamp forbid to wane.Hark! through the quiet evening air, their song
Floats forth with wild sweet rhythm and glad refrain.
They sing the conquest of the spirit strong,
The soul that wrests the victory from pain;
The noble joys of manhood that belong
To comrades and to brothers. In their strain
Rustle of palms and Eastern streams one hears,
And the broad prairie melts in mist of tears.
Summary of In Exile
- Popularity of “In Exile”: “In Exile” by Emma Lazarus, a popular Jewish American poet, translator, and prose writer, is a very good piece about life in exile. The poem first appeared in her collection, Songs of Semite: The Dance to Death and Other Poems, which hit the markets in the United States in 1882. The poem has recently become a favorite piece for those living in exile after it appeared in Selected Poems and Other Writings in 2002. The popularity of the poem lies in the expression of the poet regarding pangs of exile and the pleasure of the end of this pain in the promised land.
- “In Exile” As a Representative of Exile and Hope: Referring to a letter of a Russian refugee living in Texas, Emma Lazarus recounts how the exiles are engaged in farming and agriculture with oxen in the United States. They are living a good life in prairies with herdsmen passing beside them after having milked their cows. She is of the view that this leisurely life passed on these plains after a heavy toil gives them real pleasure when they feel relaxed after straightening their limbs on the grass. They see others smoking their pipes under the open skies with “unbroken paradise” stretched before them. Presenting a stag in the third stanza, she says that the stag has escaped the hounds like a free bird. It seems the bird has gone to their martyred brethren in exile which gives that bird joy as it relieves him from pain. Similarly, she goes on to present the natural phenomenon to relate them to her life in exile to state that of her own clan, referring to Moses, David, Gabirol, and Spinoza who have taught them about being refugees and living in freedom. That is why, she says, they have migrated to Texas from Egypt. Then suddenly, she comes to the point again in the last stanza saying that the prophets and philosophers have presented the lesson of keeping the spirit strong to live a good and courageous life. When she recalls their psalms, songs, and strains, she becomes strong as “mists of tears” run down from her eyes like other refugees.
- Major Themes in “In Exile”: Exile, Jewish history of migration, and pleasures of migration to America are three major themes of this poem. The poet has opened the poem with an extract from a letter written by a Russian living in exile in Texas in the United States to highlight the pleasures of migration or living in exile. Then she presents the natural scene that highlights the freedom they enjoy and syncs her mood with the natural jubilation. Suddenly, she refers to the Jewish prophets to highlight the importance of migration and living in exile and says that even those living exile enjoy pleasures recalling the teachings of their great prophets like Moses and David and philosophers like Spinoza. She ends the poem on a note of happiness.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used In “In Exile”
literary devices are literary nuts and bolts that poems are worth reading. Their appropriate use helps poets to convey their thoughts in an impressive way. Emma Lazarus has also used some literary devices in this poem whose analysis is as follows.
- Allusion: It is a device that refers to something, person, or idea of historical importance as the poet has alluded to the prophets, Moses and David, and philosophers Gabirol and Spinoza.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ and /o/ in “Twilight is here, soft breezes bow the grass” the sound of /o/ and /a/ in “The yoke-freed oxen low, the patient ass” and the sound of /e/ in “Dips his dry nostrils in the cool, deep trough.”
- Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration in the shape of initial consonant sounds of the neighboring words such as the sound of /b/ in “brows bare”, /d/ in “death-doomed” and /c/ in curled-crowned.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /b/ and /s/ in “How good to lie, with limbs relaxed, brows bare” and the sound of /l/ and /s/ in “Through sun-bathed space, to where his fellows dwell.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
The noble joys of manhood that belong
To comrades and to brothers. In their strain
Rustle of palms and Eastern streams one hears,
And the broad prairie melts in mist of tears.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Emma Lazarus has used imagery in this poem such as “Hark! through the quiet evening air, their song”, “The soul that wrests the victory from pain” and “And the broad prairie melts in mist of tears.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poet has used an extended metaphor of exile and other metaphors such as pain compared to an army, or a soul compared to a victorious army, and the prairie compared to ice or mass that melts.
- Personification: The poet has personified freedom as if it has life and emotions of its own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols of prairie, gross, farming, oak, soil, and air to show the pleasures of exile.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “In Exile”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows the use of highly figurative language as the analysis demonstrates. The tone, however, is pleasant and serious.
- Rhyme Scheme: The sonnet follows the ABABABAB rhyme scheme in the first three stanzas while it changes in the last one.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas with eight lines or verses.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “In Exile” are appropriate to use when showing the pleasures of farming in homeland or in exile.
Twilight is here, soft breezes bow the grass,
Day’s sounds of various toil break slowly off.
The yoke-freed oxen low, the patient ass
Dips his dry nostril in the cool, deep trough.
