One of the most powerful works of the writer DH Lawrence is The Piano, a poem that explores the role of memory in life. . A similar idea is explored in Li Young Lee's The Gift. These two poems show that memory plays a complex role in the journey of life and that it often poses a dichotomy, acting as both a boon and a bane. These two poems essentially explore the facets of memory and describe it as a powerful force in life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In The Piano, DH Lawrence explains how memory leads to an uncontrollable feeling of nostalgia. This nostalgia can, however, bring joy as well as suffering to a person's mind. In this poem, the sound of the piano "betrays" the speaker into the past, and he is forced to revisit a part of his life that he had previously buried in his mind. The tone of the speakers in both poems is strongly laced with nostalgia, but this nostalgia affects them in very distinct and contrasting ways. The poem The Piano has a melancholic tone and it is clear that the poet wishes to deprive himself of the misery that comes with returning to the past. The Piano explores the experience of a man who resists nostalgia because he knows that its dialogue with the past would weaken him emotionally and cause him to lose his grip on the present. The speaker of the poem's experience is bittersweet as he is betrayed in his past and forced to confront his memories. These memories inevitably make him regret his childhood and struggle with his present as he is unable to maintain his manhood and cries like a child. Softly, at dusk, a woman sings to me; Taking me back the panorama of years, until I saw A child sitting under the piano, in the rumble of tingling strings And pressing the small poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings. In these lines of the poem, the speaker is taken back to his past as a woman sings softly to him. The use of the work “dusk” is very significant. Dusk marks the end of day and the beginning of night. This could be an analogy to the speaker's state of mind oscillating between the past and the present, completely belonging to neither. Just as twilight connects day and night, it can also be seen as a connecting force between past and present. Interestingly, while the woman from the present sings softly to him, the sound from the past is that of a boom, indicating that her past is a very powerful force at that moment. It is not surprising that the nostalgia that grips the speaker is accompanied by a feeling of bitterness at having lost this past. In contrast to this, The Gift explores memory as a boon and defines what the speaker's past had to offer him. The speaker expresses that he feels he has grown in experience through the lessons taught by his father and preserved in his memory. The speaker's memories of this poem, unlike those of the speaker of The Piano, strengthen his hold on his present and help him form a beautiful and affectionate bond with his wife: I do not remember the tale, but I hear his voice. again, a dark well of water, a prayer. And I remember his hands, two measures of tenderness that he placed on my face, the flames of discipline that he raised above my head. The poet remembers the beauty of past memories; not the story, but the soothing voice of his father. His father's voice is likened to "a dark well of water" and "a prayer", indicating that the speaker loves and reveres his father. Perhaps this is a factor that helps him cherish his memories. Keep.