In the poem The Seven Selves

The poem The Seven Selves focuses almost exclusively on introspection. In this piece, Gibran doesn't utilize metaphor as much, bu the same deep interest in better understanding one's self is still very apparent. The poem is written almost like a conversation between seven men about who is more unhappy, but each represents a trait of a single man, called "The madman". Each line is the response of one of the "brothers" to the other selves around it. Kahlil Gibran uses metaphor to slightly enhance the effectiveness of the poem with lines like "And I, the working self, the pitiful laborer, who, with patient hands, and longing eyes, fashion the days..."(FFE 1) as if this facet of the mind could really labor.

Kahlil Gibrans constant preference for introspective works may have stemmed from his longing to understand his history better. the Journal of Arabic Literature writes "The Gibran had started his literary career as a Lebanese emigrant in Twentieth-century America, passionately yearning for his homeland, may, perhaps give a basic clue to his disposition and intellectual framework." (JAL 1) Whatever the cause of Gibran's intellectual desires, his poetry was certainly better off for it. 

In the poem On Pain

Kahlil Gibran is famous for his "deep" lines and desire to better understand the self. In the poem On Pain Gibran makes the statement that we cannot have the good without the bad. With his rich use of metaphor, Gibran paints a picture of the reality of life with statements like "Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain."(WOP 1). Kahlil Gibran weaves these rich images into his works in order to show the reader exactly how bittersweet life is. It is almost as if he is trying to comfort the reader, so that they might better know the truth. In another poem, A Tear and a Smile, he repeats the same message, this time using the metaphor of the tear to represent sadness, and the smile to balance as happiness.


According to the Journal of Arabic Literature, "Gibran was primarily a poet and a mystic... In whom thought..." was "...a state of being rather than a state of mind." (JAL 2) While his personality no doubt influenced his style, I am more impressed with his ability to use the trope of metaphor to his advantage so naturally.  His words can relate to many, while still remaining profound, which I believe is the pinnacle of his talent. 

The Seven Selves by Kahlil Gibran

In the silent hour of the night, as I lay half asleep, my seven selves sat together and thus conversed in whispers:

First Self:

Here, in this madman, I have dwelt all these years, with naught to do but renew his pain by day and recreate his sorrow by night. I can bear my fate no longer, and now I must rebel.

Second Self:

Yours is a better lot than mine, brother, for it is given me to be this madman’s joyous self. I laugh his laughter and sing his happy hours, and with thrice winged feet I dance his brighter thoughts. It is I that would rebel against my weary existence.

Third Self:

And what of me, the love-ridden self, the flaming brand of wild passion and fantastic desires? It is I the love-sick self who would rebel against this madman.

Fourth Self:

I, amongst you all, am the most miserable, for naught was given me but the odious hatred and destructive loathing. It is I, the tempest-like self, the one born in the black caves of Hell, who would protest against serving this madman.

Fifth Self:

Nay, it is I, the thinking self, the fanciful self, the self of hunger and thirst, the one doomed to wander without rest in search of unknown things and things not yet created; it is I, not you, who would rebel.

Sixth Self:

And I, the working self, the pitiful labourer, who, with patient hands, and longing eyes, fashion the days into images and give the formless elements new and eternal forms -  it is I, the solitary one, who would rebel against this restless madman.

Seventh Self:

How strange that you all would rebel against this man, because each and every one of you has a preordained fate to fulfil. Ah! could I but be like one of you, a self with a determined lot! But I have none, I am the do-nothing self, the one who sits in the dumb, empty nowhere and nowhen, when you are busy re-creating life. Is it you or I, neighbours, who should rebel?

When the seventh self thus spake the other six selves looked with pity upon him but said nothing more; and as the night grew deeper one after the other went to sleep enfolded with a new and happy submission.

But the seventh self remained watching and gazing at nothingness, which is behind all things.

On Pain by Kahlil Gibran

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen. 

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Introduction

Kahlil Gibran was a man of many faces. He  was one of the best writers of his era and was a well respected poet whose poetry focused on human expression vs. the collective. Born on January 6, 1833 he moved to the United states with his parents as a young adult which is where his writing really began to flourish. His Lebanese background also influenced some of his works as he grew older and promoted a sense of longing for him to better know his home country. Kahlil Gibran's poetry shows a truly masterful grasp of all of the tropes but his greatest skills seem to be that of metaphor, and the detailed use of language.

Works Cited

BORCHARD, THERESE J. "Kahlil Gibran on Pain | World of Psychology." Psych Central.com. 3 July 2011. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. <http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/07/02/kahlil-gibran-on-pain/>.

Gibran, Kahlil. "The Seven Selves." Www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. <http://www.filosofiaesoterica.com/ler.php?id=1025>.

Naimy, N. "The Mind and Thought of Khalil Gibran." The Journal of Arabic Literature 5 (1974): 55-71. JSTOR. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.