Response to "Silence"

The Poem:

Silence by Marianne Moore

My father used to say,
"Superior people never make long visits,
have to be shown Longfellow's grave
or the glass flowers at Harvard.
Self-reliant like the cat –
that takes its prey to privacy,
the mouse's limp tail hanging like a shoelace from its mouth –
they sometimes enjoy solitude,
and can be robbed of speech
by speech which has delighted them.
The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence;
not in silence, but restraint."
Nor was he insincere in saying, "Make my house your inn."
Inns are not residences.

My Response:

Dear Father,

            I should have listened. I know this, because now I see the importance of your lessons. I used to get annoyed with all of these sayings, but now I know that you only repeated these things to make me stronger. I wish that I had seen this when I was younger. Back then I didn’t even know the meaning behind these words.

Now I can appreciate them. I’ve been through so much and your words helped me through all of it. There are certain situations where I had to be the “superior person” and I knew how to act, thanks to you. Now I have grown into a responsible woman, and hopefully someday, a “superior” one too. I hope you would be proud.

I wish you were here to see this, but your words live on, and they will live on for generations to come. I miss you, and I wish I could have expressed my appreciation sooner, but now I wrote this poem in your honor to show my thanks and pass along your message.

                        Love you,

                        Your one and only daughter

 

            I chose to write a letter from the daughter, who is the speaker in “Silence” to her father, whom she quotes in the poem. I think that the purpose of this poem was for the daughter to express her thanks to her father for his guiding words and wisdom that he gave her over the years. In the letter, I included the reasons for her appreciation to show why this poem was so special for the daughter to write.