The Full Text of “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
The Full Text of “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Introduction
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In Li-Young Lee's "I Ask My Mother to Sing," a speaker listens to their mother and grandmother singing a song about the China of their youth. Through the song, the speaker feels connected to places they've never personally been, as well as to their deceased father. The poem suggests the pain and longing of exile as well as the power of art to connect people to each other and to the past. "I Ask My Mother to Sing" was published in Lee's first poetry collection, Rose, in 1986, and was inspired by his own life; Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese political exiles, who later fled to the U.S. to escape anti-Chinese sentiment.
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Summary
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The speaker says that their mother starts to sing, and soon their grandmother begins to sing as well. They sing as if they were young children again. The speaker thinks that if their father were still with them, he would join in with his accordion, his body gently rocking back and forth like a boat swaying on water.
The speaker hasn't ever been to the places described in the song: the capital of China or the Summer Palace. The speaker hasn't entered the Stone Boat, a boat-shaped pavilion on a lake within the Summer Palace, as the rain starts falling and the people picnicking out on the grass run off in search of cover.
Nonetheless, the speaker still loves hearing their family sing about these places. They can envision the way the waterlilies overflow with rain that tips them over so that the rainwater spills over into the lake. The waterlilies then bob back upright to fill up with rain again.
The speaker says that both their mother and grandmother have started weeping, but that doesn't stop them from singing.
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Themes
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Art, Tradition, and Memory
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" illustrates the power of song to connect people to each other and to the past. As the speaker's mother and grandmother "sing like young girls," the music seems to transport the women to the China of their youth. And as the speaker listens to their elders sing, they, too, are able to envision this China—despite never having been there. The song thus puts the speaker in touch with places and traditions they’ve never personally witnessed but which are nonetheless parts of their family's identity. In this way, the poem suggests the importance of art as a method of remembering and connecting to one's past.
The poem's title suggests that the speaker has heard their mother sing this song before—that this is a kind of ritual that helps bring generations together and preserve family memory. Indeed, as soon as the speaker's mother begins to sing, the speaker's "grandmother joins her." The speaker also imagines that "If [their] father were alive, he would play / his accordion and sway like a boat." The song is not simply comforting because it's familiar, but also because it brings the family together and connects them to those they’ve lost.
The song also connects the speaker and their family members to their cultural history. When the speaker says that their mother and grandmother "sing like young girls," this implies that this music brings the past to life. The speaker has "never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace," nor have they "stood on the great Stone Boat to watch / the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake." But although they aren't familiar with the places the song describes, the speaker says they "love to hear it [the song] sung." Simply hearing the song's descriptions of these places is enough to connect them to the world of their ancestors and help the speaker understand their own history a little better.
The poem thus illustrates the power art has to preserve the past and bring people together. The speaker describes a scene from the song where "waterlilies fill with rain until / they overturn, spilling water into water." When they are emptied of rain, the waterlilies "rock back, and fill with more." This imagery suggests that, like rain pouring into the open waterlilies, this song "fill[s]" the speaker's family with memories of the past. And though these memories make the mother and grandmother "cry," they both keep singing. Although some of these memories may be painful, they are also incredibly precious; while reliving them, the speaker's family feels connected and whole, their past alive and present.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
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The Pain of Exile
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" is inspired by Li-Young Lee's own life: the poet's parents were Chinese exiles living in Indonesia, who later had to flee Indonesia to escape anti-Chinese prejudice. Read with this context in mind, the poem captures the pain of exile and longing for a homeland to which one can't return.
The song the speaker asks their mother to sing isn't just any song—it's one clearly connected to the family's ancestral land, China. The song describes "Peking" (i.e., Beijing, the capital of China) and "the Summer Palace" (an imperial garden in Beijing). Although the speaker themselves has never actually been to the places mentioned in the song, these places are clearly significant to the family—another reason why the speaker "love[s] to hear it sung." The speaker's elders perhaps even once "stood on the great Stone Boat to watch / the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake" (located in the Summer Palace).
The song transports the speaker's mother and grandmother back to their home country. That the women sing like young girls suggests that China is still vivid in their minds; their memories haven't faded, and they sing together as a way of feeling connected to a place they can no longer visit in person.
Of course, the song is also a reminder of the fact that they're now far away from this place. The fact that singing makes the women cry implies that they miss this land deeply and long to see it again. The fact that they don't stop singing, meanwhile, suggests that the memories are worth it—that the pain of homesickness is preferable to forgetting where they came from.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Line 2
- Lines 5-8
- Lines 13-14
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
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Lines 1-4
She begins, and ...
... like a boat."I Ask My Mother to Sing" opens in the middle of the action:
She begins, and my grandmother joins her.
Based on the poem's title, readers can assume that what the speaker's mother "begins" is to sing, in response to the speaker's request. The poem immediately feels straightforward and conversational, thanks to its clear, simple language and two end-stopped lines in a row.
The speaker says that the women "sing like young girls," a simile that conveys the joy this song brings; the women seem more innocent and light-hearted. Perhaps this is a song from their youth, and singing it transports them back to their childhood. Perhaps this song is one that has been passed down from generation to generation.
The poem's next two lines imply that singing this song is a kind of family ritual: the speaker says that if their father were still alive, he would join right in with "his accordion and sway like a boat." In other words, he'd rock back and forth like a boat on a gentle sea, a serene image that suggests that the speaker takes comfort in this family tradition. The song connects the speaker's elders to their past, and, in bringing up memories of the speaker's father, it also connects the family to people they've lost.
By now, readers get a sense of the poem's form. This stanza has four lines, making it a quatrain, and is written in free verse. Instead of following a set meter or rhyme scheme, it uses natural rhythms to create a casual yet intimate tone.
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Lines 5-8
I’ve never been ...
... in the grass. -
Lines 9-12
But I love ...
... fill with more. -
Lines 13-14
Both women have ...
... stops her song.
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Symbols
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Water
In the poem, water symbolizes the connection between the past and present. Every stanza in the poem references water in some way. In the first stanza, the speaker says that their father would "sway like a boat" while playing his accordion. Next, the speaker envisions rain falling on "Kuen Ming Lake." In the third stanza, this rain fills up "waterlilies" until they tip over, "spilling water into water" (i.e., pouring rainwater into the water of the lake). And finally, the speaker mentions their mother and grandmother crying as they sing.
Both the song and the poem about the song thus repeatedly focus on water. Water, of course, is a liquid, a substance that moves fluidly. All this water-related imagery, in turn, suggests that there's a fluid link between the family's past and the present. There's no clear break between the past and present; instead, the speaker's family's memories flow into the present like a steady stream or a trickle of rain.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “he would play / his accordion and sway like a boat.”
- Lines 7-8: “the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers / running away in the grass.”
- Lines 10-13: “how the waterlilies fill with rain until / they overturn, spilling water into water, / then rock back, and fill with more. / Both women have begun to cry.”
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Simile
The poem uses two similes in the first stanza to help set the scene.
In line 2, the speaker says that "Mother and daughter sing like young girls." Comparing these women to "young girls" suggests that the song connects them to their childhood—and, presumably, to a time before they experienced the pain of having to leave behind their homeland. The song also makes them appear young and full of hope again, even if only momentarily. The simile might also suggest that the song they sing is one that has been passed down from generation to generation, a song each of them knows from their own childhood.
The speaker uses another simile in lines 3-5, saying that if their father hadn't died, he would join in: "he would play / his accordion and sway like a boat." This simile paints a picture that is easy for the reader to imagine: the gentle movement of a "boat" rocking back and forth on the water evokes feelings of calm and tranquility. Though the speaker's father is no longer alive, the song makes the speaker imagine his presence.
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 2: “Mother and daughter sing like young girls.”
- Lines 3-4: “he would play / his accordion and sway like a boat.”
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Imagery
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End-Stopped Line
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Consonance
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"I Ask My Mother to Sing" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Accordion
- Peking
- The Summer Palace
- The great Stone Boat
- Kuen Ming Lake
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(Location in poem: Lines 3-4: “he would play / his accordion”)
A kind musical instrument.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
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Form
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" consists of 14 lines broken into three quatrains (or four-line stanzas) and a concluding couplet.
The poem's form thus echoes that of a Shakespearean sonnet, which also contains three quatrains followed by a couplet. Setting the final two lines apart from the rest of the poem makes them stand out to readers, who are left with the powerful image of the speaker's mother and grandmother singing through their tears.
Unlike a traditional sonnet, however, "I Ask My Mother to Sing" doesn't follow any set meter or rhyme scheme. As a result, the poem feels at once traditional and contemporary. In a way, it melds the present and the past—much like the song the speaker's mother sings.
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Meter
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" is a free verse poem, meaning it doesn't follow a set meter. This keeps its language feeling conversational and intimate.
The lack of meter is also interesting in light of the fact that the poem resembles a sonnet (it has 14 lines broken into three quatrains and a couplet). By putting a contemporary spin on a very traditional form, the poet joins the old with the new—just as the mother's song connects various generations of the speaker's family.
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Rhyme Scheme
As a free verse poem, "I Ask My Mother to Sing" does not use a rhyme scheme. As with the poem's lack of meter, not having a predictable rhyme scheme allows the poem to feel more modern and conversational. Much like the women singing about their homeland, the poem seems to recall the past but is located in the present.
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Speaker
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It's fair to assume that the speaker here is Lee himself. Although the poem isn't explicit about the speaker's family's relationship to "Peking" (a previous name for Beijing, the capital of China), it's clearly drawing from Lee's own history. The poem implies that the speaker is the child of Chinese immigrants longing for their homeland, with its "Summer Palace" and "Kuen Ming Lake." The speaker says that they have "never been to Peking"; they're physically cut off from this part of their history but able to experience their family's homeland secondhand through the "song" that their mother and grandmother sing.
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“I Ask My Mother to Sing” Setting
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"I Ask My Mother to Sing" doesn't have a specific setting. As the title reveals, the speaker has asked their mother to sing; the poem itself begins as she begins her song.
The poem doesn't provide any additional detail about when or where this singing occurs, however. Instead, it focuses on the places described within this song: "Peking" (now called Beijing, the capital of China) and "the Summer Palace," a group of lakes, palaces, and gardens built by the Qing dynasty that rest in the heart of Beijing. The song depicts "the great Stone Boat" (a marble pavilion on Kuen Ming, or Kunming, Lake) and "rain" falling on "the picnickers" in the gardens. It also depicts "waterlilies fill[ing] with rain."
The poem's attention to a world the speaker has never seen, and which the speaker's family has left behind, adds to its poignant, nostalgic tone. Regardless of where the family is located in the present, these women are clearly longing for a place from their past.
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Literary and Historical Context of “I Ask My Mother to Sing”
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Literary Context
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" appeared in Li-Young Lee's first poetry collection, Rose, which was published in 1986. In the forward to the book, poet Gerald Stern (under whom Lee studied during his time at the University of Pittsburgh) praised the visionary nature of Lee's poems, which he compared to the likes of John Keats, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Theodore Roethke.
Lee's work is known for its lyricism and draws from the poet's Chinese heritage, his unique family history (more on that below), and his love for classical Chinese poets such as Li Bai (also known as Li Bo) and Du Fu (also known as Tu Fu). Lee has also mentioned the importance of socially "withdrawn" poets such as the aforementioned Rilke and the famously reclusive Emily Dickinson, whose greatness he sees as being a result of their willingness to "get out the [poem's] way so that something bigger" can communicate through their work.
Common themes in Lee's poetry include family, memory, consciousness, and religion. Some of these themes are apparent in "I Ask My Mother to Sing," which explores art as a means of passing down family and cultural memory.
Historical Context
Lee was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1957. His parents were Chinese political exiles from influential families. Before moving to Indonesia, Lee's father had worked as a personal physician for Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China. Lee's great-grandfather on his mother's side was Yuan Shikai, the first Republican president of China, who tried (and failed) to reinstate the hereditary monarchy and himself as emperor from 1915-1916.
The Lees eventually were forced to leave Indonesia due to increasing anti-Chinese sentiment. After passing through Hong Kong and Japan, they ended up settling in the United States. Lee has spoken about the obstacles his family faced upon first moving to the States, including continued xenophobia.
Lee's father studied at a seminary and moved the family to Pennsylvania where he took a job as a Presbyterian minister; seeing his father in this role undoubtedly influenced Lee, who has written extensively about both God and his complicated relationship with his father (in poems such as "My Father, In Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud" and "Little Father").
"I Ask My Mother to Sing" refers to Lee's family, though it isn't explicit about the events that led up to his alienation from the homeland of his ancestors. Instead, the poem represents a more general immigrant experience, making it relatable to immigrants of various backgrounds.
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More “I Ask My Mother to Sing” Resources
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External Resources
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Making Sense of His Family's Suffering — An NPR episode in which Lee talks about his family's history, exile, and what it was like for his family when they came to the United States.
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The Summer Palace — A World Heritage Journey episode on the Summer Palace.
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A Reading of the Poem — Li-Young Lee introduces his poem and reads it out loud.
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The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of Lee from The Poetry Foundation.
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A Conversation with Li-Young Lee — An interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books in which Lee discusses how his first collection came about and the use of silence in his work.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Li-Young Lee
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