“Search for My Tongue” was written by the poet Sujata Bhatt, who was born in Gujarat, India, but immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 12. “Search for My Tongue” combines English and Gujarati, Bhatt’s native language, as it explores what it is like to be an immigrant in a new culture, the pressures of assimilation, and the relationship between language and identity. “Search for My Tongue” was first published in 1988, as part of Bhatt’s first collection of poems, Brunizem.

• Read the full text of “Search For My Tongue”

• “Search For My Tongue” Summary

• “Search For My Tongue” Themes

  • 

    Language, Identity, and Communication

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-31
  • 

    Immigration and Assimilation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-31

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Search For My Tongue”

  • Lines 1-4

    You ask me ...
    ... in your mouth,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-7

    and lost the ...
    ... the foreign tongue.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-11

    You could not ...
    ... a foreign tongue,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-16

    your mother tongue ...
    ... while I dream,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-23

    munay hutoo kay ...
    ... modhama pakay chay

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-28

    it grows back, ...
    ... other tongue aside.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-31

    Everytime I think ...
    ... of my mouth.

    

    

    

    

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• “Search For My Tongue” Symbols

  • 

    The Dream

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 16: “but overnight while I dream,”
  • 

    The Bud and Blossom

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 27: “the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth,”
    • Line 31: “it blossoms out of my mouth.”

• “Search For My Tongue” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metonymy

    

    

    

    

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    Where metonymy appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “I have lost my tongue.”
    • Lines 3-4: “what would you do / if you had two tongues in your mouth,”
    • Line 5: “the mother tongue,”
    • Line 7: “the foreign tongue.”
    • Line 12: “mother tongue”
    • Line 26: “it ties the other tongue in knots,”
    • Line 28: “it pushes the other tongue aside.”
    • Line 30: “mother tongue,”

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-14: “your mother tongue would rot, / rot and die in your mouth / until you had to spit it out.”
    • Lines 24-28: “it grows back, a stump of a shoot / grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, / it ties the other tongue in knots, / the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth, / it pushes the other tongue aside.”
    • Line 31: “it blossoms out of my mouth.”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “what would”
    • Line 4: “two tongues”
    • Line 12: “mother”
    • Line 13: “mouth”
    • Line 24: “stump”
    • Line 25: “strong”
    • Line 26: “ties,” “tongue”
    • Line 27: “my mouth”
    • Line 30: “mother”
    • Line 31: “my mouth”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “lost,” “tongue”
    • Line 3: “what would”
    • Line 4: “two tongues”
    • Line 5: “ lost,” “ first,” “tongue”
    • Line 12: “mother,” “tongue,” “rot”
    • Line 13: “rot,” “mouth”
    • Line 14: “spit,” “it,” “out.”
    • Line 15: “thought,” “spit,” “it,” “out”
    • Line 24: “grows,” “stump”
    • Line 25: “grows,” “grows,” “moist,” “grows,” “strong,” “veins,”
    • Line 26: “ties,” “tongue,” “knots”
    • Line 27: “opens,” “opens,” “my mouth”
    • Line 28: “aside”
    • Line 30: “mother”
    • Line 31: “blossoms,” “my mouth”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “you do”
    • Line 4: “you,” “ two”
    • Line 5: “one,” “mother tongue”
    • Line 6: “other”
    • Line 12: “mother tongue”
    • Line 13: “mouth”
    • Line 14: “spit it,” “out”
    • Line 15: “spit it,” “out”
    • Line 16: “overnight while I”
    • Line 26: “other tongue”
    • Line 27: “bud,” “bud”
    • Line 28: “other tongue,” “aside”
    • Line 29: “Everytime I,” “I've”
    • Line 30: “lost,” “mother tongue”
    • Line 31: “blossoms,” “out,” “mouth”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “if you had two tongues in your mouth,”
    • Lines 12-14: “your mother tongue would rot, / rot and die in your mouth / until you had to spit it out.”
    • Lines 24-28: “it grows back, a stump of a shoot / grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, / it ties the other tongue in knots, / the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth, / it pushes the other tongue aside.”
    • Line 31: “it blossoms out of my mouth.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “mean / by”
    • Lines 3-4: “do / if”
    • Lines 8-9: “together / even”
    • Lines 10-11: “to / speak”
    • Lines 13-14: “mouth / until”
    • Lines 15-16: “out / but”
    • Lines 24-25: “shoot / grows”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “tongue.”
    • Line 4: “mouth,”
    • Line 5: “tongue,”
    • Line 6: “other,”
    • Line 7: “tongue.”
    • Line 9: “way.”
    • Line 11: “tongue,”
    • Line 12: “rot,”
    • Line 14: “out.”
    • Line 16: “dream,”
    • Line 23: “chay”
    • Line 25: “veins,”
    • Line 26: “knots,”
    • Line 27: “mouth,”
    • Line 28: “aside.”
    • Line 29: “forgotten,”
    • Line 30: “tongue,”
    • Line 31: “mouth.”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “and lost the first one”
    • Line 6: “and could not really know the other,”
    • Line 10: “And if you lived”
    • Line 24: “it grows back”
    • Line 25: “grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-13: “your mother tongue would rot, / rot and die in your mouth”
    • Lines 24-30: “it grows back, a stump of a shoot / grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, / it ties the other tongue in knots, / the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth, / it pushes the other tongue aside. / Everytime I think I've forgotten, / I think I've lost the mother tongue,”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “You ask me”
    • Line 2: “I have lost my tongue”
    • Line 3: “I ask you,” “you”
    • Line 4: “you,” “tongues,” “your mouth”
    • Line 5: “lost,” “the mother tongue”
    • Line 7: “the foreign tongue”
    • Line 11: “foreign tongue”
    • Line 12: “mother tongue”
    • Lines 12-13: “rot, / rot”
    • Line 13: “your mouth”
    • Lines 14-15: “until you had to spit it out. / I thought I spit it out”
    • Line 17: “jeebh,” “bhasha”
    • Line 18: “chay”
    • Line 19: “mari bhasha,” “chay”
    • Line 20: “jaim,” “mari bhasha,” “jeebh”
    • Line 21: “modhama,” “chay”
    • Line 22: “jaim,” “mari bhasha mari,” “jeebh”
    • Line 23: “modhama,” “chay”
    • Line 24: “it grows back”
    • Line 25: “grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins”
    • Line 26: “the other tongue”
    • Line 27: “the bud opens, the bud opens,” “my mouth”
    • Line 28: “the other tongue”
    • Lines 29-30: “ I think I've forgotten, / I think I've lost the mother tongue”
    • Line 31: “my mouth”

• “Search For My Tongue” 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.

  • Tongue
  • Foreign
  • The Gujarati Section
  • Shoot
  • Stump
  • Bud
  • Blossoms
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “tongue.”; Line 4: “tongues”; Line 5: “tongue,”; Line 7: “ tongue.”; Line 11: “tongue,”; Line 12: “tongue”; Line 26: “tongue”; Line 28: “tongue”; Line 30: “tongue,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Search For My Tongue”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Search For My Tongue” Speaker

• “Search For My Tongue” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Search For My Tongue”

• More “Search For My Tongue” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Interview with Sujata Bhatt — Read this interview with Sujata Bhatt to learn more about why she values poetry and how different cultures influence her work. The interview includes an audio and video clip in which Bhatt discusses the importance of poetry to her.

    • Sujata Bhatt on the Blending of Languages in Poetry — Watch this short video to see Sujata Bhatt discuss why she writes poetry in English, as well as why in some poems, including “Search for My Tongue,” she combines English and Gujarati, her native language.

    • “Search for My Tongue” Recited by Fatima Djalalova — Watch this clip from a 2019 Ted Talk to hear 11th-grader Fatima Djalalova from Uzbekistan recite Bhatt’s poem and discuss what it means to her. Djalalova is a native speaker of Russian and Uzbek, and a student in an international school where English is the dominant language. In this clip, she explores the connection between language and identity and talks about the importance of linguistic diversity.

    • Biography of Sujata Bhatt — Read more about Sujata Bhatt’s life and work in this article from the British Council.

    • Audio of Poems from Brunizem — Listen to Sujata Bhatt read a number of poems from her first collection, Brunizem, in which “Search for My Tongue” first appeared. Like “Search for My Tongue,” many of the poems in this collection draw on different cultural influences and linguistic traditions.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Sujata Bhatt

    • Muliebrity

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