Closed Reading Analysis W9: My Tongue begs for the Power of Speech
“My tongue begs for the power of speech that is Your gift to us; for silence gets its style of representation from Your gift to us. The melancholic weeping of those who live with disappointment is Your gift to us." This piece stood out to me because upon reading the author’s history, I discovered that none of his seven children lived beyond fifteen months, not to mention that his wife’s nephew who he adopted as his son died, along with his wife (587). In addition, Ghalib fell in love again with a low-caste Hindu courtesan, who also died at a young age, whose loss he mourned publicly (588). These types of tragedies are unbearable without some type of hope in a higher explanation. Therefore, I believe the dialect in the poem appears to a greater degree a supplication than a sonnet. In numerous religions there is a certain reverence one has when addressing God. The author is by all accounts requesting permission to speak freely to God concerning the gut wrenching pain he is experien...