Can someone please explain this poem to me and also the literary devices used? Thanks!

"Like This"
If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look, lift your face
and say,

Like this.

When someone mentions the gracefulness
of the nightsky, climb up on the roof
and dance and say,

Like this.

If anyone wants to know what "spirit" is,
or what "God’s fragrance" means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.

Like this.

When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.

Like this.

If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.

Like this. Like this.

When someone asks what it means
to "die for love," point
here.

If someone asks how tall I am, frown
and measure with your fingers the space
between the creases on your forehead.

This tall.

The soul sometimes leaves the body, the returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.

Like this.

When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.

Like this.

I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.

Like this.

When someone asks what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.

Like this.

How did Joseph’s scent come to Jacob?

Huuuuu.

How did Jacob’s sight return?

Huuuu.

A little wind cleans the eyes.

Like this.

When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us

Like this.

From ‘The Essential Rumi’, Translations
by Coleman Barks with John Moyne

The meaning of the poem is very clear. For whatever eternal question of spirit or meaning in life or the glories of nature, look to yourself. It's there.

To look at the night sky and wonder in awe, it is yourself who feels that awe. The next person feels it also, but for himself or herself. The wonder is within ourselves.

The literary devices? I'd have to re-read Lionel Trilling to get it all. The central device is that what seems outside ourselves is really within ourselves, and it's repeated in every stanza.

"I am a sky where spirits live/stare into this deepening blue/while the breeze says a secret. Like this."

Who can hear that secret? Each is an extended metaphor for looking to yourself to find the secret or the love or the desire or, even, how tall you are.

Even "tall" is a metaphor for whom you are.

Does this help?

thank you so much, yes it was very helpful :)

I hope so. :)

Sarah, I'm sorry, but "extended" metaphor is the wrong term. The author uses metaphors in each stanza, but each is it's own metaphor. "Extended" would be more like the author used the same one in different terms again and again. Here, the author uses different ones to make the same point over and over to "drive it home."

thanks again :)

This poem, titled "Like This," is a collection of short verses written by the Persian poet Rumi. It explores themes of love, spirituality, and the connection between the physical and the divine. The poem uses a variety of literary devices to convey its message. Let's delve into the poem and examine some of these devices.

One of the key literary devices used in this poem is repetition. The phrase "Like this" is repeated throughout the poem, emphasizing the speaker's desire to explain or demonstrate something. This repetition serves to emphasize the actions and experiences being described, creating a sense of immediacy and intensity.

Another device employed in the poem is metaphor. Metaphorical language is used to describe various experiences and emotions. For example, the phrase "the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting" is a metaphorical expression of deep desire and fulfillment. Rumi also uses metaphors to convey spiritual concepts, such as "God's fragrance" and "the nightsky."

The poem also contains imagery, which appeals to the senses and helps to create vivid mental pictures. For instance, the image of dancing on the roof to describe the gracefulness of the nightsky evokes a sense of joy and freedom. The imagery of gradually uncovering the moon with untangling knots and the visual description of measuring height with the space between forehead creases adds depth and richness to the poem.

In addition to these devices, the poem employs rhetorical questions to engage the reader and provoke contemplation. Questions like "If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead, don't try to explain the miracle. Kiss me on the lips" and "How did Joseph's scent come to Jacob?" invite the reader to question conventional understanding and embrace a more experiential, intimate knowledge.

Overall, "Like This" is a poem that conveys profound ideas through the use of literary devices such as repetition, metaphor, imagery, and rhetorical questions. By incorporating these devices, Rumi engages the reader's imagination and emotions, inviting them to perceive the world in a new and transformative way.