The Angel Island Poems

Reading the poems of the Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island, the writers’ grief is easily shown through most of the poems.  The sorrowful regret they feel is quite introspective as multiple poets ask themselves questions such as “how was I to know I would be imprisoned.”  Another writes “I bow my head in reflection, but there is nothing I can do.”  On the other hand, other poems in the document show that sadness being completely eclipsed by an angry emotion.  “The dragon out of water is humiliated by ants; … An advantageous position for revenge will surely come one day.”  “I will certainly behead the barbarians and spare not a single blade of grass.”  These particular poems are fueled by the rage felt by the Chinese detainees.  

One of the nine poems, however, doesn’t quite fit into either an enraged or depressed tone.  The poem by Xu from Xiangshan expresses several emotions.  His poem is not one of the first, as he has written his own thoughts to his peers writing.  “What can one sad person say to another?  … Why should one complain if he is detained and imprisoned here?”  It seems to be a statement on the hopelessness of their situation.  But then there’s the last line: “From ancient times, heroes often were the first ones to face adversity.”  Every which way I look at that line it just rings of hope - which is an interesting contrast to his previous lines.   This contrast is probably what makes this particular poem more striking to me than the others.  Despite that it doesn’t convey as much emotion – misery or frustration – as the others.

My questions are:  How would you describe the tone that Xu’s poem has?  And also – did you find another poem stood out to you more so than the rest as I did, why or why not?