Famous
By Naomi Shihab Nye
The river is famous to the fish.
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
I think the author of this poem is not writing about actual famous things but things that are important to others, something that is vital to the others existance. Naomi writes that “the river is famous to fish” because without the river the fish cannot survive. This supports her later phrases saying she wants to be famous because she wants to be as important to someone else as the river is to the fish.
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I really like this poem. I brought it into class one time for one of those group things. My favorite line/stanza is “The boot is famous to the earth,/ more famous than the dress shoe,/ which is famous only to floors.” I think its very clever the way she says this throughout the poem. I agree with what you said about something being vital to the others existence. It makes me think about work right now. It’s just a pizza place, not the best job or most important job, but I make a pretty amazing brownie sundae. If that makes any sense.
bluediamond, please check you blackboard email
I also ejoyed this poem. I feel that the things that hold it”s countpart up on a “famous” pedastal do so because it is thier everything. Because of this, my favorite stanza is “The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.” It reminds me of my father and how he carries old pictures in his wallet. The pictures of me is my christening photo and how I think its a silly looking baby picture, it reminds him of his precious baby girl.
I also like the simplicity of the stanzas. They are short, even only one line, but the relationship between the two things in each stanza is easily imagines, the details are felt, not read.
I love the way this poem is written, the simplicity of it while still relaying a great message. I think it’s saying that its more important to be ‘famous’ to the people that really matter to you, the people that depend on you. That to be known by alot of people doesn’t really matter unless you mean something to the people close to you. I like the various examples given as it shows the unique bond between the two and how it is unlike another. I think this is especially shown in the lines ‘The boot is famous to the earth, more famous than the dress shoe, which is famous only to floors.’ While the two kinds of footwear are alike, they each have a unique relationship.
nice comments