Anthology Introduction

The New Land

Moving to a different and a newer house is always exciting, but migrating to a new country gives the immigrant a taste of both, excitement and sadness. Many times the immigrants feel they have left a wonderful world to see another. Other times it is not always so easy leaving a well settled life behind and starting a new one from scratch. Most leave in hope for a better life and some leave in hope for more opportunities for their children. There are usually two parts of this whole process; the first part is missing and remembering homeland and the second is adjusting to the new environment.

It is always interesting to see which part would be stronger for the immigrants. Will they be depressed all the time and remember the old life or will they move on and accept the new life? I have experienced this situation in my personal life and was successfully able to choose the path of accepting America as my new mother land. The anthology I have put together was chosen very carefully to show mine and other immigrants’ thoughts and experiences that we have been thorough.

The eight poems I have selected describe the inner feelings of the immigrants that occurred before and after their journey to a new place, America. These poems work hand in hand, because it shows two different thoughts and feelings, while talking about the same situation. One side shown by some of the poems is how the immigrant feels about leaving their mother land, relatives, friends, house, and etc. For example, from “Remember” Rossetti says, “Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land.” This sentence is so important because it not only shows the part where the immigrant is leaving, but also how he/she will miss what is left behind when they go to the ‘silent land.’ This thought is expanded by John Howard Payne in “Home, Sweet Home” when he says, “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home!” If both of these sentences are looked together the reader will understand that an immigrant is not only missing their family, but they will also miss their mother land.

The other side presents the feelings of immigrants when they are in a new country (America, to be specific); the adjustment process, meeting new people, patriotism, and being in the land of free. Immigrants are forced (at times) to adapt to the newer environment and accept the new land as their country. Some of the immigrants accept their new home with happiness and immediately become patriotic to it, while others take some time. Samuel Francis Smith in “America” presents the patriotism that the immigrants come and adapt to; for example “My native country, thee, Land of the noble free,--” Then, Mukesh Williams, in “Foreign Lands” mentions how one eventually sees the brighter side of the gamble and learns to accept the new life. “If you feel better now in a foreign country, the gamble has been good.”

In the beginning, the person is always on the verge of having to choose between two roads; to move (relocate) or not to move. This particular choice is not always so easy and what some say, ‘bubbly’. Being an immigrant myself, I have encountered the same situation and ended up choosing a path that would later be for the betterment of my future. Robert Frost has beautifully summarized this situation in his poem “The Road not Taken.” Frost says, in the very end (to add emphasis), “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Many times when the immigrant is moving, they are not sure if they will ever return, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (Robert Frost, “The Road not Taken”). Even though they are not sure, the immigrants do always hope to return back to their homeland.

In the anthology I have put together, “The Road not Taken” is the very first step in the entire process of moving to a new country and starting a new life. This poem not only informs the reader about the situation but also shows how difficult it is to forget ‘The Road not Taken.’ This poem in then followed by three poems, “Immigration” by Gaby Tinoco, “Home, Sweet Home!” by John Howard Payne, and “Remember” by Christina Rossetti. I have chosen these three particular poems because they present a summary of what things are going to be left behind. Tinoco (“Immigration”) talks about how difficult it is to be separated from your family and see all your accomplishments becoming useless. Then Payne (“Home, Sweet home”) adds on mentioning the difficulty of leaving your house; which can be expanded into mother land, environment, neighbors, and etc. Finally, Rossetti (“Remember”) talks about how you are leaving the love you received from everyone. Rossetti writes about how an immigrant is so attached to their family (because of the love received from them) that they don’t want them to remember him/her and be saddened by it.

The second half of the anthology is a group of poems that tell the reader what everyone has to adapt to, make new friends, whether it was the right path or not, and how some actually feel it was a disaster. “America” by Samuel Francis Smith is a patriotic poem, something the immigrant has to adapt to and accept. Mallik Bulusu presents a poem, “New Friend,” in which a lonely person who has just taken a journey finds a new friend. “One Morning, I began a solo journey....As I walked, I found myself lost…..My hope got better like never before….I found smile and a new friend.” Immigrants, like me, sometimes question themselves whether coming to America was right or wrong. Mukesh Williams in “Foreign Lands” tries to answer that question by mentioning, the gamble is good if you feel you have entered “Into a strange word of opportunity.” If the immigrant feels that gamble has been for the worse, they start to hate the new country and the environment. “The American dream, land of the free, tearing up families, leaves questions, with disbelief” (Anthonio Vallejo, “Immigration”).

The poem I made myself was an attempt to summarize the whole journey of me coming to America, everything thing from seeing my family crying to accepting America as our new motherland. This particular poem is also supposed to summarize my anthology, in the sense that it shows a little bit of everything. The poem starts out after one of the paths have already been chosen (moving to America), like in the poem from Robert Frost. Then it continues and mentions what is going to be left behind, “I was happy to leave, to leave my old life,” summarizing the second part of my anthology (“Remember,” “Immigration,” by Tinoco and “Home, Sweet Home!”). The last poems of my anthology (“Foreign Lands,” “New Friend,” “America,” and “Immigration” by Vallejo) is about accepting the new land of free, as summarized in “A New Wind.”

“I came a long way, accepting a new mother land.”

I can tell, from personal experience that these poets are not lying when they mention how hard it is to leave the old life behind. I myself came from India to America, approximately thirteen years ago, leaving a life behind that I loved. These poems describe the exact things that I felt when I was leaving for example, Gaby Tinoco say “It hurts to see our family get torn apart, to see everything my parents earned go down the drain” in “Immigration.” That is exactly what happened to my family, because my dad had to close a great business, just so he can come to America. All his wealth, hard work, and dedication went down the drain and was never seen again, it all became just a memory. As a young child I might not have felt too sad, but my mother almost broke down because she was giving up everything for nothing (at least that is what she felt at that time).

When I first came to America, everything was new, different, and scary. I had to learn everything from speaking English to being able to live with my aunt and uncle in a small house. As time passed, I came to realize that the ‘gamble’ was good, because I picked up a lot of new skills that I would not have been able to learn otherwise. As Williams mentioned, I feel better now in this foreign country; the irony is…it is not so foreign to me anymore. I believe America is my country now, “My country, ’t is of thee, sweet land of liberty.” (Samuel Francis Smith, “America”)

America has been the land of free for a long time and now it is becoming a home to many people from all over the world. Even though most immigrants have not forgotten their birth country, most of their children have been brought up to love and live the American dream. These poems are written by completely different poets from different times, and yet they seem to speak to each other. Experiencing this situation at first-hand motivated me to put together an anthology of poems that would describe the inner thoughts of an immigrant. These particular poems have been chose over others because they not only present the feelings of the immigrants, but also show before and after steps. Each poem sounds good alone, but does present the entire journey, of leaving the old life and adapting a new one. Together, they expand the meaning and help the reader better understand the steps of migration from living a life of love to living as an American citizen.