ABAS, CINDY P.

EM18 (LITERARY CRITICISM)

BSED- ENGLISH 3A MW (03:00- 04:30)

DESIDERATA
(Reader- Response Theory)

The word desiderata mean things wanted or needed. In life we people actually
have a lot of wants and sometimes we basically forgot what we need. In life as well, we
tend to live our lives the way we want it to be. When we fall some choose to stop and
gave up and some choose to stand up and keep moving forward. It’s all up to us. But
what do we really need in life? Who are we supposed to be? How should we live our
lives? The poem Desiderata written by Max Ehrmann was a great poem of tolerance
and optimism. It reminds us to face the world optimistically and with great tolerance -
accepting the world how it is as well as accepting ourselves.

The poem itself has simply reminded us to live our life at its best. Where we
enjoy and love it and fill it with positivity. Personally, I love the ideas of acceptance and
optimism present in the poem because it gave an essential meaning on the happenings
in life. As I read the poem, I totally agree with these ideas because it’s true. Many of the
lines are giving advises to us like the lines “Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence”, “As far as possible without
surrender be on good terms with all persons.” and “Speak your truth quietly and
clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their
story.” These lines simply reminded me on how important is listening to others and
understanding them. By this I will be able to correctly understand the situation and
correctly approach these people whom I’m encountering and basically positively change
my view and handle it rightly. However, although I really love how the poem encourages
us to keep moving forward, I somehow disagree with the idea of the line “Avoid loud
and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.” because even if these
people could likely have an impact, I believe it’s always up to us and if you know
yourself and what you stand up, it’s more on like even if they are there which in real life
never impossible, we still stand – unshaken and strong. Having these people in life and
still being unshaken and being who we wanted to be is an amazing thing, we became
stronger and our identity flows.

The text itself is really amazing and its meaning is really significant to me. The
message of the lines, “Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.”, “Beyond a
wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.”, “Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,” are very structing. In life when we accept ourself
and we know that there is always someone who is there for us, there would be no
reason for us to lose hope. By this, we can truly identify what is really needed in life and
that is genuine happiness where our hope is high and we aspire to live who we wanted
to be.

The poem Desiderata of Max Ehrmann is a great piece to read. It’s ideas of
optimism, hope and tolerance are great reminders on how beautiful life is when we
strive for genuine happiness, where we can display our real selves, where it is easy to
humble down ourselves and where we could stand up and keep moving forward. This
poem has greatly reminded me that we should still see beauty in life even if sometimes
the world is dreadful and horrifying. We have to remain resilient and believe in ourselves
for us to be happy.