Sotiris Kyriazis

Mr. Nedecky

ELA 40S

November 18, 2022

Poem and Visual Response Assignment

The poem that I chose is Fear by Khalil Gibran and my visual is an original painting by Suhail

Khimji. Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese American writer, poet, and painter. He was born in

Lebanon and died in New York in 1931. Along with being a successful philosophical essayist,

Khalil was the author of multiple best-selling books. Suhail Khimji is a grade 12 student at Fort

Richmond Collegiate who often paints for his own enjoyment. He creates art and designs in

hopes of one day becoming an architect.

Fear
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,

from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,

she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.

The river can not go back,

Nobody can go back.

To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk

of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
its not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

-Khalil Gibran
Ego death-Suhail Khimji

In the poem Fear, Khalil Gibran writes about a river joining the ocean. The river has made achievements

and surpassed obstacles, like crossing villages and mountains, but when it is time to join the immense

ocean, its achievements will not matter in the grand scheme of things. The ocean is so vast that it makes

the river look insignificant. Khalil writes “that’s when the river will know, its not about disappearing into

the ocean, but of becoming the ocean”. In the painting, we see a small, bright yellow figure in a large

body of water, surrounded by mountains and a forest. The figure connects the poem and the picture in

the way it stands out. It represents the river that has to let go of its ego in order to join a “greater cause”
which is the ocean, but in the picture the figure stands out from the ocean and the rest of its

surroundings due to its ego. The figure’s bright colour represents how much it has to offer to the ocean

and its surroundings which in contrast have darker colours. Khalil also writes about how joining the

ocean is irreversible and nobody can avoid it. There will be times in our lives where society pressures us

to offer ourselves to the growth and benefit of others, and often where we can not escape this pressure.

Fear plays a big factor in this comparison as well. In the process of joining the ocean, the river fears that

it will lose its individuality, but it doesn’t understand that its individuality will benefit the ocean, and

help it grow. In the painting, the figure has allowed itself to be consumed by fear and selfishness, which

prevent it from offering itself to its surroundings. The whole process of the river joining the ocean can

be compared to any instance where we have had to let go of our pride in order to contribute to

something greater than ourselves. Teachers, parents, and people in positions of authority are often seen

as selfless and compassionate and this is because they offer themselves to the benefit of others. A

prideful death.