Portland Community College the Prophet Book Analytcal Review You will need access to The Prophet.It has TWO prompt options . I suggest choosing the one you relate to the most as this will make writing the essay easier and you are allowed to use personal reasoning and evidence.CHOOSE ONE of the prompt questions to respond to.Respond by writing a 5-paragraph essay in MLA format. You will need to use at least two (2) quotes from The Prophet or the ppt.(It’s the information 1 and 2 I just browse in the below) You do NOT need to provide a Works Cited page. You DO need to use in-text citations. This essay should be at least 2 pages typed and double-space.
THE
PROPHET
by
Khalil Gibran
KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
THE COMING OF THE SHIP
Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had
waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and
bear him back to the isle of his birth.
And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he
climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld his ship
coming with the mist.
Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And
he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul.
But as he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his
heart:
How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the
spirit shall I leave this city.
Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights
of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret?
Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many
are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot
withdraw from them without a burden and an ache.
It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.
Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and
with thirst.
Yet I cannot tarry longer.
The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be
bound in a mould.
Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?
A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek
the ether.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.
Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he
saw his ship approaching the harbour, and upon her prow the mariners, the men
of his own land.
And his soul cried out to them, and he said:
Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides,
How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening,
which is my deeper dream.
Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind.
Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast
backward,
And then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers.
And you, vast sea, sleeping mother,
Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream,
Only another winding will this stream make, only another murmur in this glade,
And then I shall come to you, a boundless drop to a boundless ocean.
And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their
vineyards and hastening towards the city gates.
And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from field to field telling
one another of the coming of his ship.
And he said to himself:
Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?
And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn?
And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him
who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give
unto them?
And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath
may pass through me?
A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may
dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?
If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall
burn therein.
Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern,
And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also.
These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he
himself could not speak his deeper secret.
And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were
crying out to him as with one voice.
And the elders of the city stood forth and said:
Go not yet away from us.
A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to
dream.
No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved.
Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face.
And the priests and the priestess said unto him:
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our
midst become a memory.
You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our
faces.
Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been
veiled.
Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you.
And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
And others came also and entreated him. But he answered them not. He only bent
his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast.
And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple.
And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she
was a seeress.
And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she who had first
sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in their city.
And she hailed him, saying:
Prophet of God, in quest of the uttermost, long have you searched the distances
for your ship.
And now your ship has come, and you must needs go.
Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling-place of your
greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs hold you.
Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of your truth.
And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and it shall not
perish.
In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in your wakefulness you
have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of
that which is between birth and death.
And he answered:
People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving
within your souls?
—
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
LOVE
Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon
them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him.
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth
so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that
quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for
God’s sacred feast.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your
heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure.
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s
threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and
weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, ‘God is in my heart, ‘but rather, ‘I am in the
heart of God.’
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in
your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
MARRIAGE
Then Alrnitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness.
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
CHILDREN
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thougts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even
in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with
His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
GIVING
Then said a rich man, Speak to us of Giving.
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may
need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over-prudent dog burying bones
in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have – and they give it for
recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never
empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward;
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor
give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He
smiles upon the earth.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than
giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.
You often say, ‘I would give, but only to the deserving.’
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else
from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup
from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the
confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that
you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver, are
but a witness.
And you receivers – and you are all receivers – assume no weight of gratitude, lest
you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt is to doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
EATING AND DRINKING
Then an old man, a keeper of an inn, said, Speak to us of Eating and Drinking.
And he said:
Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be
sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to
quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest
and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.
When you kill a beast say to him in your heart:
‘By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
‘For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier
hand.
‘Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.’
And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart:
‘Your seeds shall live in my body,
‘And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
‘And your fragrance shall be my breath,
‘And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.’
And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyard for the winepress, say in your heart:
‘I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
‘And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels.’
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each
cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
WORK
Then a ploughman said, Speak to us of Work.
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s
procession that maries in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart he whispering of the hours
turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in
unison?
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse
written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow
shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what
was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge.
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another,
and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that
house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your
beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit.
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, ‘He who works in marble, and
finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the
soil.
‘And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more
than he who makes the sandals for our feet.’
But I say, not in sleep, but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind
speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of
grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter
by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better than you
should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those
who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half
man’s hunger.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the
wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears
to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
JOY AND SORROW
Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with
your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s
oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with
knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that
which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth
you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is the
greater.’
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember
that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must
your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
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KHALIL GIBRAN
THE PROPHET
HOUSES
Then a mason came forth and said, Speak to us of Houses.
And he answered and said:
Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within
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