You have two voices is a poem by Nancy Prasad about learning a new language and embracing one’s mother tongue. She is a freelance writer and lives in Canada. She has a B.A. in English and Psychology.
You have Two Voices Poem by Nancy Prasad
You have two voices when you speak
in English or your mother tongue.
When you speak the way your people spoke
the words don't hesitate but flow
like rivers, like rapids, like oceans of sound,
and your hands move like birds through the air.
But then you take a stranger's voice
when you speak in your new tongue.
Each word is a stone dropped in a pool.
I watch the ripples and wait for more.
You search in vain for other stones to throw.
They are heavy. Your hands hang down.
You have two voices when you speak;
I have two ears for hearing.
Speak to me again in your mother tongue.
What does it matter how little I understand
when the words pour out like music
and your face glows like a flame.
Summary of the poem You Have Two Voices
The poet talks about different voices we have when we speak in different languages. When people speak in their mother tongue, they are comfortable and at ease. They do not need to think much when they talk. But when people speak in a language that is not native to them, it does not seem as easy. Poet goes on to explain her preference of one over the other.
The Poet says that when people speak in English or their mother tongue, in the language of their people, the words flow without any hesitation. The flow of words is effortless like the rivers and rapids. The person’s hands will move and they will communicate better.
When a person speaks in a new language, each word seems like a stone that is thrown into a pool that causes noise and ripples in the pool. There is hesitation and search for what words to speak next. A person tires himself talking in a new language. Thus the struggle of the person who is trying to speak in a language that is not his own is evident to the poet.
People have two voices when they speak, Poet says that she has two ears for hearing. She prefers to hear a person speak in their mother tongue even if she does not understand what is being spoken. She says that when people talk in their mother tongue, words pour out like music and their face glows.
Themes in You Have Two Voices
The Main Theme of the poem is about accepting one’s own language and culture and preferring it over a foreign language/second language. By describing how a person sounds in their mother tongue and in their second language, Poet emphasizes on accepting one’s native language(the language of their people).
A lot of circumstances in life may lead to a person needing to communicate in a foreign language. It may be because the person has no other option, or because they willingly choose it over their own language as they think of their language as inferior. Poet makes the point that second language will not sound effortless and the person speaking it will have a burden.
Poet also seems to be focus on talking with feelings and emotions than through words. She says in the last stanza that it does not matter to her if she does not understand words, she prefers the glow on the person’s face when they speak in their mother tongue. The poet is inferring that the expressions and emotions are not as natural in a second language.
You Have Two Voices poem Line by Line meaning
Stanza 1 Meaning :
You have two voices when you speak
in English or your mother tongue.
When you speak the way your people spoke
the words don't hesitate but flow
like rivers, like rapids, like oceans of sound,
and your hands move like birds through the air.
The first line of the poem say that people have two voices when they speak in different languages. Poet has specifically mentioned English in the poem. English may have been poet’s second language.
She says that when someone speaks like their people spoke they are fluent and more expressive. The phrase “the way your people spoke” may mean the language that is commonly spoken in one’s family, a person’s first language or the language of the locality where a person grew up. The poet is referring to the language a child learns growing up and speaks with it’s parents, a language which has a personal and emotional connection to the person speaking it.
She says in that language, a person is very fluent and is not hesitant. She compares the flow of words in that language to that of a rapids in the river and oceans of sound. She talks about the body language of a person and how their hands move freely in the air. She compares the body language of a person speaking in their mother tongue to that of a bird moving through air.
Stanza 2 Meaning :
But then you take a stranger's voice
when you speak in your new tongue.
Each word is a stone dropped in a pool.
I watch the ripples and wait for more.
You search in vain for other stones to throw.
They are heavy. Your hands hang down.
In the second stanza the poet talks about “the new tongue“. She refers to the second language or the new language that a person has learnt. She calls it a strangers voice, and implies that when a person learns a new language, they learn the way in which someone else has spoken it, and imitate their way of talking that language. That is why it seems like a stranger’s voice to the poet.
Each word that is spoken in the new language is like a stone thrown into a pool. While the mother tongue is compared to a river that is flowing beautifully, the second language is compared to a still pool in which a rock is being thrown to disturb the pool and create endless ripples. She says that the person searches for next words to speak in their head by comparing it to searching for stones and says that it is a tedious job to search for those words.
Stanza 3 Meaning :
You have two voices when you speak;
I have two ears for hearing.
Speak to me again in your mother tongue.
What does it matter how little I understand
when the words pour out like music
and your face glows like a flame.
Poet says that she has two ears to hear the two voices that people speak. But she would rather hear it in their mother tongue. She says that even if she doesn’t understand it, she enjoys the persons voice because it sounds like music and that their face glows up. She makes the point that people are happier, more comfortable speaking in their mother tongue.
You Have Two Voices Poem Analysis
The poem appears to portray the connection that the poet has towards her mother tongue and how she says to the other person (you) about the discomfort and struggle one goes through while speaking in the second language. The poem can be interpreted as, the importance of being related to the language but it can also be interpreted as the poet speaking about her self identity that is related with her language. We can observe this in her lines “You have two voices” and “Then you take a strangers voice” which can represent two distinct identities within an individual.
It is evident that poet is making association with water which is the predominant simile in the poem. She compares mother tongue as to rivers, rapids and sounds of ocean. Here these words are also the symbol of freedom where as pool remains stagnant which is reference to second language. The simile birds refer to hands that is again symbol of freedom. We can note that the poet says birds instead of a bird, which might be emphasizing the language as collective whole that is part of people and not individualistic in nature.
The second stanza is about the how a second language is depicted as a stranger’s voice and new tongue. Both the words denotes unfamiliarity to the mother tongue which can also be the true self identity. It says the second language has no connection that is deeply rooted as mother tongue does. It is completely new and strange. The simile stone dropped in a pool is the tussle one goes through while choosing words to frame sentences in second language. Poet describes the process of heaviness experienced by one while trying to communicate.
The first line of the all the three stanzas speak specifically on “voice” and where as the last line of first two stanza speak on hands and last line of the last stanza on face. The poet also gives us insight on the connection between music and language is always considered as a strong relationship. And we can observe only thrice she uses “I“, where she is referring to her personal self. In the poem, the dialogue between I and you can also represent the two distinct identity that lay within the poet, the one which likes to the self identity that belong to her people that speaks the mother tongue and the other is stranger’s identity preceding second language.
Literary Devices in the poem You Have Two Voices:
Similes:
* Flow like rivers, like rapids,like oceans of sound.
* Your hands move like birds through sir.
* When the words pour out like music.
* Your face glows like a flame.
Imagery:
I watch the ripples.
Tone of the Poem You Have Two Voices
The tone of the poem is the form of Dialogue between poet and second person “You”. This second person may be a persona of the poet that talks in her second language.
