The Gift by Jean Burden
"The Gift" by Jean Burden is a free verse poem that explores themes of friendship, generosity, and the intrinsic value of gifts beyond their monetary worth. Dedicated to a young woman named Cristy, the poem begins with the humorous and poignant imagery of Cristy giving the poet the socks off her feet in a New York restaurant. The socks, described in playful detail, are a symbol of Cristy's selflessness and the strong bond between the two. Burden reflects on this act of kindness, expressing a desire to reciprocate, yet recognizing the disparity in their exchanges—Cristy's socks cost only forty-nine cents, while a fossil she once gifted was free. Through her concise language and subtle humor, Burden highlights how true gifts stem from thoughtfulness rather than expense. The poem's directness and lyrical quality invite readers to connect with the poet's personal experience, suggesting that the essence of a gift lies in the sentiment behind it. Ultimately, "The Gift" serves as a celebration of the intimate connections we share and the simple acts of kindness that define our relationships.
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Subject Terms
The Gift by Jean Burden
First published: 1992, in Taking Light from Each Other
Type of poem: Lyric
The Poem
“The Gift” is a twenty-eight-line poem written in free verse. Under the title, Jean Burden dedicates the poem “for Cristy.” Writing in the first person, Burden reveals the nature of the gift in the first two lines: “You gave me the socks/ off your feet.” Possessing a wry wit, Burden parodies the expression “the shirt off your back” with these opening lines. Although Cristy’s age and relationship to the poet are never precisely identified, it seems clear that Cristy is much younger than Burden and that they must be very close friends. In reality, Cristy was a young woman in her twenties and nearly forty years younger than the poet at the time of the poem’s writing. Written in 1976, “The Gift” is one of a number of poems that Burden composed while staying at the MacDowell Colony, a colony for artists located in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
The socks, “dark blue, striped in red and white,/ with embroidered clocks of cats,” are given to the poet in a restaurant. Cristy states matter-of-factly, “ ‘Of course you must have them.’ ” The waitress in the poem is startled by the sight of Cristy removing her socks; “Demure/ in Japanese kimono,” she “almost spilled the tea” when Cristy strips “to pink toes.” After being given the colorful socks, Burden says, she placed them “in a napkin/ and stuffed them in my Gucci bag.” She and Cristy then left the restaurant and “squeaked up Park Avenue.” With the identification of Park Avenue, it is clear that Burden and Cristy are in New York City. As they walk, Cristy is wearing her “leather boots” with “sockless feet,” and the poet, in contrast, feels “embarrassingly/ over-shod.”
Reflecting on how generous Cristy was and how the poet desires to balance the scales, Burden comments, “I never gave you anything/ as right as that/ except once—a fossil polished/ by the sea.” Since Cristy has been such a loyal friend and given up even the socks off her feet, Burden understandably wants to do right by her friend. Cristy lets it be known that the socks cost only forty-nine cents. Burden plays on this fact by concluding the poem with the lines “Nothing comes out even./ The stone was free.” Without bombast, she has employed subtle humor to talk about the real value of any gift. The appropriateness of a gift is not contingent on its monetary value. It is indeed, as the saying goes, the thought that counts.
Forms and Devices
In numerous other poems Burden has shown herself to be adept at using common speech in original ways. In “The Gift” the poet addresses the reader in a direct manner rather than employing a persona to express some experience that is not her own. What transpires in the poem is Burden’s own experience. Cristy is a real person, and she did give the poet her socks in a New York restaurant. Although “The Gift” is written in free verse, there is nonetheless a subtle lyrical rhythm in the poem. The lines of the poem are condensed. Burden is a master of the delicate observation, of creating a well-modulated poem through spare and understated images. Without relying on cliché or worn-out phrases, she uses common language to create fresh images. Although Robert Frost once described writing free verse as “playing tennis without a net,” there is a need for discipline in free verse just as there is in any other poetic form. Burden uses precise language to convey sights and sounds. One of the sound devices that Burden employs is alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds of words that are in close proximity. In “The Gift” there are s sounds with such words as “socks,” “striped,” “staid,” “stripping,” “spilled,” “stuffed,” “squeaked,” “said,” and “stone.” While in untrained hands alliteration can be over used and thus awkward or ponderous, Burden drops in the appropriate sound precisely where needed.
In her 1966 essay collection Journey Toward Poetry, Burden speaks about the need for poems to possess simplicity without being simpleminded, to be stripped of artifice, and to speak in a straightforward manner. As the poetry editor of Yankee magazine, beginning in 1955, and a veteran poetry teacher, Burden believes strongly that a poem should be filled with the poet’s vision. When a specific event is related honestly and freshly, it can become an experience with which the reader can identify. While “The Gift” may seem slight and does not demand to be seen as a “consequential” poem, its value grows through its quiet use of humor. The idea that humor or wit is employed only by poets who are writing lightweight poems is a severe underestimation of the value of humor in contemporary poetry. Humor is a very human response to many monumental concerns, and it can provide a fresh viewpoint to an age-old problem. In “The Gift” Burden uses a quirky and amusing experience to speak about friendship, sacrifice, and obligation to those one loves.