I personally found the selected poetry by Chinese immigrants to be very interesting. While much of the poetry included in the selection paints an image of the Chinese as despairing and frustrated (as many of them were), the last poem is significant for its optimism.
Chinese poetry in America was usually written on walls of detainment centers at the immigration hubs of the United States in the late 19th century- mostly at Angel Island. Poetry was often written as graffiti to express frustration at exhausting immigration screening processes and the bleakness of the crowded holding quarters where the Chinese were confined, awaiting deportation or entrance into the country. This was emphasized by the exhibit “Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion”. After months of coaching on how to answer the interrogators’ questions, many Chinese hopefuls were turned away, sent back to China on boats where some “suffer[ed] misery” because of uncomfortable conditions and a lengthy sea voyage.
However, the last poem is important, because it reminds people of the reason Chinese men immigrated to the United States. While much poetry during pre-Exclusion Act Chinese immigration emphasized the struggle that many men faced at detainment centers and in cities, a few of them reiterate the typical immigrant dream that is shared by all groups that came to New York. Progress was more likely in New York, notwithstanding the discrimination and low wages the immigrants dealt with (the line “The Western styled buildings are lofty; but I have not the luck to live in them” is a particularly strong visualization of the reality of social immobility) and many were happy to find work and earn an income higher than that of their brethren in China. Even while Chinese immigrants were denied citizenship in China and “barbarian” law was written against them, there was still a general instinct to “push yourself ahead” and through hard work, become rich.
