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Language can be a great powerful source of one’s identity. Everyone has their own language; it defines us as individuals by linking us together. In Marjorie Agosi’n’s poem English, she expresses her love for the Spanish language. Agosi’n prefers to use her primary language, Spanish, in her writing, rather than her secondary language, English. Through this comparing and contrasting poem, she sends her audience on a spiritual journey in which mediation between two cultures is revealed. By favoring Spanish over English, Agosi’n strives to preserve her cultural values while being serene and strong in her own beliefs. Through the extensive use of symbols, anaphors, and metaphors, Agosi’n highlights the beauty of the Spanish language which evokes emotion, intimacy, and affection.

Agosi’n’s use of symbols takes her reader on an emotional journey. Through her writing, she emphatically releases her love for her culture and her language. She describes her native language Spanish as very flexible compared to English which tends to have “too many lawyers and sinister policemen”. She wants her readers to feel how Spanish “language takes shape” in her hand. She can fix all of its “imperfections” by molding it the way she wants it to be. She gives it a desired shape which also becomes her own identification, just like an artist’s work best represents his emotions which he sometimes expresses through different colors. She states that her language is “simple and baroque” like her Latin American culture which is plain and simple, but has rich traditions. Agosi’n uses “dragonfly” in her poetry to symbolize a carefree and happy-go-lucky life. She also expresses a need to rejoice in life, “Let’s go party at dusk, at night, at sunset”. This attitude emphasizes that language should not be rigid and should flow freely. Language should not keep a person confined.

Agosi’n takes support of anaphora to give her argument power and to intensify intimacy about her primary language, Spanish. She says that “the language takes shape in my hand: the sound of drums and waves, the Caribbean in the radiant foam of the sun, are delirious upon my lips”. Spanish is “the rumba, the salsa, the cha-cha”. Agosi’n creates a dramatic effect by using anaphora to set in an idea in her reader's mind that her language is as powerful as the sound of drums and waves, both of which depict the idea of unity. Drums played in tribes represent calling for unity and the waves portray harmony in their motion. Repetition of the word “the” emphasizes how passionate she feels about her language at the same time her tone is convincing to her readers. Subsequently she creates imagery for her readers to feel how her language is as soothing as “the radiant foam of the sun in the Caribbean.” This imagery associated with relaxation depicts to the reader of the serenity of the Spanish language.

Agosi’n is passionate about the Spanish language and she wants her readers to feel that affection as well. She uses metaphors to suggest to her readers that Spanish “is Don Quijote maneuvering, Violeta Parra grateful”. Agosi’n mentions two prominent historical figures, one fictional and one non-fictional, of her culture to compare her language with their abilities. She also goes to an extent to contrast Spanish with “dementia” which ironically in Latin literally translates to “apart mind”. She again describes the carefree and relaxed nature of the language. Just like a person with “dementia” Spanish is free-flowing and random. Here she also uses another metaphor, a “windmill”. Just like windmill spins with the flow of air, similarly, her language is not dependent on mechanism and it go either way depending on the direction of wind.

Through the diction of her compare and contrast poem, Agosi’n reveals her cultural beauty to her readers. By favoring Spanish over English, Agosi’n strives to preserve her cultural values while being serene towards English language. Through her poem, Agosi’n made it clear that our language defines us individuals and the same time, it links us all together. Additionally, her utilization of symbols, anaphora, and metaphor portrays the beauty of the Spanish language which in turn ultimately prompts the reader to respond emotionally and affectionately.