Poetry Essay

Out Beyond Ideas by Rumi and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein are beautifully written poems that both encompass valuable themes. Both poems revolve around similar themes, such as following the heart and how it is important to escape the rigidness of society to free your mind at times. Just as how these poems are unique, Out Beyond Ideas differs from Where the Sidewalk Ends in several ways. Rumi emphasizes how there is no right or wrong within your conscience if you can discover your inner self. In Shel Silverstein’s poem, the importance of not losing your creativity is one theme that differs from Out Beyond Ideas.

The theme of following the trail of your heart is common between the two poems. Children have big dreams, and Silverstein’s poem talks about how it is important not to lose your vision as you grow older. The “chalk-white arrows” can literally symbolize the direction that the children take to follow their heart. The sidewalk represents the safe path that people guide through as children to do what their heart wishes. In Out Beyond Ideas, a similar theme is expressed. “Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field.” The soul that “lies down in that grass” is one who has listened to their hearts. Another common theme is that freeing yourself in moderation from your daily routine is important. The end of the sidewalk depicts the end of structured thinking. Most of are told to do this and that on a daily basis. We see hundreds of advertisements from wake to sleep, telling us what society demands. Yet, there is always that voice inside our heads wanting to fully express our individuality and retaliate the accepted norms. It is a good thing to “leave this place where the smoke blows black” and free our soul. Rumi also values this idea in her poem. On the literal level, there is a place where no one can tell you if you are right or wrong, but there is a place where you can free yourself from the right or wrongness and simply be where you can accept yourself as who you are.

While the two poems have similar themes, differences are evident. In Where the Sidewalk Ends, the value of creativity is emphasized. “For the children, they mark, and the children, they know the place where the sidewalk ends.” Many kids have a large degree of creativity, and this line symbolizes how the children who grew up reminisces on the power of creativity. Walking in the footsteps of your heart and empowering your creativity is such a value because people who grow up retaining these qualities can achieve the unattainable. As one grows older, our container for flushing out our creative self can weaken. We have other things to worry about, and too little time to think back on our free childhood. Yet, Where the Sidewalk Ends reminds us the gravity of losing this quality.

In Out Beyond Ideas, Rumi expresses the unknown force that can bring us to the “field”. There is a place, an ideal place, that words cannot describe. Unwrapping yourself to knowing who you really are is one step to getting there. “When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.” There is something out there, or in us that connects us in a way that we cannot even imagine. After all, people are not born to live alone, but rather in unison. Even then, people always conform to the idea of being right or wrong. It is not if your are incorrect or correct, but rather if you are true to who you really are on both the conscience and unconscious level.

Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends  and Rumi’s Out Beyond Ideas have similarities and differences regarding the theme. Both point to the significance of being honest to your heart’s desire. They also express the one should free their mind from the rigid structure of living in today’s society. However, the two poems cover different aspects, such as Rumi’s poem talking about enlightenment of self.