Fear by Kahlil Gibran - Analysis

"Fear" is a reflective poem penned by Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. 

Explanation

The omniscient narrator tells a tale about a River. A personified (female) being, the River must merge into sea at the end of its course, just like all the rivers. But she trembles/shakes with fear, perhaps, of its vastness or strength.

The River remininsces about the journey she had undertaken starting from her birth in "the peaks of the mountains" and then through forests and villages.

And finally, she reaches her destination, the sea. But its enormity makes her afraid as such vastness could easily subsume her whole self.

But now there is no alternate option left to return back for the River. 

The River has to take the risk of entering the ocean and get rid of the fear, as only when the fear is rid of, the River will know the ultimate truth i.e. this entering into the ocean is the part of the process of being ocean itself. In other words, the River will become the mighty ocean herself. 

Analysis

The poem delves into the emotion of fear and how one can conquer their fear through the geographical analogy of river and sea or ocean. Here, the river is an allegory of an individual, whereas the Sea represents the fear of the former, and sooner or later, the individual has to confront his/her fear. Taking plunge into the fear is the only way to defeat it by becoming part of it.

The poem could also be interpreted as an allegory of life of human beings. Just as we, human being cherish life and wants to avoid death. But the maturity is in surrendering to death when the time is come as it is not the end but the opportunity to assimilate into the universe/god and become part of the god.