Vault #17: Poetry Insider
Hidden Insights and Untold Stories of Angel Island’s Poetry
Angel Island's poems are covered in layers of paint that make them difficult to spot. This is a detail view of several Chinese characters of Voices 24 (105-S-5).
In May 1970, a State Park ranger rediscovered hundreds of poems carved by immigrants into the barracks’ walls. Over the years, researchers have meticulously translated and published 154 Chinese poems/inscriptions from the walls. However, countless others appear throughout the building but are incomplete, illegible, or untranslatable.
Many of the poems carry layers of meaning beyond their translated text that enrich our understanding of Angel Island’s past. The thirteen poems presented below have characteristics that distinguish them among others in the building. Among the selections are:
The barracks’ earliest-dated poem
The only poem with a hidden message
Two poems that were composed twice
The only poem carved in mirror image
The only Dow Moon District (China) poem
Four poems recovered from historic manuscripts
Two poems possibly tied to a dramatic escape
Click here to download a printable map showing the featured poems’ locations.
Translations
Scholars Charles Egan, Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung are responsible for the two most definitive anthologies of Angel Island’s poetry. They dedicated many years to interviewing former detainees, identifying Chinese characters, and translating inscriptions from the barracks walls. Their published works provide a remarkable insight into the thoughts and feelings of those held at the Immigration Station 100 years ago and continue to be a source of interest and inspiration today. The poems below use the numbering convention found in the two following books:
Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 (2nd Edition) by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung
Voices of Angel Island: Inscriptions and Immigrant Poetry, 1910-1945 by Charles Egan.
Poems from Lai, Lim, and Yung’s book are labeled “Island XX” and poems from Egan’s book are labeled “Voices XX.” The poems are sometimes followed by a series of numbers and letters that identify their location in the barracks (ex. 205-S-3 = Room 205/South Wall/Section 3).
View of the north wall in room 205. Wall N-4 featuring the larger carvings of Island 111 and 112. Wall N-3 is seen in the next section over.
Seeing Double | Island 111 and 112
Island 111 and 112 are the only poems carved twice in the barracks. Both versions can be found in the upstairs Chinese men’s dormitory. On the first wall (205-N-3), the poems are presented in small, mostly illegible writing beneath one larger poem. On a neighboring wall (205-N-4), the poems were carved again in full-sized Chinese characters.
It’s unclear which version was carved first, but they are presented side-by-side in both locations. The poems memorialize a Chinese man who passed away after receiving medical treatment. Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, describes them as the “most elegant and moving poems” in the building.
What Remains | Island 40, 43, 53, and 127
In the Chinese men’s dormitory, there are four poems (205-S-3) that were severely damaged by water intrusion and wood rot. Fortunately, their messages were recovered, thanks to the manuscripts of two Angel Island immigrants, Tet Yee and Smiley Jann.
In 1932, Yee Tet Ming (Tet Yee) copied 96 poems into his notebook while detained in the barracks. Yee said, “Many of the poems were full of sorrow, resentment, and even bitterness. I felt very sad for [the poets].”
A year before Tet Yee, another detainee, Jann Mon Fong (Smiley Jann), recorded 99 poems he found on the walls. Jann explained, “The poems were written all over the walls at Angel Island, wherever the hand could reach, even in the lavatories.”
Yee’s and Jann’s manuscripts were given to researchers in 1976, who located the poems by identifying remnant Chinese characters on the wall. Yet, this is not the only location in the room where poems are either damaged or missing. The manuscripts helped recover several other poems from the upstairs dormitory, notably Island 23, 41, and 98.
View of room 115 in the detention barracks. Men from Japan and Mexico were primarily detained in this room. However, a few Chinese poems dated between 1921 and 1924 indicate Chinese men were held here as well. Two poems, Voices 38 and 40, can be found on the wall behind the red shirt in the center of the photo.
Breaking Free | Voices 38 and 40
Voices 38 and 40 (115-W-2) reference a poet’s desire to live in Mexico but lacking the money to do so. The larger of the two poems is dated March 2, 1921—a date closely connected to one man’s story of desperation and escape from Angel Island.
“CHINESE EN ROUTE HOME TAKES OWN LIFE”
In early 1921, the Marin Journal reported that 35-year-old Wong You Yee was “en route from Mexico” when he arrested and sent to the Immigration Station. His breakout occurred on March 4th, two days after Voices 38 was written. According to firsthand accounts, Wong ascended the hill behind the barracks and made a 50-foot leap into San Francisco Bay. Although the media called his death a suicide, the coroner found $1,200 in his clothes, suggesting Wong’s death was likely accidental.
Read Mrs. Mooney’s recollection of Wong’s escape in Vault #15: Employee Cottages.
In the corner of room 115, the poems (Voices 38 and 40) are close to another inscription—Voices 42. Like the poems, Voices 42 also mentions money in its translation. The inscription includes a drawing of an ancient Chinese coin as a symbol of good luck.