In his poem “Early in the Morning,” Li-Young Lee explores the relationship between privacy and sensuality through the use of imaginative seeing. Rather than gaining pleasure from observing the sexual act itself, the speaker of the poem serves as a voyeur to the subtle nuances of desire present between his mother and father. The speaker’s voyeurism is not interested in objectification or self-satisfaction but is invested in respecting the privacy of intimate moments while also honoring the subject of desire. As a result, the poem operates under a “slow burn” effect. The parent’s sexuality is thus implied through subtext and any overt sexual action occurs off the page.

Though the poem’s seeing is done with an astute attention to detail, the speaker is not a physically present observer. He remains absent from all events the poem describes and therefore engages with his parents through an imaginative perspective. This creates a safe distance between voyeur and subject—son and parent—and accounts for the poem’s respectful tone. The speaker peers into the private lives of his parents not for any personal gain but out of the admiration he has for them. He does not abuse his privilege of intimacy—he uses that intimacy to establish the necessity of privacy.