Skip to main content

Father to Son by Elizabeth Jennings

Father to Son
Elizabeth Jennings

About the poet
Elizabeth Jennings, ( Elizabeth Joan Jennings) was born on 18th July in 1926, in Boston, Lincolnshire, England  She died on 26th October, 2001, Bampton, Oxfordshire,  She is one of the most famous English poets Her works relate intensely personal matters. She is plain and traditional in her style.
Her early poetry was published in journals. She published her first book when she was just 27 years old.




I do not understand this child
Though we have lived together now
In the same house for years. I know
Nothing of him, so try to build
Up a relationship from how
He was when small. Yet have I killed
The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine?
We speak like strangers, there’s no sign
Of understanding in the air.
This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share.
Silence surrounds us. I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father’s house, the home he knew,
Rather than see him make and move
His world. I would forgive him too,
Shaping from sorrow a new love.
Father and son, we both must live
On the same globe and the same land,
He speaks: I cannot understand
Myself, why anger grows from grief.
We each put out an empty hand,
Longing for something to forgive.


Theme of the poem is generation gap.

Summary
This poem is all about an estrange relationship between father and son.  The father is pensive because his son does not understand him anymore though they have been living together for so many years. The father wants to build up the relationship afresh. He remembers how his son was when he was a small child and he feels that he (father) was partly responsible for breaking the relationship between them.
The father regrets that he has sown the seeds on the barren lands (‘the land is his’). They speak as if they are strangers. There is no trace of understanding between them. The father wants the child to be exactly like him but the son has taken his own shape as a unique individual. The father cannot share the likes and dislikes of his son.
There is utter silence surrounding them. They hardly talk to each other. The father wants his son to come back to him just like the prodigal son to his home. He will forgive him. He will shape his son afresh.
The father and the son should share this world but they do not understand each other and they also don’t understand why anger grows from grief. Although they try to reach out for one another but there is too wide a gap between them.

Word meanings
 1.     sown           past participle of sow (to plant or spread seeds in or on the ground )
  2.     strangers     a person whom you do not know
  3.     design          look or appearance
  4.     surrounds     to be all around
   5.   prodigal          a  person who leaves home and wastes his money and time on a
  life of pleasure but who later is sorry about this and returns home
                       6.  grief                sorrow
                    7..longing           a strong feeling of wanting

Poetic Devices
         1.The  seed I spent or sown        imagery
            2.Silence surrounds                    alliteration (sibilance )
            3. prodigal                                   allusion


Think it out
1. Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it
fairly universal?
Ans.  It is fairly universal experience. The poem deals with the theme of generation gap.  It is a common fact that with age the old people lags behind in various aspects. On the other hand the young generation moves ahead with the changes of time. It causes gap between the people of two generations. The poem exactly talks about this phenomenon.
2. How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Ans. The father is very pensive and helpless because he does not understand his child. They seem to be strangers to each other. Though the child looks like his father, the father does not share the son’s likes and dislikes. They hardly talk to each other. The helpless father wants his son back again just like the prodigal son. He wants to shape his son anew. They try to reach out to each other but all in vain. This is how the father’s helplessness is brought out.
3. Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father
and son.
Ans. The following phrases and lines indicate the distance between father and son:
1.     I do not understand this child
2.     I know/ Nothing of him.
3.     …try to build / Up a relationship…
4.     We speak like strangers,
5.     theirs is no sign of understanding in the air
6.     Yet what he loves I cannot share.
7.     Silence surrounds us
8.     He speaks: I cannot understand/ Myself
9.     We each put out an empty hand,

4.      Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Ans. Yes, the poem has a consistent rhyme scheme.

abbaba  cddcdc  effefe  ghhghg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

Hello everybody, hope that you all are fine. In this blog I am going to talk about the poet Kamala Das, then there will be the poem My Mother at Sixty-six and it will be followed by the theme of the poem and word meanings. My Mother at Sixty-six About the poet: Kamala Das is the pen name (nom de plume) of Madhavi Kutty.  She was born on 31 st March 1934 at Punnayurkulum in Kerala. She is one of the greatest poets of India. She is known for her indigenous style and flovour of poetry. She wrote many novels and short stories. Her poetic creations are contained in four volumes. They are: Summer in Calcutta (1965), The Descendants (1967), The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973) and Stranger Time (1977). Apart from writing in English she also wrote in her mother tongue, Malayalam. She was a very sensitive writer who could deal with intricate human psychology. She died on 31 st May 2009 in Pune of Maharashtra. My Mother at Sixty-six was written in 1999.   My Mother a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes

Poet Ted Hughes was a British poet. He was born on 17 August 1930 in Yorkshire in England. According to the critics, he is the best poet of his generation and one of the greatest writers of the 20 th century. He was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until 1963. His last poetic work Birthday Letters (1998) dealt with their relationship. His first collection The Hawk in the Rain (1957) was highly acclaimed. However, probably Crow (1970) was his most significant work. Hughes’s early poetic works dealt with the nature and savagery of animals. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1956 until his death in 1998 The Laburnum Top Ted Hughes                  The Laburnum top is silent, quite still In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. Then sleek as a lizar...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Thing of Beauty by John Keats

A Thing of Beauty JOHN KEATS   About the poet JOHN KEATS   FATHER’S NAME: THOMAS KEATS, a livery stable keeper MOTHER’S NAME: Frances Keats Born:31 October 1795,Moorgate, London, England Died:23 February 1821 (aged 25),Rome, Papal State, Cause of death: Tuberculosis ( his brother , Tom and mother also died of tuberculosis) Alma mater: Clarke School, Enfield,King's College London Literary movement: Romanticism Relatives:George Keats (brother) Endymion : According to Greek mythology , Endymion was the shepherd son of Aethlius. He was a beautiful young man. He loved Selene, Moon goddess, often known as Diana. He lived on Mount Latmos.  He had a vision of Cynthia,( Selene) the moon goddess. He was so enamoured with her that he decided to seek her through the forest or even under sea. A Thing of Beauty A thing of beauty is a joy forever Its loveliness increases, it will never Pass into nothingness; but will keep A bower qu...
Post a Comment
Read more