Father To Son Flashcards
What is the relationship in the poem?
The relationship is of a Father and a Son.
Why do you think the father may have not known nothing about his child? Why doesn’t he understands him?
Is the name of the poem justified?
What does the poet mean by “Yet have I killed, The seed I spent or sown it where, The land is his and none of mine?”
Describe the complaints of the Father about the relationship between him and his son.
The father says that even though they have been living together for years now, he doesn’t know a single bit about his son, neither his interests nor his dislikings. They speak like strangers, there’s no understanding between them. He can’t seem to share his child’s interests.
What is meant by prodigal in the poem?
Reference to:
“I would have Him prodigal, returning to His father’s house, the home he knew”.
“The seed I spent or sown it where”
“This child is built to my design”
What does the father means by the above sayings? Do you think the reason may be why they’re both in the same conundrum?
The father thinks about how the child is his only. He is a copy of him, he must be of the same nature as him.
Yes, I do think so rhis intricate detail in the poem only supports the point that why they both are in the same position and act the same, wanting to forgive but awkward.
What is the name of the Poet?
Elizabeth Jennings
“Father and Son, we both must live On the same globe and the same land”
What does the father means by the above saying, do you think the intent is wholly physical?
Not at all, the father may mean that he and his son must live in the same house under the same roof but I think the meaning goes much more deeper in a symbolic nature.
What he means is that they must settle under the same boat, come to terms with each other, communicate, understand and love each other. They should both be putting efforts to bring this relationship to a better state. They should both be wanting the same thing, that is, each other.
“I would have him prodigal, returning to His father’s house, Rather than see him make and move His world, I would forgive him too”
What is meant by that?
The father explains how he wish his son would be prodigal, spending all his money so the only option is to return to his father’s help, rather than him making moves in the world and getting farther away from him.
The son’s thoughts are only expressed in the poem for a few lines. What can be extracted from those lines.
The son’s thoughts are quite similar to his father’s. He also wants to make the situation better, but just can’t seem to. He is confused with himself, probably as to how things came to be like this. He feels sad, and that sadness gives birth to anger in his heart, irritating him about the helplessness.
“We each put out an empty hand, Longing for something to forgive”
What do you think is meant by this saying?
The saying makes better meaning when the lines are reversed in order. It clarifies how they both want to forgive each other, for the silence they had and for the lack of efforts before this date. However, they both reach towards each other with empty hands. Things just don’t seem to work out, and they can’t point out why. Awkwardness doesn’t seems to leave the situation.
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal.
I think the poem talks of a universal experience to a certain degree. We all have had those days of awkwardness and silence between us and our fathers. The gap might have been bigger or smaller, but it was there. It may have been due to the strict and stoic image of our fathers in our minds that prevented us from having honest and heartful conversations or the nature of fathers making them unable to understand the mind of a small child. Maybe both. Some of us broke those threads of disconnectivity with time, some of still find it difficult at time to break the completely but none can refuse that this or something similar to this is not a experience we all have not had in our lives.
How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
