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Father To Son

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vitije8918
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64 views4 pages

Father To Son

Uploaded by

vitije8918
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ENGLISH FATHER TO SON

FATHER TO SON
~Summary~

Stanza- 1

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.

Explanation: The father unhappily reflects on his inability to understand hisown son. They
have been staying in the same house for years but, due to non-communication and a lack
of understanding, both son and father are not able to understand each other. The father
does not know much about his son's interests, likes or dislikes. Thus, he try to build up the
same kind of relationship as he used to have when his son was a little child. The father has
now perhaps realised that there is a lack of understanding between his son and himself
and he wants to take measures so that their relationship improves.

Stanza- 2

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.
ENGLISH FATHER TO SON

Explanation: The father wonders whether it is he himself who is responsible for the failure
of the relationship. The father feels that though the child is his son but perhaps he lives in
a world different from him. Both father and son behave like strangers. There is lack of
understanding and a communication gap which makes them behave not like father and
son but more like strangers. The father says that physically the child resembles him but he
does not appreciate what his son likes.

Stanza- 3

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.

Explanation: Silence surrounds their relationship 1 because there is a complete lack of


communication between them. The father sees his son as a prodigal (meaning, a child who
foolishly runs away from home) and wants him to return to the home he has always known,
so that they can rebuild the relationship to have a new start. He does not want the son to
start life afresh without the father. He further says that he is willing to forgive his son for
running away. Here the father's tone is somewhat condescending, implying that the father
is unable to let his son go, despite restricting the son's independence and development.

Stanza- 4

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.
ENGLISH FATHER TO SON

Explanation: Both fathers and their sons all over the world must learn to live together in
spite of their misunderstandings and differences. At this point in the poem, the son speaks
for the first time and admits that he too feels the sadness of the broken relationship, but
he is angry due to his confusion. Both father and son want to forgive each other, but
neither is ready to take the first step of asking for forgiveness from the other. However,
the situation can improve if they find a way of getting closer to each other.

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