Father to Son

BY ELIZABETH JENNINGS

Presented by Ankit kumar yadav

 Introduction
 The poem ‘Father to Son’, written by Elizabeth Jennings, is a strong emotional
poem implicating the generation gap that a father and his son have. Although
they are sharing a roof, they are not sharing thoughts. This is a universal
problem that is not easily resolved. This poem portrays the strong emotions of a
father about the differences he and his son have. Even though they are near
each other, they are farther away in their individual spaces. While the father is
trying to build a connection with him, it seems impossible. It seems there are no
common interests between them.
 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.
 Stanza 1

 The father says, that he doesn’t understand his child

though they have lived in the same house together for
years. He knows nothing about his child. So, the father
tries to build up a relationship with his son from the early
years.
 The father wants to begin from scratch again.
 The gap between the father and son is highlighted by the
words ‘this child’. The father doesn’t even name his Son.
 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.
 Stanza 2
 The father wonders if he has killed the seed which is his or
has sown it where the land belongs to the son and not the
father. It means that the father wonders if it all is his
mistake or somehow he tried to take his son on a path
which the son never wanted to pursue. Maybe the son was
forced to and thus he stopped listening to his father.
 Both –of them talk like total strangers and there are no
signs of understanding between them. The bond between
father and son is a very strong bond traditionally, but in
this case the father says that his son resembles him, yet
what the son likes, the father dislikes. The father cannot
share the loves of his son.
 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.
 Stanza 3
 There is no dialogue between the father and the son.
Silence surrounds them. The father now becomes
somewhat selfish. He wishes that his son would be
prodigal and then will return to his father’s house, the
house he always knew. It means that the father wants his
son to give respect to his father’s wishes. This would be a
much better scenario than to see his control his world.
 Now, the tone of the father gets a bit arrogant. He wants
the son to ask for forgiveness and the father would forgive
him too. So that, a new understanding could be developed
from sadness.

 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.
 Stanza 4

 Both the father and son must live on the same globe and
the same land. It means that they must have same thinking
and the same level of understanding for each other’s
thoughts and wishes.
 The son says that he cannot understand what the father
wants and the father says that he is unable to understand
why his anger grows from grief. The father here is
frustrated.
 Still, they both want to reconcile. They put out an empty
hand for friendship. They both long for something to
Word meaning

1. Grief – sorrow, sadness

2. Prodigal – spending money freely
3. Sown – here, the father’s act of giving birth to his son
 4. Longing: desiring something
 Multiple choice questions
1.Who is the poet of the poem ‘Father to Son’?

A. Walt Whitman
B. Shirley Toulson
C. Elizabeth Jennings
D. Kush want Sing

2. What is the poem ‘Father to Son’ about?

A. Unsettling relationship between father and son

B. father’s old age
C. son comparing him to his father
D. father talking to son about his childhood
 Multiple choice questions
3. How old is the son when his father rants about his agony to his son?

A. teenager
B. grown-up
C. child
D. just became adult

4. Father tells him that although they have lived in the same house for years, he ______

A. envy him
B. adore him
C. doesn’t understand him
D. finds him cunning
 Multiple choice questions
5. What happened when he tried to build a relationship with him in his childhood?

A. he was successful
B. his efforts were in vain
c. he was half-way successful
D. None of the above

6. Does father know about his son’s likes and dislikes?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Maybe
C. Can’t say