Father to son

POEM FATHER TO SON

1. WELCOME A POEM FATHER TO SON

2. TOPICS ABOUT THE AUTHOR POEM SUMMARY / ANALYSIS OF POEM WORD MEANINGS OF POEM POINTS TO REMEMBER QUESTIONS

3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR The British poet Elizabeth Jennings has published more than 20 books of poetry since the 1950s. She writes short, meditative lyrics that are known for their simplicity, control, and range of feeling. These qualities have linked Jennings to a group of poets, usually referred to as The Movement, who were writing in England during the 1940s and 1950s. The members of this group, poets like Kingsley Amis, Thom Gunn, Philip Larkin, and John Wain , never consciously formed a movement, but their poetry reveals a shared love for simplicity and an acceptance of regular meter and rhyme.

4. FATHER TO SON 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.  

8. SUMMARY OF THE POEM The poem revolves around a conflict between father and son who are in a serious communication gap. Though they live in the same house/globe, they are like strangers to each other. The father broods over this and this forms the center of the poem.

9. He introspects with an agrarian imagery where he feels he has sown his seed in a stranger’s land that forbids him from owning it. He admits that he cannot share what his son loves and expects him to come back home like the Prodigal/lost son in the parable of Jesus in the Bible. He is ready to forgive him and develop a new love from sorrow. But his son feels anger growing out of sorrow and admits the vain efforts of both in understanding each other.

10. ANALYSIS OF THE POEM The theme of the poem is the generation gap which occurs when the communication link between two generations breaks due to a mutual lack of understanding, tolerance and acceptance. Compare and contrast this poem with the poem 'Childhood'. That poem was the child's perspective and struggle to understand himself. This poem is the father's inability to come to terms with the young adult who has replaced the father's 'little boy'.

11. SOME QUESTIONS ??????? Q.1.   Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-         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. (a)    Who is ‘I’ in these lines? Whom is he talking about? (b)   Explain the meaning of the first sentence (c)    What is the poet’s mood in these lines? This child is built to my design          Yet what he loves I cannot share,         Silence surrounds us. (a)    What is the meaning of the first line? (b)   What kind of relationship exists between the father and son? (c)    Find two expressions which show the desolation the father feels?

12. Across 5 . the use of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words that are close together Longing Down 1. pained 2. extravagant 3. a short story that teaches a moral lesson 4. something that refers to another person or subject in an indirect way LET’S DO THIS

13. THANK YOU CREATED BY-SAMSHAD ALI SUBMITTED TO Mrs. KAMAL