Father to Son Class 11 | Poetry | Hornbill | English |

Father to Son Class 11 | Poem | Hornbill | English |

Summary of Father to Son

Father to Son revolves around a father’s elaborating his excruciation wherein he highlights his deteriorating relationship with his only son. He says that they (He and his son) have been living in the same house for years but there is no air of understanding between them. Neither the child succeeds in building up faith in him nor the father does. What his child loves, he doesn’t know anything about that yet he tries to maintain his relationship with him like the one when he was young and tender.

Furthermore, he adds that he is ready to forgive his child’s all mistakes and ready accept him as prodigal. According to him, his child is built as per his designs and resembles him altogether yet he fails to understand the gap that has been increasing day by day between them. He wants to see his son growing but not making his own house and setting up somewhere else leaving his father alone.

In the end, the son utters few lines justifying himself. According to him, he himself doesn’t know why they fail to understand each other. They both want to forgive each other extending their arms but no one is ready to hold that hand. The problem remains unsolved even in the end. 

Poetic Devices Used in Father to Son

• Simile is used in ‘We speak like strangers‘
• Alliteration is used in ‘The seed I spent or sown it where‘ and ‘Silence surrounds us‘

Questions and Answers of Father to Son

Q1. Why does the father complain about?

Ans. The father elaborates his excruciation in this poem wherein he highlights his deteriorating relationship with his only son. According to him, he fails to understand his child despite living with him for years in the same house.

Q2. Why does the father not want his son to make his new home?

Ans. The father loves his child a lot but fails to express his feelings. He doesn’t want his child to leave him and establish his new home away from him. For that, he is ready to accept him as he is and wants to forgive his mistakes too.

Q3. What is the father ready to sacrifice for his son?

Ans. This father is so grieved and pained that he is ready to sacrifice everything for his only lad. He is ready to accept him as prodigal son and even wants to forgive his past mistakes. He, only, wants his child to stay with him and share what he feels.

Q4. What do you think is the reason of deteriorating relationship between the father and his son?

Ans. There could be many reasons behind their deteriorating relationship but the main reason seems to be generation gap between them. Probably, the child wants to live his life king-size whereas the father, being orthodox, has a different perspective towards his life. Both of them are right in their shoes, the only problem is being created by generation gap. So we can’t hold anyone responsible for that.

We would love your reading of A Photograph, The Voice of the Rain, The Laburnum Top, Childhood for better understanding of the poetry and scoring higher in upcoming examination.

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