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Poem 4 Childhood
English
Grade 11 Poem 5 Father to son

A. Think it Out
Question 1:
Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following:
Individuality,rationalism, hypocrisy
Answer:
The stanzas that talk of each of the quality in questions are given below:

• individuality: Third stanza

• rationalism: First stanza
• hypocrisy: Second stanza

Question 2:
What according to the poem, is involved in the process of growing up?
Answer:
According to the poem, the loss of childhood is involved in the process of growing up.
This loss is compensated by some gains which come with adolescence. These are:
increase in understanding, power of rationalising and discrimination as well as a sense
of individuality and self-confidence.

Question 3:
What are the poet’s feelings towards childhood?
Answer:
The poet regards childhood as an important stage in the process of growing up.
Childhood is a period of make-believe. Children readily accept whatever the elders say.
The poet does not feel any regret or sense of loss on losing his childhood.

Question 4:
Which, do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?
Answer:
The following lines in the poem are most poetic:
It went to some forgotten place That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.
These lines beautifully sum up the process of growth and the disappearance of a
particular stage of life. These lines have a figurative or metaphorical meaning also. The
infant’s innocent face hides many things behind its smiles. Perhaps the childhood lies
hidden in some forgotten place lying buried deep inside a child’s consciousness.

A. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
What did the speaker learn about the existence of Heaven and Hell ?
Answer:
As the speaker grew to be mature, he acquired reasoning power. He realized that Hell
and Heaven could not be found in Geography books or Atlas. Since they could not be
located anywhere in the world map, he concluded that they did not exist. He would
believe only what he could see and find.

Question 2:
How did the speaker realise the hypocrisy of the adults?
Answer:
The speaker noticed a wide gulf between what adults appeared to be and what they
actually were in real life. There was apparent contradiction between their words and
deeds. They talked of love and advised others to love, but they never acted lovingly.

Question 3:
How did the realization of being the master of his own mind helped him ?
Answer:
The realization that he was the master of his own mind, and could use it in any way he
liked, filled him with self confidence. He could now think independently and need not
repeat parrot like thoughts of others.

B. Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
‘Childhood is an essential state in the process of growing up, but it can’t go on forever.”
Discuss.
Answer:
Childhood is an important stage in the process of growing up of every person. The
human infant is totally dependent on others, but during childhood he gains physical,
emotional and mental strength. As the tiny baby grows bigger in size, other faculties
also develop. This stage is an important landmark in man’s growth, but it can’t go on
forever.
Childhood being a stage, must give way to another stage. It is followed by adolescence
or early youth. Now all the faculties are fully developed. The person acquires reasoning
power. His rationalism helps him to decide truth or falsehood, fact and fiction. He
acquires a fine capability of analysis and discrimination. Now he can see through
persons and things. He begins to understand the hypocrisy of adults. He gains
confidence and becomes an independent thinker.
 Father to Son
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
A. Think it Out
Question 1:
Does the poem talk of ail exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal?
Answer:
The poem is autobiographical in nature and describes the relationship between a
father and his son. Beginning on an exclusively personal experience, the poem rises to
a fairly universal phenomenon—the growing generation gap and lack of communication.

Question 2:
How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Answer:
The father’s helplessness is brought about by the existing circumstances. Usually a
father is the best friend and advisor of the son. However, there is no bond of affinity or
relationship between the two. It seems that the two are not on speaking terms even
while living under the same roof. The father feels helpless that he can’t share what his
son loves.

Question 3:
Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.
Answer:
The phrases/lines indicating distance between father and son are:
“I don’t understand this child.”
“I know nothing of him.”
“We speak like strangers, there’s no sign
Of understanding in the air.”
“..What he loves I cannot share.”
“Silence surrounds us.”
“…see him make and move His world.”

Question 4:
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Answer:
No, the poem does not have a consistent rhyme scheme. The first two stanzas have the
rhyme-scheme ab ba ba whereas the third and fourth have a slight alteration. The third
stanza has abc aba whereas the fourth one has abbcb scheme.

A. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
What does the speaker say about father-son relationship?
Answer:
Actually, the father-son relationship is non-functional. The father does not understand
the aspirations, longings or cravings of the son. They speak like strangers. Their
exchanges, if any, are just formal. Otherwise, silence surrounds them.

Question 2:
What do you think is responsible for the distance between father and son?
Answer:
The lack of understanding on the part of the older generation (here, father) is the root of
the problem. The father wants the young man to stick to home turf. The son, now a
young man, seeks fresh avenues and lives in a world of his own. The father finds it hard
to adjust to the growing changes.

Question 3:
Why, do you think, does the father appear so helpless?
Answer:
The father has been unable to understand what his son loves to do. He is not in a
position to advise him as there is hardly any intimacy between them. They speak like
strangers, otherwise there is silence around them. The son has his own dreams and
plans which her does not appreciate.

Question 4:
How can you infer that the father wishes his son to remain at home with him?
Answer:
The father finds the son’s interests quite different. He is home bound, whereas the son
is on the look out for fresh avenues. He aspires for a world of his own. The father wants
him to return home even if he undergoes losses by his extravagant ventures. He is
willing to make up with him if he agrees to live with him.

B. Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
What sort of father-son relationship has been depicted in the poem ‘Father to Son?
Answer:
The poem depicts a father-son relationship which exists in name only. The two have
been living together in the same house for years. Even then the father does not
understand his son. He confesses that he knows nothing of his son. The bond of
affection between them lie broken. They have become formal just like strangers.
Although the son resembles his father physically, yet he had his own vision, dreams and
aspiration. He is not home bound and is not afraid to venture forth. The protective father
is willing to forgive him for incurring loss of material wealth provided he returns home.
The painful experience of lack of communication fills the father with utter helplessness,
anger and grief. His efforts to restore the relationship fail as there is no response from
the other side.

Question 2:
How far has the poet succeeded in transforming a purely personal matter to a universal
experience prevalent in modern times?
Answer:
The poem begins on an autobiographical note. The speaker i.e., the father recounts his
own experience. He talks about the non-functional father-son relationship. He neither
understands his son nor knows anything about him. In spite of living in the same house,
the distance between father and son has increased. There is lack of communication
between them. They either talk like strangers or silence surrounds them. The father is
unable to share what the son prefers to do. The distance has reached to sorrowful limit.
Even then the father is willing to shape a new love and build up a fresh relationship. His
grief takes the form of anger and they fail to reach any compromise.
This maladjustment or growing break-up of relationships is typical of the modem
materialistic age.