Father to son CBSE class 11 poem 5 English Hornbill Explanation summary

Father to son class 11 poem 5 English Hornbill Explanation, summary Question and answers

Father to Son Class 11 English (Hornbill book) Poem 5 – Detailed explanation of the Poem 5 along with meanings of difficult words. Also, the explanation is followed by a Summary of poem 5 and literary devices used. All the exercises and Questions and Answers given at the back of the lesson have been covered.

Father to son by

(Elizabeth Jennings)

Father to son class 11 Introduction of the poem

This poem highlights the issue of the generation gap that exists between parents and their children. this gap widens due to the lack of communication and difference of opinion. Here’s a father deals with an estranged relationship with his son. he feels helpless.

Father to son class 11 poet

Elizabeth Joan Jennings, is an English poet whose works relate intensely personal matters in a plainspoken, traditional and objective style.

Notable works:” Black-Eyed Susan”

Born:July 18, 1926: Boston, England

Died: October 26,2001 (aged 75)

Father to son class 11Explanation

Stanza 1 & 2

1. I do understand this child though we have live 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

2. The seed I spend 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 loved I cannot share.

Stanza 3 & 4

3. Silence surrounds us. would have him prodigal, returning to his father’s house the home he knew, Rather than see him make and move his world. would forgive him too, shaping from sorrow a new love.

4. Father and son, we both must live On the same globe and the same hand, he speaks: I cannot understand myself, why anger grows from grief. we each put an empty hand, Longing for something to forgive.

Father to son class 11 poetic devices

Stanza 1 & 2 (poetic Devices )

1. Alliteration

Seed I spent or sown

Speak like strangers, there’s no sign

2. Simile

speak like strangers,

3. Metaphor

The seed I spent or sown

stanza 3 & 4

1. Alliteration

Silence surrounds have him prodigal, his father’s house, the home his world, forgive him shaping from sorrow

Grows from Grief .

Father to son class 11summary

The poem is about the agony of a father where he rants (speak in an angry way) about the unsettling relationship with his son who is now a grow up he shares that although they had lived together in the same house for years he doesn’t understand him .he doesn’t know anything about him and even if he tried to build up a relationship with him like the one when he was a small child, he was in vain. he further says that even if his son looks like him, yet he doesn’t know what he loves he accepts and admits the communication gap and lack of understanding between them and they speak like strangers his son is in a different place which he cannot access due to the increasing gap .there is silence between them. he is ready to forgive his prodigals son. he wants to accept him back to the house, the one which he always new

He doesn’t want his son to move around the world. he is longing to love him. the son finally speaks up and shares what he feels. he is at a stage where he cannot understand himself. he feels grief about the growing distance between them and he angry due to the grief and sadness. they put out an empty hand towards each others but none of them holds. it they want to forgive each other yet couldn’t find a solution to the problem.

Father to son class 11 Question and Answers

(Think it out )

Question”1 Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal ?

Answer” The poem does talk of an exclusively personal experience .however, we can also call it fairly universal because a conflict like this is quite common in many households. it is also known as generation gap?

Question”2 How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem ?

Answer” The helplessness o the father is highlighted through the depiction of the emotional struggle that he undergoes. he is aware of the problem and is willing to resolve it, but is unable to do so. he regrets the lack of a strong emotional bond and proper communication with his son who is also physically distanced from him.

Question”3 Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.

Answer” Phrases / lines that indicate distance between the father and the son are ”

1. I”do not understand this child”
2. I know / nothing of him
3. we speak like strangers “
4. there’s no sign / of understanding in the air”
5. silence surrounds us “

Question”4 Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme ?

Answer” No the poem does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme.

Father to son class 11 Extra Question and answer

Question”1 why doesn’t the father know anything about his son though they have lived in the same house?

Answer” The father-son relationship is actually non-functional the father doesn’t understand the aspirations, longings arid cravings of the son.they do not communication with each other and behave like strangers. therefore the father doesn’t know anything about his son.

Question”2 Is the father responsible for the present situation? what are your views ?

Answer” Yes, I think the father is responsible for the present situation. we do not get to hear the son’s version about his relationship with the father. here but the father is guilty of allowing continued silence or non -communication between them and also not understanding the son’s aspirations and feelings.

Question”3 Father and the son behave like strangers to each other. what can be the possible reason with for this ?

Answer” They both act and behave like strangers due to lack of understanding with each other. A growing son has his own ambitions and aspirations. Elder must try to act like friends rather than command their children to behave according to their orders.

Question”4 what does the poet mean by “silence surrounds us ?”

Answer” The father feels helpless as he has no dialogue with his son. they don’t understand each other and they are living like strangers to each other in spite of their living under the same roof for years. their outlook and temperament are so different that they remain separated from each other. they have a communication gap along with the generation gap, which causes the silence.

Question”5 How does the father feel when his relationship with his son comes under strain ?

Answer” Father feels very helpless at this situation when both father and son do not understand each other. it saddens him to understand that he has never tried to understand his son’s perspective and his has distanced himself from him from long .

Father to son class 11 MCQ’s Question and answers

Question”1 who is the speaker here ?

1. The poet
2. The father
3. The son
4. An observer

Answer” (2) The father

Question”2 who is the stranger in the house ?

1. The son
2. The father
3. The poet
4. A boy

Answer”(2) The father

Question”3 The speaker longs for :

1. Freedom
2. The son’s attention
3. The son’s companions
4. Rapprochement with the son

Answer”(4) Rapprochement with the son

Question”4 The speaker is in a ……………. mood”

1. Reflective
2. sad
3. Sorrowful
4. Happy

Answer”(1) Reflective

Question”5 who is “I here ?

1. The poet
2. The father
3. the son
4. An observer

Answer”(2) the father

Question”6 what is the regret of the speaker ?

1. His son is a stranger
2. he and his son behave like strangers
3. he has not been able to win his son” heart
4. his son is cruel

Answer”(2) he and his son behave like strangers

Question”7 The seed I spent or sown” which poetic device is used here ?

1. personification
2. simile
3. metaphor
4. None of these

Answer”(3) Metaphor

Question”8 The expression” my design” here refers to “

1. The father ‘s plan
2. The son’s wish
3. The father’s liking
4. The father’s well through-out plan.

Answer“(3) The father’s liking

Question”9 Silence surrounds us” it denotes”

1. Emptiness
2. Mutual Misunderstanding
3. Absence of feelings
4. Emotional gap in the relationship

Answer”(4) Emotional gap in the relationship

Question”10 The father is in a mood to “

1. Approach his son
2. Accuse his son
3. Forgive his son
4. Reprimands his son

Answer”(3) Forgive his son

English Hornbill Poems

1. Chapter 1 A Photograph poem
2. Chapter 3 The voice of the Rain poem
3. Chapter 4 Childhood poem