Class11- Poem-5 | Father to Son- Stanza Wise Comprehension Questions and NCERT Solution
Father to son is a very beautiful poem by Elizabeth Jennings. In this poem, the helplessness of a father is shown beautifully. They do not talk with each other because of generation gap.
Here Important questions regarding comprehension have given, so that the students may be benefited in their Examination. Besides comprehension other Important Examination Questions are also described in easy and simple way .
Father to Son questions and answers
Read the given stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
Stanza 1
I don't 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.
Questions for Comprehension:
(A) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans.
The name of the poem is "Father to Son" and the poet is Elizabeth Jennings.
(B) Who does this child refer to?
Ans.
This child refers to the (Poet's) son who has grown up now.
(C) Whom does 'we' referred to here?
Ans.
Father (the poet) and his son are referred here as 'we'.
(D) "I know nothing of him." Explain it.
Ans:
The father does not understand a thing about his own son who is grown up now. Son has created his own world. They have become quite strangers to each other.
(E) What type of relationship does the father want to build up?
Ans:
The father wants to build up the relationship which he enjoyed when his son was a little boy.
Father to Son class 11
Read the given stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
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.
Questions for comprehension:
(i) Who is the speaker in these lines?
Ans
A father is the speaker in these lines.
(ii) What does the word 'seed' mean here?
Ans:
The word 'seed' refers to all this care, money and hard work that the father had to do in bringing up the son.
(iii) Who speak like strangers?
Ans:
The father and his son speak like strangers
(iv) Is the speaker satisfied with building up the child?
Ans:
The child is built physically according to the father, yet he is not satisfied. His expectations have not been fulfilled.
(v) What can't the speaker share?
Ans:
The speaker can't share what his child loves. The son's likings and loves are different from the father's.
father to son poem stanza wise questions. :
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.
Father to Son questions and answers,
Questions for comprehension:
(A) Whom does silence surround?
Ans :
Silence surrounds the poet (father) and his son.
(B) Silence surrounds us. Explain.
Ans:
It means that they remain silent. They do not talk to each other when they are together
(C) What does the father want his son to do?
Ans:
The father wants his son to return to his father's (speaker's) home.
(D) What is the father prepared to do?
Ans:
Father is prepared to forgive him for all of his wasteful deeds.
(E) What does the speaker not want his son to do?
Ans:
The speaker does not want his son to live in a world quite different from father's.
(F) What would the father do if the son returned to him?
Ans:
If the son returned, the father would forgive him for the sorrow the son has given him and try to build a new relationship.
Read the given stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
father to son poem stanza wise questions.
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.
Father to Son poem stanza wise questions.
(i) Who speaks the first two lines? What does he say?
Ans:
The son speaks the first two lines. They have to live in same world and even in the same house, even though their relationship is not good. There is no other alternative.
(ii) Identify the 'I' in these lines? What can't this I understand?
Ans :
'I' in these lines is the father.
'I' i.e. father can't understand why anger grows out of grief.
(iii) What do they long for?
Ans:
They long for a new relationship so that they can forgive each other.
(iv) Is their desire fulfilled?
Ans:
No, their desire is not fulfilled. They are empty handed.
(v) How do you know that they understand each other's feelings?
Ans:
They love each other. They have a desire to forgive each other and live together with understanding.
Father to Son questions and answers
EXERCISES FROM THE TEXT BOOK
Q.1.
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or Is it fairly universal?
Ans.
The poem talks of a personal experience. It describes the agony of the father over his relationship with his son. The son has grown up. They have been living together in the same house for years now. But there is a communication gap between the two. They talk like strangers. They do not understand each other. The son has his own likes and dislikes. The father cannot share what his son loves.
But this is a fairly universal experience. Most fathers remain busy in their work and they can't spend time with their children. After retiring from job, they seek company of their sons. Sadly sons have grown up now and they don't have time or interest to talk to their father. In this way , generation gap widen between them.
Q 2 How is the father's helplessness brought out in the poem?
Ans.
Father loved his son deeply. He took a lot of care to bring him up. The son is grown up now. They live together in the same house. But they hardly talk with each other. They speak like strangers. There is no understanding between them. The son lives in the world of his own taste and choice. He has his own desires and dreams. The father wants his son to return to his home. He is ready to accept him even as a wasteful son. He is ready to forgive him. He is ready to build a new relationship based on love. The son also has a desire to live together. But they cannot find anything to forgive each other and continue to live as strangers. In this way the helplessness of the father is brought out.
Q. 3.
Identify the phrases and lines, that indicate distance between father and son.
Ans. The following lines and phrases indicate the distance between them.
(1) I do not understand this child
(ii) I Know nothing of him.
(iii) We Speak like strangers
(iv) There is no sign of understanding in the air.
(v) what he loves I cannot share
(vi) Silence surrounds us
(vi) We put out an empty hand.
Q. 4.
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Ans. No, the poem does not have a consistent rhyme scheme. The lines which rhyme in one stanza do not rhyme in other stanzas.
SOME OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Father to Son questions and answers
Q 1 What is the father's problem in the poem?
Ans. The father's problem is that there is understanding between him and his son. Though they have been living together in the same house for years, he feels he knows nothing of him. Silence prevails when they are together. They do not speak with each other when they are together. Whenever they speak, they do so like strangers.
Q. 2 What kind of relationship does the father want to build up with his son?
Ans. The father does not understand his son. He knows nothing of him. The son now lives in the world of his own making. He has his own desires and dreams. So, the father wants to build up the same kind of relationship that he had when the son was a little child.
Q. 3. What does the father mean when he says, "Silence surrounds us,"?
Ans. The father means that complete silence prevails when the father and the son are together. They do not talk with each other. No communication takes place between them. They live like strangers in the same house.
Q 4 : What does the father want his son to do?
Ans. The father wants his son to return to his father's home. The father is ready to build a relationship that he had when the son was a little child. He is ready to accept him even as a extravagant son. He is ready to forgive him.
Q. 5. The father wants his son to return home and live with him. What does the son desire?
Ans.
The son also wants to live with his father. He says that as father and son they have live under the same roof and in the same world i.e. their family. Both extend their hands to find something to forgive each other. Both have empty hands till now.
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