NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English Hornbill: Father to Son

Summary of the Poem

"Father to Son" explores the painful emotional distance between a father and his grown-up son. The father expresses his deep anguish and frustration over their lack of understanding and connection. He feels they live like "strangers" in the same house, despite the years they have shared.

The father admits he knows very little about his son. He tried to build a relationship based on how he imagined his son would be when he was small ("built him from my design"), but now that connection is broken. He laments that they "speak like strangers," with no sign of understanding between them.

He reflects on whether he "killed" the seed of connection or perhaps the son sowed it in land that wasn't the father's. The father desperately wants to reconnect. He expresses a desire to forgive his son's prodigal nature and longs for him to return to the way he was.

However, the son also speaks (or the father imagines his perspective), acknowledging his own sadness but feeling a separate anger growing from his grief. They reach out empty hands towards each other, longing for something to forgive, but the gap remains, highlighting the tragedy of their shared yet separate lives.

NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers

Think it Out (Page 35)

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

Answer-
While the poem is narrated from the deeply personal perspective of a specific father experiencing anguish over his relationship with his son, the theme it explores is fairly universal. The communication gap, lack of understanding, and emotional distance between generations (particularly between parents and children as they grow up) is a common human experience. Many parents struggle to connect with their teenage or adult children, and many children feel misunderstood by their parents. The feelings of frustration, sadness, and longing expressed in the poem resonate with people across different cultures and times.

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

Answer-
The father's helplessness is brought out through several lines:
1.Lack of Understanding: "I do not understand this child / Though we have lived together now / In the same house for years." This shows his inability to comprehend his own son.

2.Failed Connection: "I know / Nothing of him..." despite his efforts ("I have tried to build...").

3.Communication Breakdown: "We speak like strangers, there’s no sign / Of understanding in the air."

4.Desire for Reconciliation: His longing ("I would have him prodigal, returning...") and his wish to forgive show his desire to mend the relationship, but he feels powerless to do so.

5.Mutual Emptiness: The final image, "We each put out an empty hand," powerfully depicts the helplessness of both father and son, unable to bridge the gap despite their longing.

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

Answer-
Several phrases and lines indicate the distance between the father and son:

• "I do not understand this child"
• "I know / Nothing of him"
• "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."
• "Silence surrounds us."
• "He speaks: I cannot understand / Myself..." (Indicates the son also feels misunderstood or unable to express himself)
• "We each put out an empty hand"

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

Answer-
No, the poem does not have a fully consistent rhyme scheme throughout, typical of modern poetry which often prioritizes natural speech rhythms over strict form. However, there are instances of rhyme and near-rhyme that create a subtle musicality:

• Stanza 1: now / know (near rhyme)
• Stanza 2: air / share
• Stanza 3: land / understand
• Stanza 4: returning / yearning
• Stanza 5: grief / relief (This rhyme is suggested but not explicitly stated for relief)
• Stanza 6: hand / understand

The pattern is irregular (sometimes ABAB, sometimes AABB, sometimes less obvious), suggesting the disjointed and uncomfortable nature of the relationship itself.

Important Keywords from the Poem

• Understanding: Comprehension or mutual sympathy.
• Strangers: People who do not know each other.
• Design: Plan or intention; the way something is made.
• Share: To have or use something in common with others.
• Seed: Metaphor for the potential for connection or the child's individuality.
• Silence: Absence of sound; lack of communication.
• Prodigal: Wastefully extravagant; refers to the biblical story of the prodigal son who returns home.
• Returning: Coming back.
• Yearning: A feeling of intense longing for something.
• Grief: Deep sorrow, especially caused by someone's death (here, perhaps the death of the relationship).
• Empty hand: Symbolizing a lack of connection or something to offer/receive.
• Forgive: To stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for an offense.