ABOUT THE POETESS
·
Elizabeth Jennings
Elizabeth Jennings
·
Born – July 18, 1926
Born – July 18, 1926
·
Death – October 26, 2001
Death – October 26, 2001
·
She was an English poet who is known for her lyric poetry.
She was an English poet who is known for her lyric poetry.
·
Notable works –
Notable works –
a) ‘ A way of looking’
b) ‘ A sense of the world’
c)
‘After the ark’ and
‘After the ark’ and
d) The mind has mountains.
Awards-
a)
Somerset Maugham prize – 1955
Somerset Maugham prize – 1955
b)
W.H. Smith literary Award – 1987
W.H. Smith literary Award – 1987
c)
Doctorate of Divinity – 2001
Doctorate of Divinity – 2001
ABOUT THE POEM
The poem is a true saga of modern day family relations. A
gap of understandings, dreams, values, nations create a distance between a
father and a son. The son is of the ultramodern and he considers his thoughts
to be just and not those traditional and imposed one. He believes in widened
outlook. But a father with his aspiration keeps on lamenting for his
unfulfilled desires in his son. In their own house they live like strangers.
They both are affected by the pang. Father cannot share what son loves and suffers
from frustration as his son is a complete stranger to him. He wishes his son to
return as a prodigal son and forgive him and start anew. The son on the other
land is in puzzle about understanding himself and their relation. Both are desirous
to assuage the gap but none takes the first step.
gap of understandings, dreams, values, nations create a distance between a
father and a son. The son is of the ultramodern and he considers his thoughts
to be just and not those traditional and imposed one. He believes in widened
outlook. But a father with his aspiration keeps on lamenting for his
unfulfilled desires in his son. In their own house they live like strangers.
They both are affected by the pang. Father cannot share what son loves and suffers
from frustration as his son is a complete stranger to him. He wishes his son to
return as a prodigal son and forgive him and start anew. The son on the other
land is in puzzle about understanding himself and their relation. Both are desirous
to assuage the gap but none takes the first step.
STRUCTURE OF THE
POEM.
POEM.
·
The poem is of 24
lines. Four stanzas are divided equally in 6 lines.
The poem is of 24
lines. Four stanzas are divided equally in 6 lines.
·
The poem does not
bear a systematic rhyme scheme. First two stanzas are of ABBABA whereas
The poem does not
bear a systematic rhyme scheme. First two stanzas are of ABBABA whereas
·
The third stanza
goes as ABCABA. And the last stanza returns as ABBABA.
The third stanza
goes as ABCABA. And the last stanza returns as ABBABA.
·
Prominent
poetic devices in use: :-
Prominent
poetic devices in use: :-
Stanza – 1
a) Enjambment –
“ ……so try to build’
Up a ………………..”
Stanza – 2
a) Anaphona – “ The ……………………….
The …………….”
b) Antithesis –
“The land is his and
none of mine.
none of mine.
c) Enjambment _ “…………………There is no sign –
of
understanding ……………….”
understanding ……………….”
Stanza – 3
a) Alliteration – “ Silence surrounds”
“Home he”
b) Enjambment – “ ………………..returning to
his
father’s ……………………”
father’s ……………………”
c) Antithesis – “ Shaping from sorrow a new
love”
love”
Stanza – 4
a) Enjambment
a) “…………….we both must live
on the same globe”
b) “ ………………I cannot understand
my self, ………..”
PRODIGAL SON
The prodigal son is one of the parables of Jesus. It
appears in only one of the canonical gospels of the new Testament . According
to gospel of Luke a father gives the younger of his two sons his inheritance
before he dies. The younger son, after wasting his fortune goes hungry during a
famine, . He then repents and returns home, where the father holds a feast to
celebrate his return.
appears in only one of the canonical gospels of the new Testament . According
to gospel of Luke a father gives the younger of his two sons his inheritance
before he dies. The younger son, after wasting his fortune goes hungry during a
famine, . He then repents and returns home, where the father holds a feast to
celebrate his return.