“Forgiving my father” is a poem by Lucille Clifton. The poem is about the speaker’s experience of forgiving her father. The speaker reflects on her relationship with her father, and how she has come to forgive him for his mistakes.
The poem begins with the speaker reflecting on her childhood, and how she used to see her father as a “giant”. She recalls how he would often be angry, and would sometimes hit her. However, over time, she has come to understand him better and she now knows that he was not a bad person.
The speaker goes on to say that she has forgiven her father for his mistakes, and that she is now able to see him as a human being. She says that she understands him better now, and that she is grateful for the lessons he taught her.
“Forgiving my father” is a powerful poem about the speaker’s journey to forgiveness. The poem highlights the importance of understanding, and how it can lead to forgiveness. The poem is a reminder that everyone makes mistakes, and that we should all strive to forgive those who have hurt us.
The existence of complex relationships, according to the author, has an impact on the actions of those involved in most situations. The nature of these relationships can be either beneficial or detrimental to a person, depending on how severe its components are.
Forgiving my father is a poem by Lucille Clifton that explores the idea of a woman who has been hurt by her father, and how she ultimately comes to forgive him.
The poem begins with the speaker talking about how her father hurt her, both physically and emotionally. She talks about how he would hit her, and how he would say hurtful things to her. Despite all of this, she still loved him. She talks about how she would try to please him, and how she would do anything to make him happy.
Eventually, the speaker comes to a point where she realizes that she can’t keep living like this. She decides to forgive her father, and she asks for his forgiveness as well. She talks about how she knows that he was not a perfect man, but she still loves him. In the end, the speaker is able to forgive her father and move on from the hurt that he caused her.
It is natural for people to keep their feelings inside and maintain a haughty demeanor, yet those who do so will fight against any lie. In the poem “forgiving my father” by Lucille Clifton, the speaker recalls an daughter haunted by memories of conflict with her father. The speaker of the poem instead attempts to hold her father accountable for his faults rather than forgiving him for his shortcomings.
Forgiving would require the speaker to accept her father for who he is and was, but she is not ready to do so. Forgiving would also be an admission of her own wrongs, which the speaker may not be willing to do. Forgiving is a difficult task, but it can be liberating. It allows us to move on from the pain of the past and focus on the present. Forgiving my father is a difficult task, but it can be liberating.
In Clifton’s poem, the speaker is using a money debt to represent a love and affection debt. The speaker’s father in this piece is unable to provide adequate care for his family, resulting in the early death of the speaker’s mother and mental torment for him.
Even while resting, the narrator is haunted by her father. “all week you’ve been standing in my dreams/like a ghost, asking for more time” (Clifton, Lucile “forgiving my father”, line 3-4) What can a ghost do to settle its debts and ask for more time? It is impossible.
So this means that the speaker is never able to forgive her father, or forget what he has done. Even if she wanted to, she would be unable to do so.
The poem Forgiving my father by Lucille Clifton is a haunting and difficult poem to read. The poem is about the speaker’s inability to forgive her father for his past actions, which have caused her great pain. The poem is written in first person point of view, and the speaker’s voice is one of anger and resentment. The poem is short, but the images and language used are powerful and evocative. The poem makes the reader think about the nature of forgiveness, and whether it is possible to truly forgive someone who has caused you great hurt.
In the poem “The Waking,” the speaker expresses his concern for unpaid debts and neglect. The father in Roethke’s poem, on the other hand, comes home drunk after a long day just in time for his son’s bedtime. “We played until the pots/ Fell from the kitchen shelf; / My mother’s face could not unfold itself as we romped.”(lines 1-6).
These two poems show a different perspective, yet Forgiving my father seems to be more personal. In the poem “Forgiving my Father”, Lucille Clifton writes about her deceased father and how she is struggling to forgive him for his wrong doings. Highlighting the speaker’s feelings of anger and resentment towards her father, Clifton also shows the speaker’s desire to forgive him. Forgiving my father is a difficult task, but by understanding the poem and analyzing it, it can be done.
Lucille Clifton was born on June 27, 1936 in Depew, New York. Her mother died when she was seven years old and she was raised by her grandparents. She graduated from Howard University in 1957 and married Fred Clifton, a marine. They had six children together. Lucille Clifton’s poetry often deals with the topics of family, race, and gender. Forgiving my father is a poem about the speaker’s struggle to forgive her father for his wrong doings.
The speaker’s father in Clifton’s poem is a hazard to her. The speaker’s relationship with her father is characterized by bitterness and abandonment. The speaker claims in the second stanza of the poem that her grandfather, too, is a needy person like her father.”but you were the son of a needy father,/the father of a needy son,” (Clifton, line 12-13) The speaker is concerned about her own future as she sees it defined by neediness in the family.
The poem concludes on a note of hope, with the speaker forgiving her father and hoping that she will not become like him.
Lucille Clifton’s “Forgiving my father” is a poem about resentment, abandonment, and ultimately, forgiveness. The speaker in the poem is resentful of her father for being a needy man who has abandoned his family. However, the speaker forgives her father at the end of the poem, hoping that she will not become like him.
The speaker’s father sets a poor example for him to follow in this poem. The father in Roethke’s poem is compared to the abusive father in Clifton’s poem. The description of the dancing is violent, with systematic child abuse, as shown by the phrase “wearing down” (psychological damage).
The poem Forgiving my father by Lucille Clifton is a poem about abuse, forgiveness, and family. The poem tells the story of a speaker who is abused by their father. The speaker reflects on their relationship with their father, and how they forgave him for his abuse. The poem is written in first person point of view, which allows readers to understand the speaker’s thoughts and feelings about their father.
The title Forgiving my father immediately sets the tone of the poem. It is a somber and reflective tone, which is supported by the subject matter of the poem. The poem deals with heavy topics such as abuse and forgiveness. The title also suggests that the speaker has forgiven their father, which gives the poem a sense of hope.
The poem is written in free verse, which allows the speaker to freely express their thoughts and feelings about their father. The use of free verse also gives the poem a sense of rawness and realism. The poem does not have a set rhyme scheme or meter, which reflects the chaotic nature of abuse.
The speaker begins the poem by reflecting on their relationship with their father. The speaker says that their father was a “harsh man” who was “filled with anger”. The speaker describes how their father would abuse them both physically and emotionally. The speaker recalls how their father would dance with them, but it was always a violent dance. The speaker says that their father would hold them “too tight” and “twirl them too fast”. This violent dancing is a metaphor for the abuse that the speaker endured at the hands of their father.