Look Again at “Old Man, Old Man” and One Other Poem. How Does the Writers Explore the Relationships Between Parents and Children?
The biggest influence on a child’s life is their parents, as it is they who provide them with love and keep on them on the right track. In the two poems presented it is evident that both poets had different upbringings and had different attitudes towards their parents. Heaney was depressed due to the differences he and his father had, and conveys these feelings through the use of poetical devices. Fanthorpe was troubled too, but because she felt she never received enough love from her father and this emotion of sadness is expressed mainly through her choice of vocabulary.
In the first three stanzas Heaney establishes the fact that there is a difference between himself and his father using language and poetic devices. He describes that his pen “rests; snug as a gun”. Here Heaney uses a simile to indicate to the reader how he believes he was made to write. The reader can also infer from this that Heaney believes that there is a bond between him and his pen and the word “snug” suggests that the pen is special to Heaney because it rests perfectly. Furthermore, Heaney relates the pen to a gun, showing its power and potential when in Heaney’s hands. The poet then focuses on his father, which allows the reader to see the difference between the two as his father is a lot more physical than Heaney. Heaney describes his father’s “straining rump”, here there is a larger emphasis on physical actions and the word “straining” accentuates the toughness of the job. Heaney also uses alliteration to show the nature of his father’s work, “He rooted out tall tops”. Here the use of alliteration adds lyrical and rhythmic senses to the labour, allowing the reader to better understand and feel the movements of his father. When Heaney says “But I’ve no spade to follow men like them”, a sombre tone is added to the poem, demonstrating to the reader that Heaney is ashamed by the fact that he is different to his father and grandfather, and the use of the phrase “men like them” makes it seem as if they are in a class above him. In the last line of the poem Heaney tries to justify this difference by saying “The squat pen rests. / I’ll dig with it.” Here we see that Heaney is trying to draw parallels between him and his father, showing how they are both skilled workers, but in different ways.
