The following poems and extracts from longer texts present views of fathers,
mainly as seen by their children. Select two or three of the passages (a) to (f)
and compare and contrast them in any ways that seem interesting to you,
paying particular attention to distinctive features of structure, language and
style. In your introduction, indicate briefly what you intend to explore or
illustrate through close reading of your chosen passages.
[The essay below chose passage (a) ‘To the Reverend Shade of His Religious
Father’, a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and passage (b) An extract from
‘Clarissa’ (1740), a novel written by Samuel Richardson, vol.1, Letter VIII.]
Relationships between father and child are explored in ‘Clarissa’ and ‘To the
Reverend Shade of his Religious father’ as to whether they are portrayed as
being strong or flimsy.
Considering Robert Herrick’s poem displays no feelings of love nor any at all –
“for seven lustres I did never come” “neither hair was cut” -, it can be argued
their relationship is not strong as it is not backed up by love, unlike in Samuel
Richardson’s novel extract – “my heart failed me twice or thrice”. In Robert
Herrick’s poem, the narrator is visiting – late, already setting a tone of
indifference – his dead father. Even then he admits it is not to mourn “true
tears” where the alliteration bites us with a brutal sincerity, depicting his
unfeeling and seemingly unaffected state of mind. We learn it is more to set
his mind at ease as he feels he owes it to his father; he has “come to pay a
debt of birth I owe.” The full stop could suggest that this is all he came for, the
verb and noun – “pay” “debt” – make it appear to be an exchange or repaying
a loan, completely devoid of emotional attachment. However, he does
recognise – as seen with the capital letter – the importance of “that one
Favour”. Nevertheless, this might actually be his way of dealing with loss,
systematically eschewing emotions and strictly sticking to formal language.
Contrastingly to this poem, the novel extract from the beginning shows a state
of distress at being in “heavy disgrace” with her father. She wants to express
her “duty to him as [her] heart overflowed with”: this evidently shows an
abundance of momentarily suppressed love, the powerful verb “overflowed”
suggests this dedication to him was brimming at the edges, illustrating how
much regard she has for him, the tone intensely differing to Herrick’s poem.
Her worries are reflected in the structure: the many short sentenced
paragraphs depict her desire for him to look at her and be on good terms with
her. Herrick’s worries are mirrored too: the initial half rhyme may be to show
partial guilt and uneasiness, and then the rest of the poem in perfect rhyming
mainly as seen by their children. Select two or three of the passages (a) to (f)
and compare and contrast them in any ways that seem interesting to you,
paying particular attention to distinctive features of structure, language and
style. In your introduction, indicate briefly what you intend to explore or
illustrate through close reading of your chosen passages.
[The essay below chose passage (a) ‘To the Reverend Shade of His Religious
Father’, a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) and passage (b) An extract from
‘Clarissa’ (1740), a novel written by Samuel Richardson, vol.1, Letter VIII.]
Relationships between father and child are explored in ‘Clarissa’ and ‘To the
Reverend Shade of his Religious father’ as to whether they are portrayed as
being strong or flimsy.
Considering Robert Herrick’s poem displays no feelings of love nor any at all –
“for seven lustres I did never come” “neither hair was cut” -, it can be argued
their relationship is not strong as it is not backed up by love, unlike in Samuel
Richardson’s novel extract – “my heart failed me twice or thrice”. In Robert
Herrick’s poem, the narrator is visiting – late, already setting a tone of
indifference – his dead father. Even then he admits it is not to mourn “true
tears” where the alliteration bites us with a brutal sincerity, depicting his
unfeeling and seemingly unaffected state of mind. We learn it is more to set
his mind at ease as he feels he owes it to his father; he has “come to pay a
debt of birth I owe.” The full stop could suggest that this is all he came for, the
verb and noun – “pay” “debt” – make it appear to be an exchange or repaying
a loan, completely devoid of emotional attachment. However, he does
recognise – as seen with the capital letter – the importance of “that one
Favour”. Nevertheless, this might actually be his way of dealing with loss,
systematically eschewing emotions and strictly sticking to formal language.
Contrastingly to this poem, the novel extract from the beginning shows a state
of distress at being in “heavy disgrace” with her father. She wants to express
her “duty to him as [her] heart overflowed with”: this evidently shows an
abundance of momentarily suppressed love, the powerful verb “overflowed”
suggests this dedication to him was brimming at the edges, illustrating how
much regard she has for him, the tone intensely differing to Herrick’s poem.
Her worries are reflected in the structure: the many short sentenced
paragraphs depict her desire for him to look at her and be on good terms with
her. Herrick’s worries are mirrored too: the initial half rhyme may be to show
partial guilt and uneasiness, and then the rest of the poem in perfect rhyming
