Comprehensive notes covering I Have my Father's Voice by Christopher van Wyk.
A combination of information from the textbook, The Complete Poetry Resource (Sixth Edition), as well as additional class and video notes.
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Suggests that the speaker inherited good qualities
from his father, not bad qualities such as anger.
I Have my Father’s voice Suitable as the poet describes his inheritance as
consisting of his father’s qualities rather than as
monetary inheritance or property.
When I walk into a room Present tense
Personal pronoun (personal poem)
where my father has just been
He is physically the same size and has the same
I fill the same spaces he did mannerisms as his father had.
from the elbows on the table Same idiosyncrasies
to the head thrown back (Loud projectile) They have the same quirks and are alike in many
and when we laugh we aim the guffaw ways.
at the same space in the air.
Before anybody has told me this I know Has thought about it and confident in it
because I see myself through Modern psychology: The way a person was
my father's eyes. raised has an influence on his personality and a
child’s sense of identity is defined by his
parents.
Creates a sense of light-hearted humour.
(causes the toes to point inwards when walking)
The phrase indicates his youth was awkward
(Past tense) and timid and is somewhat critical as he sees
When I was a pigeon-toed boy himself as odd-looking, not manly or assured.
my father used his voice Literal use of voice
to send me to bed Everyday tasks that dad did as part of a normal
to run and buy the newspaper family.
Humorous, light-hearted: Makes light of a
to scribble my way through matric.
serious time in a young person’s life.
He “scribbled”: This suggests that he was not
academically inclined and that he did not put
much effort into his work.
Angry tone.
(Past tense) Expectation that he will talk about politics or the
He also used his voice for harsher things: situation in the country.
to bluster when we made a noise Talk in a loud, aggressive way, with little effect.
when the kitchen wasn't cleaned after supper The father’s anger was comical rather than
when I was out too late. frightening.
Every day, mundane things (no indication that
his father was an activist)
Repetition: Placed close together, like a son and
father.
Also emphasises the words themselves and that
they share the characteristic of being late.
Alliteration of “m”: Emphasizes the amount of
Late for work, on many mornings,
mornings he was late.
one sock in hand, its twin Personification
an angry glint in his eye he flings (Strong verb
= shows anger)
Assonance of “I”: Making light of the incidents
dirty clothes out of the washing box: and imitating the flinging motion.
Change in normal word order to get the
vests, jeans, pants and shirts shouting impression that the sock is angry. Thus the
anagrams of fee fo fi fum until he is up Father and sock become confused.
to his knees in a stinking heap of laundry. Word order: The clothes are shouting
Personification: Pieces of clothing become angry.
(A type of word play, where the letters of a
word are rearranged to form a new word)
Allusion: Line from Jack and the Beanstalk
These words suggest that the father was
(Symbolic of SA citizens: unimportant. swearing, repetition of “f” sound suggests which
That is how they are seen by the apartheid regime.)
word was used.
The father is presented as an angry, but gentle
giant.
, Repetition of the title: Speaker brings us back to the
theme.
Figurative meaning: to have an opinion, to speak up
I have my father's voice too against oppression.
And his fuming temper Literal meaning: to sound alike.
And I shout as he does. They are the same, yet different in where and how
they express their anger.
(Contrast to follow) To emit large quantities of something rapidly.
But I spew the words out It creates a picture of angry words leaving the poet’s
mouth without him having control over them.
in pairs of alliteration
Uses assonance and alliteration to reinforce as
and an air of assonance. well as unifies the sense and intensifies the
image.
He uses his writing and poetry to vent his anger
and emotion.
Everything a poet needs Education, support, emotion.
More appropriate than The father is no longer around.
my father has bequeathed me “endow” or “bestow”
Left the speaker as a legacy of him.
except the words. Has everything but the actual tool for his
profession.
He has to write his own story, deal with injustice
in his own way and live own his life.
He has just chosen to do it in a more controlled
way, through his writing.
He hopes to be more effective than his father
and not only to ‘bluster’ but to make a real
difference through his protest poetry.
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