As the old adage goes, “Actions speak louder than words”, unless you are Lucile Clifton. In her poem, “forgiving my father”, Clifton’s use of address to a father becomes very important in analyzing the relationship between him and his family, specifically, through a daughter’s viewpoint. Her continuous use of “you” is an important tool to create a direct message of accusation to the father. It expounds on the viewpoint that the daughter holds toward her father of profligacy. His failures to provide the family financially, emotionally, and faithfully ultimately contribute to this viewpoint. By analyzing the forms of address given to the father, such as the transition from “you” to specific addresses of lecher, pauper, pocket, etc., it becomes evident that the father’s shortcomings are the ultimate problem. The transitions are also a key indicator to the tonal shifts in the text. Eventually accepting his flaws will complete the process of forgiveness that the daughter strives to achieve in the poem. 

 There are many instances in this poem where a line that contains “you” works in conjunction with another word in the line in order to create a profligate view of the father, in terms of being financially reckless. An instance which this is the case is when it is stated that the father comes from a background of people who are disadvantaged in the line, “son of a needy father, father of a needy son” (Clifton 12-13, emphasis mine). The author is asserting how the man developed to become a person that did not have a financial grasp on life. Further along the word “pocket” (17) is now stated as the father could not come up with the necessary resources for his family consistently. In these two examples, we can see how the author is working to establish a profligate persona through the use of “you”. The father is being directly accused of lacking the necessary finances to provide for his family. By not prioritizing his family’s needs over his own, he lost the ability to judge what was important and became viewed as someone with no restraint on spending money. 

Continuing on the foundation of the father’s profligacy, it does not stop at a financial level. This lousy nature spills over into his social activity as well. The unceasing nature in which the daughter speaks to her father throughout the poem reads not solely due to the fact that the family was monetarily challenged. It goes further to indict him on a level that reads more to him letting them down on a personal and emotional level. The phrase, “you gave her all you had which was nothing” (Clifton 14-15), speaks to his attempt at being emotionally connected to the family as underwhelming. If the man had tried his best to be there for his family even in trying financial times, they would not feel the same envy that is described in the poem. But, he failed to cultivate the level of care required in a family setting, eventually letting his struggles overtake him. The aftermath of emotions is evident in the further conviction of his profligate nature. 

Throughout the poem, there is a transition in addressing the man from generic words such as “you” or “father” to a more specific set of names. The author begins to address him with specific descriptors such as “lecher” (Clifton 9) and “pauper” (20), further solidifying his image of profligacy. The word “lecher” gives further glimpse into the immoralities of this man, specifically his sexual promiscuities. This unethical behavior is a staple characteristic in any profligate. In regards to the use of “pauper”, the placement of this address at the end of the poem holds significant meaning in that, it is one of her final addresses she uses to fully encapsulate his life. In this sense, this attribution of “pauper” is most likely the result of his profligacy. As she sums up how she fully understands him as a man, this word highlights his overall state of destitution. This move away to these specific words is a direct condemnation to the father and works to expose him on his past transgressions while continuing to characterize him as a profligate. Words such as these are not typically a way to speak to a father. It is very revealing that this is the way that the daughter now refers to him. Coming from a person who is in such close proximity to the man regularly, these descriptors can be taken seriously and mark the father’s nature. Also, this is the instance in which we see a tonal shift in the poem. After the first stanza, the direct addresses correlate to a more convicting tone. This is working in relation to the daughter’s process of forgiving, particularly expressing her feelings of hate.

 Another important address to the father is when the author refers to him as a “pocket” (Clifton 17) that will always “come up empty any Friday” (18). The reiteration of the father’s financial negligence serves to compound his legacy of being a profligate. The family had reached a universal understanding that the man would not be able to provide for them properly. He had become entrenched in a squandering lifestyle, to the extent that the daughter analogizes him to being an empty pocket. This specific address to the father serves to continue to portray him in the light of his careless actions. 

The author continues to work to foundation of profligacy when the father is mentioned as a “bad bargain” (Clifton 19). This specific address pertains to the relationship between the father and mother. In this context, the father’s character is being hit from both financial and moral aspects. He turned out to not be the optimal partner for the mother. His consistent failures in being the person she could rely on financially and personally turned out to be a bad deal for her. This label is one he has earned through his constant letdown. 

On the path to forgiveness, the notion is to accept a person’s flaws for what they are and eventually move forward. In “forgiving my father”, the man’s main flaw of being a profligate becomes the issue in which a daughter must confront. Through the analysis of her address to the father, his profligate life becomes clear and it forces his familial relationships to suffer. The constant use of “you” bases the poem in an accusatory nature which then develops into forms of address that work against the father. The use of specific terms such as lecher, pauper, pocket, and bad bargain directly correlate to the way the man has lived his life, recklessly and immorally. The shift of tone again appears towards the end of the poem when the daughter says, “what am I doing here collecting” (Clifton 21). She has finished her list of grievances and is coming back to a more forgiving tone. This poem is fundamentally the daughter’s enactment of forgiveness. Her use of address is simultaneous with the stages of hate and forgiveness in the poem. She can stop feeling angry and resentful to the father only after confronting the overarching problem of profligacy that poisons the relationship. Ultimately, she can find peace in that the blame lies solely on the man who let his family down time and time again.  
