In Lucille Clifton’s poem, “forgiving my father”, the speaker uses insults against her father in a manner to bring context to the reader, as well as use a word structure that can properly convey the feelings of the speaker as the poem goes on. The number of insults paired with the word “old” increases in each stanza – creating the emotions and tone meant to be interpreted by the reader as it continues on. These insults balance out the rest of the poem by justifying the speaker’s feelings and allowing the reader to understand the main point of the work, and why it was written. Altogether, this helps the reader interpret the title and the meaning behind it in a different manner, as well as hold the piece together.  With the addition of a new insult in each stanza, as well as the sudden change of tone with these insults, the poem can let the reader understand the different emotions that empower this piece and understand the reason it was written.

In the first stanza, the only insult used is “old man” (Clifton 5) – at this point in the work, the reader can only assume this is referring to the father, as the title implies he is the subject of the poem.  This alone is the first hint of context from the speaker. “Old man” as a phrase towards a father can have an affectionate connotation - normally used as teasing banter against a father. The next two lines of the stanza, however, continue to use a negative tone and can help the reader understand that the phrase was used in an insulting manner. This also helps set up the pattern for the rest of the piece. With the rest of the context provided by the speaker in the rest of the stanza, simply referring to the father as “you” and as a “ghost”, it shows a disrespect towards the father – providing the tone of the piece by how the speaker feels. By referring to him as a ghost in her dreams, as well as describing that is payday and that her “mother’s hand opens up in her early grave”, the reader can also infer that the writer is being haunted by her father’s image. At this point in the poem, the speaker is seen to be bitter about their father. All of these things noted in the first stanza provides a picture for the reader as to what the title of the poem truly has to do with the piece, and also with the speaker’s reasoning behind writing the poem.

As stated earlier, readers can understand the reasoning as to how the speaker feels about her father with the insults used. These alone are the only direct descriptions of the father from the writer’s personal standpoint. The second stanza has two insults: “old lecher” and “old liar” via lines 9 and 10. The context provided by these two can give a better picture as to what the man was like. These insults are much more harsh and demeaning, and therefore allow for readers to see how much more angry the speaker is at this point in the poem. These insults also provide more context behind how the speaker grew up; the father was a liar and after other women, and could not provide for the family. The lines 10 and 11 provide further context for the reader, explaining how the father was not rich, and owes what can be assumed a large sum of money to the mother. The final lines of the stanza give more of a reasoning as to who the father was and why; “the only son of a needy father / the father of a needy son;” (12-13). This helps form a better picture for the reader as to where the money went; the grandfather was needy, and the son was also needy. This provides guidance into the belief that, financially, the help only goes to the men of the family and the mother, as well as the daughter, are simply left with nothing. The rest of the stanza explains the situation he had with the mother, as he provided her all he had – and that in itself amounts to nothing. This ending to the stanza points out how much anger the speaker has towards her father, and the bitterness coupled with it.

Lastly, the third stanza, respectively, has three insults. “Old pauper, old prisoner, old dead man” (20) provide the remaining reasons of how the speaker felt for the father, as well as context for the current time the poem is being written and where in the picture the father resides. The last insult ties the piece together by letting the reader know that the father is not currently living – and thus, can help readers interpret the meaning and understand the title in a better manner. With this given to the reader, then can interpret the title as “to forgive” or “on the note of” the speaker forgiving her father. The point of this stanza is to specifically explain how the father would not be able to provide money for the bills mentioned at the beginning of the poem, “it is friday … come up empty any friday” (1 and 18), and what this means in relation to the reasoning behind the speaker’s dismay. The three insults explain that the father is poor, a prisoner, and now passed on. This separates the tone from the rest of the poem as it feels more remorseful for how the father lived, as the term prisoner implies that he was stuck in place by another’s decision. The stanza, and poem, ends with the speaker asking a question to herself, and explaining that the debt is not something that can simply go away. In the end, these stanzas put together almost give off an assortment of emotions and their progression via the context of the insults and tone conveyed from them.

The use of the insults in such a structured manner ties the work together – without the particular context provided from them, it can confuse the reader as to the reason behind the work being written and as to what justified the writer’s feelings. The addition of a new insult in each stanza helps build it up until the end, as well as showcase the type of tone and emotions that speaker conveys. This structure helps the piece stay balanced and workable for both the speaker and the reader. When the overall poem is understood by the reader, it can then help provide a better understanding of the reason for it being written (the title) and how it can be interpreted depending on the context. The speaker herself goes through different emotions as she tries to conceptualize how to feel towards her father, and thus, how she needs to approach forgiving him. With the way the insults stacked up, as well as the tone in which they were stated, allows for the title to be much more clear for the audience. Thus, “forgiving my father” can be understood as the process the speaker must go through in order to achieve that forgiveness.
