I See You Dancing, Father
By: Brendan Kennelly
No sooner downstairs after the night's rest
And in the the door
Than you started to dance a step
In the middle of the kitchen floor.
And as you danced
You whistled.
You made your own music
Always in tune with yourself.
Well, nearly always, anyway.
Your'e buried now
In Lislaughtin Abbey
And whenever I think of you
I go back beyound the old man
Mind and body broken
To find the unbroken man.
It is the moment before the dance begins,
Your lips are enjoying themselves
Whistling in the air.
Whatever happens cannot happen
In the time I have to spare
I see you dancing, father
When studying the poem, I came to the conclusion that the poem is literally about a child writing about their father, and how he used to dance. He is dead now; and they are reminising on the past. The title is relavent because they doesnt remember the old man he was before he died; they remember when their father danced in the kitchen. The author used personification, allusion, and imagery to create layers of meaning. One example is when he uses personication, by saying, your lips are enjoying themselves. The auther utilizes the following sound devices like onomatopoeia and rhyme. He uses onomatopoeia by saying whistling. The poem's form is free verse, with a scrict four line stanza until the last stanza. The speaker is a child talking about their father. The tone of the poem is sad at first then rememberance.
