A Father's Phaethon: The Legend Of The Father

Morris Bishop’s poem has elaborately depicted a classical greek legend with a unique approach. The legend itself briefly describes the perishment of Phaethon, who insisted to ride his father, Apollo’s chariot although Apollo have discouraged him to do so. Likewise, the poem introduces a father who used the legend of Phaethon to deter his teenaged son from driving “the car”. By clearly implementing a sarcastic humour and tone through the impressive imagery, and the upbeat rhyme, rhythm, the poem addresses some of the key aspects of a parent’s attitude towards the child. Bishop suggests that in order to keep their child in their “wonted courses”, it is essential for parents to carry out the obligation to address their child’s sense of limit.

When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A