Introduction
Coventry
Patmore was born in the year 1823 and he died in 1896. He was a famous poet and a critic. He was a religious man and his poems
establish his religious beliefs. The
poem The Toys, talks about a father’s love to his son and about the
fatherly relation of God to man.
Reason for Punishment/Mind of the Poet after Punishing
The poem opens
with the words, “My little son”. His son had spoken like a grown up man, so
the father has scolded and struck his son.
The father regrets and feels bad for his behavior. The son is motherless. The mother dies as a patient. The poet uses the word patient as a pun. If the mother had been alive, she would have
been patient but she died of illness.
The father sends his son to bed without a kiss. The son spoke like a grown up man was the
crime, but the father calls him as a little son, this shows that the father is
sad for punishing his son.
Son’s Bedroom
The father goes to
his son’s room. The son is in the
bed. He is asleep. The father could see the eyelashes of the son
as wet. His son has cried for a long
time. The father cries in return. Beside the bed, the father finds a box of
counters, red-veined stone, a piece of glass, six or seven shells, a bottle
with blue bells and two French coins.
All these toys are arranged in a proper order.
Poet’s Prayer
The father prays
to God. He realizes that truth that
every human being is a product of God.
God has created human being in his own image. The father says that God has molded man from clay. God will never punish a man even after his
death. God is great. He forgives everyone. Man does not understand the good qualities of
God. Man behaves childishly in this
earth. God is a better father than a
human being is.
Conclusion
Through this
simple poem, Coventry Patmore conveys the greatness of God. He uses simple language and vivid images to
convey his thought.
