Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Fanny Howe’s "The Advance of the Father" is an elliptical, dreamlike poem that explores themes of authority, power, memory, and emotional survival. The poem’s shifting, fragmented images suggest a confrontation with paternal influence, both literal and symbolic, set against an unstable psychological landscape.

The opening lines set a surreal tone: "From raindrenched Homeland into a well: the upturned animal / was mine by law and outside the tunnel, him again!" The "Homeland" suggests a place of origin or belonging, but it is immediately connected to a "well," a space of depth, isolation, or entrapment. The "upturned animal" is legally the speaker’s, which introduces the theme of ownership or inheritance, but its unnatural posture—flipped, disoriented—implies distress or dislocation. Meanwhile, the "him again!" suggests an oppressive presence that the speaker cannot escape.

The father figure looms throughout, but he is not simply a person; he becomes a force, a voice, a demand. His command, "Loose dogs!" introduces an atmosphere of chaos and fear, as if the speaker is being hunted. The line "a gulf in his thinking / meant swim as fast as you can" suggests a disconnect in communication—a gap in understanding that forces the speaker into action. But "it was winter and the water / was closed," reinforcing the poem’s tension between metaphor and physical reality. The children’s "mouths... sealed with ice" suggests both literal cold and a silencing, an emotional paralysis. This is not a story of actual swimming; rather, the poem presents survival in an emotional or psychological sea where one is pulled under by the force of the past.

The speaker’s exclamation, "Shut up! you Father!" reveals a direct confrontation, yet the poem’s rapid shifts in imagery suggest that power structures remain in place. The speaker’s interior thoughts—"It isn’t good that the human being / is all I have to go by .... It isn’t good that I know who I love / but not who I trust ...."—suggest uncertainty, a struggle with identity and reliance. The inability to trust, to find security in relationships, is rooted in the father’s overwhelming presence. The repeated "It isn’t good" creates an incantatory rhythm, reinforcing the weight of this realization.

The middle section of the poem—"Inverted tunnel of the self. / Throat or genital search for the self. / Light that goes on in the self when the eyes are shut."—delves deeper into the psyche, questioning the nature of identity and self-perception. The "inverted tunnel" suggests an introspective space, a turning inward, while the reference to "throat or genital" evokes both voice and sexuality—two key sites of identity and power. The "light... when the eyes are shut" suggests an inner illumination, a way of seeing or knowing that is not dependent on the external world.

The poem’s sense of struggle continues with the image of "a boy... calling from the end of a long island." This isolated figure may represent a younger self, trapped in the past, calling out across the distance of time. The "docks... vertical and warlike" reinforce the idea of separation and confrontation. The speaker’s role shifts momentarily—"I would be on one side of my bed like a mother who can tell / she’s a comfort because she’s called Mother." This suggests an attempt at nurturing, at providing stability, but the ambiguity of "we both would be able to see the edge of the problem" hints that neither parent nor child is fully capable of resolution.

As the poem moves toward its conclusion, it reinforces the physicality of experience: "It’s true that the person is also a thing. / When you are running you know the texture." This recalls the earlier "swimming in emotion, not water," grounding the struggle in embodied experience. The "man who wore his boxers at night" makes an unexpected appearance—detached, irrelevant, signifying nothing. This dismissal suggests that some figures in the speaker’s life have no bearing on the deeper psychological battle.

The final lines introduce "the one with magnified eyes and historical data to last." This figure—perhaps the father, or an authority figure—possesses knowledge, "the hysteria to accomplish his whole life." The phrase "hysteria to accomplish" is particularly striking, as it conveys both determination and emotional instability. The speaker and others "told him the story of the suffering he made us feel," but the attempt to communicate pain is complicated by "the ingratiating stoop of those who came second in the world." This phrase suggests deference, an unwilling submission to the power that remains in place. There is an implicit critique of inherited suffering, of the way power structures persist despite attempts at rebellion.

Overall, "The Advance of the Father" is an intricate, layered poem that explores the weight of familial authority and the struggle for autonomy. Through its fragmented, surreal images, it presents a psychological battle where the father’s presence is inescapable, where survival is an act of endurance in an emotional landscape that resists resolution. The poem leaves us with a sense of unresolved tension, reinforcing the idea that the past continues to shape the present, even when one attempts to break free.

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