On a Portrait of a Deaf Man
By Lily Whitehead and Emily Jones
The Poem
The kind old face, the egg-shaped
head,
The tie, discreetly loud,
The loosely fitting shooting clothes,
A closely fitting shroud.
He liked old city dining rooms,
Potatoes in their skin,
But now his mouth is wide to let,
The London clay come in.
He took me on long, silent walks,
In country lanes when young,
He knew the names of ev’ry bird,
But not the song it sung.
And when he could not hear me speak,
He smiled and looked so wise,
That now I do not like to think
Of maggots in his eyes.
He liked the rain-washed Cornish air,
And smell of ploughed-up soil,
He liked a landscape big and bare,
And painted it in oil.
But least of all he liked that place,
Which hangs on Highgate hill,
Of soaked Carrara-covered earth,
For Londoners to fill.
He would have liked to say goodbye,
Shake hands with many friends,
In Highgate now his finger-bones,
Stick through his finger-ends.
You God, you treat him thus and thus,
Say “Save his soul and pray”
You ask me to believe you,
And I only see decay.
About
• The narrator describes his father who has recently
passed away within the poem.
• His father was deaf so could not hear his son speak, but
the poem emphasises his use of his other senses which
helped him to connect with the world.
• At the end of the poem the narrator accuses God of
treating his father cruelly and he questions his own
beliefs and faith in God because of this.
The Poem’s Structure
• The first seven stanzas are a first person narrative about the narrator’s father.
• The poet alternates between happy and pleasant memories and vivid,
gruesome images, suggesting he cannot stop thinking about death.
• The final stanza is a ‘conversation’ between the narrator and God. It seems
God’s treatment of his father and his death has caused the narrator to lose
faith and question it.
• The poem is written like an elegy (a serious poem, usually for the dead)
• The narrator’s thoughts appear ordered due to the strict alternate rhyme
scheme.
• This continues with the rhythm giving the impression the narrator is trying to
keep his emotions under control.
Theme - Love
• The narrator remembers his father with affection - e.g. “egg-shaped
head”, which is also humorous.
• He recalls his father’s love of clothes, walks in the countryside, painting
and friends.
• The narrator describes how his father used other senses to express and
feel love.
• For example “shake friends with many friends” is how we are told he
would’ve liked to have said goodbye.
• Another example could be “when he could not hear me speak he
smiled”. This shows how he was kind and thoughtful despite the fact he
could not hear what his son was saying. He showed his love and
understanding in other ways, such as through facial expressions (in this
case smiling).
Theme - Grief
• The poem could be seen as a tribute to the narrator’s
father.
• The purpose of the poem could perhaps be the narrator’s
way of coming to terms with his grief.
• His sadness is also mixed with horror at the thought of his
father’s decaying body, which suggests that it is quite a
recent death.
Theme - Grief
The poem features many vivid examples of grotesque imagery that
emphasises the narrator’s horror.
 “Now his finger bones stick through his finger ends.”
The imagery also highlights the physical reality of death especially in
contrast to the loving descriptions of his father. His father’s hands used to
shake the hands of his friends but now they are decayed and horrifying.
 “He would have liked to have said goodbye, shake hands with
many friends”
The main sense that his father used, his eyes, now also cannot be used.
This emphasises his death as his main connection to the world is gone:
 “I do not like to think of maggots in his eyes.”
Theme - Bitterness
• In the final stanza the narrator’s bitterness towards God is clear.
• He carries an accusatory tone when directly addressing God. This direct
speech shows that the narrator is perhaps struggling with his own faith after the
treatment of his father as he is directly questioning God.
• He also seems angry that his father has been allowed to suffer, for example he
states “You, God”, which seems extremely bitter and accusing.
• This shows that the narrator’s experiences have largely affected his beliefs even
going as far to question God, which for a believer may be a very significant
prospect. Further more it shows that his father’s death has changed him to the
point he might discard his faith, due to this bitterness.
• However he still seems to hear God or have hope in him as he includes “Save his
soul and pray’”. This shows that though the narrator still has a shred of faith in
God, even if it has been mostly diminished.
Contrasts (within the poem)
Throughout the poem the narrator consistently uses contrasting imagery.
For example:
• “Loosely fitting shooting clothes”
• “A closely fitting shroud”
• “He smiled and looked so wise”
• “Of maggots in his eyes”
• “Shake hands with many friends”
• “Now his finger-bones”
Love for his father is contrasted with descriptions of his death. He links love and
death in the same objects, suggesting that death can affect our lives at any time. In
addition the contrasts often make an image appear more gruesome and horrifying.
Links (to other poems)
Time destroys things and causes decay:
Ozymandias – The decayed statue is a symbol of the powerful effects of time.
On a Portrait of a Deaf Man – The narrator can’t stop thinking about his father’s body which is buried and decaying over
time.
The human body can change and decay:
Casehistory: Alison (head injury) – Alison’s body is disintegrating and ‘decayed’ after her accident, whereas before she
was “elegant and graceful”
The Clown Punk – The narrator considers what the punk’s body will look like in thirty years time and he believes that his
face will be “shrunken” which suggests that time will inevitably cause his body to decay.
On a Portrait of a Deaf Man – The narrator describes his father before his death and the things he loved to do, how warm
he was and how wise, but then goes on to describe how his time in life had come to an end and his body changed from
warm to lifeless and decaying in the ground.
Dramatic monologues:
My Last Duchess – The Duke addresses his guest directly as “you” and uses conversational devices such as “how shall I
say?”. The silent listener in the poem makes the Duke seem more powerful because he dominates the conversation.
Give – The narrator begins by addressing the listener as “dear” and repeatedly uses “you” in the final lines which sounds
accusing and angry. This makes it like the homeless person is speaking directly to the reader, so that we might question our
own treatment of vulnerable people.
On a Portrait of a Deaf Man – The narrator is the only one who speaks so he can show how his confused thoughts jump
around a lot. At the end of the poem the narrator directly accuses God and says “You God”. The narrator is angry.
Extra Notes – Simple Exam Style Question
How does Betjeman present the character of his father in On a Portrait of a
Deaf Man?
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Betjeman's father has died and the poet writes this elegy to pay tribute to
him. In doing so, he does two distinct things. Firstly, he creates an image of the
living father as a warm, nice man. Secondly, he talks of the present state of his
father - dead, buried and decaying.
The first image is usual in an elegy, the second is not.
Betjeman creates a warm, positive image of his father in the opening lines:
“The kind old face, the egg-shaped head, the tie, discreetly loud, the loosely
fitting shooting clothes,”
The first adjective he uses to describe his father is "kind", setting a pleasant
tone. He then paints a picture of how his father looked and dressed.
The following line is the beginning of the technique Betjeman uses to create a
different character, his father as he is now, a corpse: “A closely fitting shroud.”
Betjeman contrasts the cold image of death with warm memories of life and
as a result, it has much more impact.
This technique of juxtaposition continues throughout the poem and as we get
to know and like Betjeman's living father, we're exposed to more graphic
imagery of death:
“And when he could not hear me speak, he smiled and looked so wise, that
now I do not like to think, of maggots in his eyes.”