The Sins of the Fathers
The Sins of the Fathers - meaning Summary
Inherited Guilt Challenged
The poem opens with a biblical quotation about inherited guilt and then shifts to a speaker who addresses an "unrighteous picture," declaring hatred and inviting vengeance to strike the children who come blindly. It compresses a confrontation between religious law and a personal response, highlighting how blame, representation, and punishment may be transferred across generations and how images or ideas can implicate the innocent.
Read Complete Analyses"And the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the heads of the children, even unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Well, then I hate thee, unrighteous picture; Wicked image, I hate thee; So, strike with thy vengeance The heads of those little men Who come blindly. It will be a brave thing.
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