Explication of 'My Son, My Executioner' by Donald Hall

My son, my executioner
I take you in my arms,
Quiet and small and just astir,
And whom my body warms.

Sweet death, small son, our instrument
Of immortality,
Your cries and hungers document
Our bodily decay.

We twenty-five and twenty-two,
Who seemed to live forever,
Observe enduring life in you
And start to die together.



To begin strongly with a cliche, I would say that this poem describes 'the beginning of the end'. It discusses how when parents have children they give up their life for that child. They are literally living for another person now. The line "sweet death, small son, our instrument" shows that the speaker (the father) feels as though bringing this new life into the world is a death of sorts for he and his wife. It also shows the reversal of roles. As children grow and get stronger, their parents will weaken and die. At some point in the relationship, the child usually ends up taking care of the parents. The poem, while apparently depressing at first, has a happy note in it. It also describes how children allow their parents to be eternal. In line 11 "Observe enduring life in you" clearly suggests this symbolic transfer of life and immortality through child-bearing. The passing on of genes and the creation of another human life is the carrying on of a legacy. In this way, the death of the parents is not a bad thing because it allows the child to lead a full life. Using phrases such as "sweet death" (5) and "whom my body warms" (4) show that the speaker is not at all upset about giving up his life for his son. This poem uses a paradox, because the speaker is saying that children are both the end and the beginning of their parents. The use of slant rhymes is used to emphasize this paradox.