1. Simile:
- "Like two dumb statues we stand"
- "And grope together blindly with our hands"
- "He is a shadow on my sightless way"
2. Metaphor:
- "We have not moved, except to draw apart"
3. Personification:
- "The years lie heaped about us"
- "The silence grows and grows between us"
4. Alliteration:
- "Like two dumb statues"
- "And grope together blindly with our hands"
- "The years lie heaped about us"
5. Enjambment:
- "He is a shadow on my sightless way,/Blind as I am, and stumbling on his track"
6. Rhetorical questions:
- "What can we do?"
- "What have we done?"
These figures of speech work together to create a vivid and emotional portrait of a strained father-son relationship. The similes and metaphors emphasize the sense of distance and separation between the two characters, while the personification and alliteration add depth and texture to the imagery. The enjambment and rhetorical questions create a sense of urgency and frustration, reflecting the tension and conflict that exists between the father and son. Overall, the skillful use of figures of speech in "Father to Son" enhances the poem's emotional impact and conveys the complex dynamics of the relationship between the two characters.