Even If You Weren T My Father

Unconditional Love. We all have someone that we could love even if they were a complete stranger. In the poem “Even If You Weren’t My Father” by Camillo Sbarbaro, is about how a young girl states that she would love her father even if he was a complete stranger. This is a sonnet and the theme of this poem is unconditional love. The literary devices that are used are diction and imagery.
When I first read the title of the poem I grasped a good understanding of the message and theme. This poem made feel happy for the girl because of how positive her relationship was with her father. Using words like “innocent and violet” really help set the lighthearted and uplifting tone for this poem. Also using imagery help describe the setting of the
poem.

In the first stanza the girl talks about how her father and how he would appreciate the small things in life and how he would make them appreciate them too. “Remembering how you saw, one winter morning, the first violet on the wall across the way, and with what joy you shared the revelation; then, hoisting the ladder to your shoulder, out you went and propped it to the wall.” In the second stanza she tells a story about when her sister was misbehaving and her father chased her around the house trying to discipline, but when he saw that she was scared and crying he stopped and comforted her. In the final stanza she simply states how even if her father was a stranger that she would still love him. “Father, even were you not my father,were you some utter stranger, for your innocence, your artless tender heart I would above all other men so love you.