"Ancestor" by Thomas Kinsella is about the relationship between an elderly lady and a young child. The child and elderly lady are related, probably grandmother and a grandchild. The poem demonstrates the gap between the young and old generations and shows how it can be hard for younger generations to communicate with the older generations. The poem has no rhyme scheme and the stanzas are all of different lengths. The poet put imagery to good use in this poem which helps facilitate the readers imagination of what is going on. The narrator of the poem is the grandchild and therefore is told in the viewpoint of the child. The tone of the poem is gloomy and sombre.

The first phrase of the first stanza is of significance because it establishes the relationship between the grandmother and grandchild. The child "was going up to say something" to his grandmother...