Poems In Those Winter Sundays, By Robert Hayden

Poem: “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden The poem “Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden was actually about a little boy and his father who has an uninteresting relationship with his dad. In this poem, it tells us the readers about things the father does for his family most especially his son without being rewarded for his hard work. According to the poem, the speaker fears his father so much maybe that is why the speaker(son) father become so wicked to them especially the speaker(son) due to the much pains that his father went through for his family.

"Those Winter Sundays" is a very touching poem. It is written by Robert Hayden who has written many other poems. This paper will talk about the poem "Those Winter Sundays". In particular we will look at the structure, main idea, and each stanza of the poem.

The title "Those Winter Sundays" is used to look back on the writer's childhood. In combination with the sonnet, the title emphasizes the guilt the author faces for not honoring his father when he had the chance. For instance, the father was still working diligently during the winter season to ensure his kid's comfort. Even on Sundays the father was up early and polished the child shoes for church. Regardless of the fathers' efforts, the child is not able to value them. Subsequently, after the passing of his father, the child asks himself, "What did I know, what did I know/ of love’s austere and lonely offices" (Hayden 13-14)? Naturally, the child is pondering the time he wasted by not giving the best regards to his compassionate father, whereas the following poem's writer embraces his unflattering father, even in the title.

¨Those Winter Sundays¨ by Robert Hayden and ¨Snapping Beans¨ by Lisa Parker are two different narrative poems that share the same theme. Similarly both poems consist of a speaker being affected by the relationship they have with their elders. In ¨Those Winter Sundays¨ the speaker tells us about his hardworking father who takes care of his kids even though he may come off as a harsh father. The speaker of ¨Snapping Beans¨ is a granddaughter who discusses about the change that she is going through but is afraid to tell the person that raised her. Therefore this essay compares the two poems with respect to the speaker's feelings and morals.

Regret is shown in “Those Winter Sunday’s” by using diction. The way he uses the words in the poem help the reader understand the regret the narrator is feeling. Robert Hayden’s diction makes the poem run smoothly and easy to understand and read. The diction in the last stanza is calmer than in the other two. The third stanza shows that the narrator understood what his father went through and that his father really loved him. The words in the first two stanzas are harsher. Two examples are “blackblue cold” and “cracked hands” (540). Robert Hayden choice these words for emphasis. He also uses these words as a contrast. A contrast between hot and cold. An example of this is when he says, “and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (540). He is emphasizing how cold the air was compared to his warm clothes. Hayden emphasis the work that the father had to go through so his family did not have too.

“Those Winter Sundays”, by Robert Hayden, is a coming of age poem due to the remorse felt at the end of the poem. The poem follows the life of the narrator when he was young. It becomes clear that the poem is taking place in the past from the use of the word “Those” in the tittle. The tittle also sets up the tone and atmosphere: winter is typically a cold, dark, and unforgiving time of the year. The use of the straightforward tittle helps show what the piece is about.

Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” was written in 1962, as a way to express gratitude for his father as well as the regret he feels for not showing enough appreciation towards him. In the beginning of the short poem, the speaker introduces the cold and uncomfortable tone: regret for not valuing his father. This poem focuses on family relationships and the regret of a missed opportunity. The title of the poem “Those Winter Sundays” is full of meaning.

Robert’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” demonstrates his memory of past now makes he realize his understatement of his father, compactness imagery well describes his father’s personality and characteristic. Combined with reminiscence

Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden is a poem about a father who never gets thanked for all he does. The poem starts off with a brief description of the narrator's father and setting. In Jeannine Johnson's critique of this poem she states how the everything in the poem might have a different meaning then what is written. Meaning how the author might of tried to write this poem so others can come up with their own opinions on what it’s truly about.

Through and repetition, Robert Hayden successfully conveys a remorseful tone in his poem “Those Winter Sundays”. Alliterations illustrate the intensity of the speaker’s father’s laborious responsibilities. The father puts his clothes on “in the blueblack cold”, implicitly depicting the “blackblue” bruises covering his skin, as the color describes, or the bleak, frigid conditions he has to work under. This shows the strenuous effort the father exerted to support his family, even in unfavorable “weekday weather”, exhibiting the speaker’s present appreciation.

Those Winter Sundays written by Robert Hayden is a 14 line poem about a memory. Looking back on our lives, it is sometimes the things we overlooked that meant the most. The writer talks about the actions of a father who every Sunday wakes early to conscientiously make a fire and polish the good shoes for his son. Later on it is when the child realizes that his father is a hard working parent and sacrifices his Sundays for him. This poem is shaped like a sonnet but does not follow any of the ordinary sonnet forms.

Courtney Quinn Perrine Poem “Those Winter Sundays” The complex reality of father-son relationships is broken down through the memories of a son. Ashamed of taking his hardworking father for granted as a child, Robert Hayden pays tribute to his father through that art of imagery. This simplistic poem with no rhyme scheme is packed with admiration as Hayden’s love for his father becomes more apparent.

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden depicts a son’s maturation and realization of the vastness of what love is and how it is portrayed. More specifically, a dysfunctional father-son relationship is detailed as the father undertakes seemingly indirect but arduous acts that contribute towards a homely environment. As a result, the poem reveals that love isn’t always evident as it is displayed through a plethora of vehicles. Hayden bolsters this theme through a variety of strategies like harsh consonance and symbolism.

Although Robert Hayden and Sylvia Plath both use vivid imagery to display their fathers, the way the authors use imagery is different. In Plath’s “Daddy,” she uses imagery to paint a dark picture of a Nazi who holds the title of her father. She uses imagery to compare her father to a black, confining shoe. She compares herself to a foot that has been living in the shoe for thirty years (Plath 290). The shoe metaphor represents her confinement under her father’s rule, but she is finally free. Because freedom from confinement is one of the main themes for “Daddy,” Plath’s use of imagery contributes to the theme of the poem. Conversely, Robert Hayden uses imagery in “Those Winter Sundays” to display his father’s work ethic. He uses works like, “cracked hands,” and “blueblack cold,” to show the conditions that his father went through because of his love for his children (Hayden 288). Hayden’s use of imagery helps to show the theme of “Those Winter Sundays,” regret for being unappreciative of a father’s love, by showing the obstacles that Hayden’s father went through for his son. The authors use of imagery helps display the overall themes of the poems by demonstrating their fathers’ character.

Have you ever had that one weird uncle that asks you a really odd question about your day? Like an uncle that says, “Why doesn’t McDonald's sell hotdogs?” Well, just remember that although he might sound kind of creepy, he’s doing it out of love. In “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, the central theme that Hayden is trying to get through is that love comes in many forms. This concept will be shown through the intricate figurative language of the sentences, as well as the structural notions of the poem.