Those Winter Sundays
In “Those Winter Sundays”, Robert Hayden introduces us to the theme of love unlike in any other poems. The theme of love in this poem is different from any other contemporary love themes because here, Hayden doesn’t talk about the amorously affectionate emotion between young lovers like Romeo and Juliet, but the deep familial love between a parent and a child. This kind of love is not pretentious. Their love is not exhibited by kisses or hugs; while it may go unnoticed it is always in existence. Hayden showcases the love between the parent and a child as the most selfless and strongest love of them all. Hayden defines an unspoken love and offers us a glimpse into an ordinary father-child relationship by the use of literary elements such as sound, point of view of the speaker and imagery with vivid description that includes details that appeal to the senses.
“Those Winter Sundays” is a short lyric poem. It is written in a simple language and is clear and precise. Its metaphors are those of everyday life. The opening stanza of the poem, which refers to “my father,” establishes a first-person speaker. It also shows that the speaker is recalling a time when he was a child. The speaker presents us with the atmosphere around which his father worked. For example in lines one and two, “Sundays too my father got up early/blueblack cold” (1-2). Here the “Sundays”, and the “early” signifies the great devotion of speaker’s father. He gets up early even on Sundays,
Those Winter Sundays focuses on the idea that parents, specifically this father, are willing to do anything for their children’s well being and comfort even if that means working constantly and giving up their own luxuries. This is evident when it says, “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking./ When the rooms were warm, he’d call,/ and polished my good shoes as well. ” (6-8). The son wakes up to the sounds of the cold, but never has to experience it himself. He remains snuggling in his warm blankets because his gracious father would sacrifice his comfort to push out the cold for his children. Only
In the poem, “Those Winter Sundays” the speaker talks about his father leaving for “labor”. Curiously, the father goes to work on a Sunday, the speaker then elaborates how his father goes to work very early “with cracked hands that ached” (3). The theme of this poem is that love does not always appear in a friendly or lovable form. Lines like “I would rise and dress/fearing the chronic angers of that house” (8-9), we can see that the speaker lives in a dysfunctional house and imagery of cold and harshness "cracked hands that ached," (3) "blueblack cold." (2). The reader can also interpret that the speaker and the father have a dysfunctional relationship, “the chronic angers of that house” (9) The diction the author uses, can be used to give
In Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” tells of an individual reminiscing about their father and the sacrifices he made to provide for them. In the poem, the father was not appreciated for his contribution but the narrator seems to now acknowledge the hard work of the father. As the poem progresses the tone of the narrator is one of regret and remorse. The relationship of the parent and child is often one of misunderstanding and conflict until the experiences life more and come in grasps of the parent’s intention. So, the relation between a parent and child evolves as the child emerges to adulthood.
"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 poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden is an interesting poem. This poem tells of an adult’s perspective of his father. From the poem, it is clear that there is the distance between the child and the father and inadequate communication. However, at the end of the poem, readers discover that love was present between the two. Although this poem is only 14 lines, it is packed with remarkable power in every single line.
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.
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “My Father as a Guitar” by Martin Espada, and “Digging” by Seamus Heaney are three poems that look into the past of the authors and dig up memories of the authors fathers. The poems contain similar conflicts, settings, and themes that are essential in helping the reader understand the heartfelt feelings the authors have for their fathers. With the authors of the three poems all living the gust of their life in the 1900’s, their biographical will be similar and easier to connect with each other.
Similarly, Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays starts with a young adult reflecting back on his childhood and remembering how hard his father worked. He thinks back and his tone is of admiration and respect. This is apparent when the young man reflects, “Sundays too my father got up early…No one ever thanked him.” (Hayden, 1-5) The young man is realizing how hard his father worked and how little recognition he got. This makes a certain degree of guilt come over the young man. He remembers “fearing the chronic angers of that house” (Hayden, 9) and dislikes his father because of it by “speaking indifferently to him” (Hayden, 10). Then the
While most of us think back to memories of our childhood and our relationships with our parents, we all have what he would call defining moments in our views of motherhood or fatherhood. It is clearly evident that both Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden have much to say about the roles of fathers in their two poems as well. While the relationships with their fathers differ somewhat, both men are thinking back to a defining moment in their childhood and remembering it with a poem. "My Papa's Waltz" and "Those Winter Sundays" both give the reader a snapshot view of one defining moment in their childhood, and these moments speak about the way these children view their fathers. Told now years later, they understand even more about these
“Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden describes a father relationship during the cold mornings. The poem focuses on a child’s memory where they’re looking back at a certain point in life that they regret. The speaker starts off the poem reflecting on his past, more importantly his relationship with his father.
Being a child is one of the hardest stages in a person’s life. They go through doing all the wrong things in order to learn how to do the right things, and then they socially develop into a sensible mature adult. During this stage of a young child's life, the roles of parenting are absolutely crucial and determine a child’s role that he/she is going to play in society in the future. This is a crucial part of everyone’s life, they need to learn what they are good at and what they are not good at. In the poem "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, there is a sense that the narrator does not have a special bond with his father when he was a young boy, and that there is a sense of fear toward his father. I
As we grow up, whether it is our parents or others, we are given help to build a better future. In “Those Winter Sundays”, the speakers father provides large quantities of aid toward the speaker. In the first line of the first stanza, “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold.” Hayden notes two very small details that are awfully important. The first two words encompass a great deal of love, “Sundays too.”. The word too implies that not only does the father wake
“Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden, depicts the ungratefulness that a young boy has towards his hardworking father. Later in the poem, as he matures, he begins to realize everything his father has done for him, and his feelings suddenly change. Throughout the poem, Hayden uses numerous examples of imagery, personification, and foreshadowing to show how the speaker’s attitude regarding his father transforms from the perspective of a child to the perspective of an adult.
In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, the speaker is reflecting on his past with his father, but mainly the Sunday mornings he experienced during his childhood. Throughout the poem, there also happens to be a very dark and possibly even somber tone, which is shown by using several different types of literary devices. Hayden utilizes strong imagery supported by diction and substantial symbolism comprehensively. Furthermore, there are various examples of both alliteration and assonances. The poem does not rhyme and its meter has little to no order. Although the father labors diligently all day long, and he still manages to be a caring person in his son’s life. The poem’s main conflict comes from the son not realizing how good his father actually was to him until he was much older. When the speaker was a young boy, he regarded his father as a callous man due to his stern attitude and apparent lack of proper affection towards him. Now that the son is older, he discovers that even though his father did not express his love in words, he consistently did with his acts of kindness and selflessness.