“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden uses both visual and tactile imagery to show the main characters view change of his father from negative to positive. Visual imagery applies itself to the colors in the poems to convey the change while tactile uses feelings, such as the feeling of different temperatures, to portray the message of growth and understanding of love in its different forms. The poem tells the reader a story of how this boy’s father did not show him the stereotypical mushy kind of love, instead the father put all of his love into take care of the child. This lead the boy to feel abandoned and hated by his dad. Once he got older, however, his view of him changed. He remembered how the father each morning would start a fire to warm the house and how he'd shine his shoes, even though he was constantly tired. “What did I know… of love’s austere and lonely offices?” The main character realized that love comes in many shapes and forms. He felt unloved because at a young age, if it’s not obvious and straight forward, they …show more content…
The father showed his love by making sure the son was warm and looked presentable, the only way a hardworking man as himself could show any affection. As a young child, the boy did not find this a love and spent many years resenting his father for not giving him actual love. But just like the house warming the child’s heart slowly accepts the fathers small gestures as love and his soul is finally at ease, because he got nothing but the upmost care and affection from his dad. Both imageries were well used, they helped create the story and were a story in themselves. The colors and feeling could be interpreted in serval ways that only helped convey the message the father was the most caring man the boy had ever known, he just showed his adoration in his
The poem "My Papa's Waltz" uses imagery by especially appealing to the sense of touch. The sense of touch also helps the reader
I am going to perform Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden. in this poem Hayden explains how hard a speaker’s father worked. The term “blue-black cold” depicts the very early cold morning when the sky is between black and blue. It illustrates how early the father wakes up. He wakes up before sunrise which really had with a person who is tired to do that. Although it was difficult for him to wake up this early, he does it anyway to provide for his family. He doesn’t get enough sleep, but he is such a hard worker that the reader is able to grasp his hard work with the description “cracked hands that ached.” His cracked hands that ached further highlights his sacrifice. The word “ached” shows us a strong meaning for hard work. It shows that
Cormac McCarthy fills this passage with tons of imagery and personification that forms a depth about the feelings that the characters were experiencing. This brings us as the readers into the novel, not just looking at the pages. “The warming house creaked and groaned” (p. 68); this quote that is in the beginning of the passage is not only a personification but also an oxymoron. The “warming house” does not have the power to literally creak and groan, but gives the readers the feelings of unstably frightened. In addition, the “warming house” does not seem warm after describing it as creaky and groaning, it does not give the welcoming feeling that a warming house usually gives off. By the middle of the passage, when Papa and the boy were finished with their meal, Papa got up and carried the boy (with a blanket wrapped around him) to the fire to stay warm, “The man rose and came around and carried him to the hearth and put him down in the sheets covered with the blankets … He rose and built back the fire and sat besides the boy and pulled the blankets over him …” (p. 68). These combination of quotes show how the father still manages to keep his son warm, with love and heat, and cares for him. By this point in the novel, Papa has realized that his son is keeping him alive, otherwise there would be no point in living, therefore he is willing to suffer his life to keep him
Writers have their own “special touch” as to how they will sway peoples’ emotions and thoughts with every work they release. In the poem “Those Winter Sundays,” poet Robert Hayden takes advantage of different types of imagery to display deeper levels of emotion. The imagery changes from being cool in nature to warm in nature as the poem’s growth changes. The reader will find, with the use of visual and auditory imagery, that Hayden may understand the force behind his father’s actions, but the father has not and will not be forgiven in the end. With the use of specifically visual and auditory imagery, Hayden is able to effectively display his emotions from
In” Winter Saturday” by Earle Birney, the poet develops the comparison between the farmers and caterpillars by visual and kinesthetic imagery. The harsh weather echoes the farmers’ empty feeling. A storm hit the town and the wind and the snow start while the farmers “find in the Ford their cocoon” (4), implying that they are alone facing the cold weather similar to caterpillars struggling to survive in the cruel nature. Their feeling of void is amplified by the chilling environment which induces their “dreams of light and sound” (7) which matches moths’ behaviour to approach light. When they arrive in the city centre where the lights are concentrated, their movement is compared to the moths beating wings as they “flutter to movie / [and] throb
Hayden uses the juxtaposition of the cold of the outdoors to the warmth of the home that the writer creates to present the father’s love for his child. Although the father did not demonstrate conventional love for the narrator but proved his unconditional love by putting a roof over the child’s head. The winter night is metaphor for the absence of love. Though the child did not comprehend the love the father had for them, they reminiscence upon how the would be left in the cold if the father did not meet the provisions. So the father’s love was not evident in displays of affection but meeting the needs of the child. Most fathers demonstrate their love in what seems like a harsh manner, working most of the time and not spending quality time to fulfil their first role as a father - the provider. Nevertheless as a transformation take place the role of the father or parent become replicated in the adult child. Through understanding the contribution of the caregiver; once empathic response to the parent increases. Hence it closes the gap of differences that exist within the child parent
"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.
¨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.
Roethke paints a light-hearted and joyous reflection of a cherished memory between a father and son. The imagery
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
Family members will sometimes disagree with one another, but no matter what they say, love is always present. In Robert Hayden’s, “Those Winter Sundays”, love is always shown, no matter the circumstances. Throughout stanzas one, two, and three, the speaker and his father are shown caring for one another; however, at times, the speaker dislikes his father and isn’t grateful for all of the work his father does for him. In “Those Winter Sundays”, diction clears a path to show us signs of love between the speaker and the father, even though they are not clear.
“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.
Often times in life, people begin to appreciate relationships when reflecting on one’s previous actions and regretting what one has done. In “Those Winter Sundays,” Robert Hayden describes how a son remembers his father’s sufferings and sacrifices that he did not appreciate in the past. Hayden uses visual and auditory imagery, personification, alliteration, and drastic shifts in tone to show how the son recognizes his father’s physical and emotional pain, and regrets his former indifference.
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.