Literary Devices In Those Winter Sundays

“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.

The poems “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke both reflect upon the relationship between a father and his son. The two poems outline two different situations, but a combination of negative and positive feelings are present in both. In “Those Winter Sundays” a son realizes his father’s unappreciated acts of love and feels guilt for not appreciating him. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” a son, though abused, longs to gain the love of his father. The two poems are both able to portray a relationship between father and son that contains a mixture of love and harshness.

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

In Those Winter Sundays, Eating Alone, and My Papa’s Waltz, the speakers all experience some form of isolation, while recalling their childhood relationship with fathers. This isolation causes loneliness, which then takes a variety of forms such as emotional, physical, or both. The fact that these authors brought to our attention these specific poems, shows that children inherit certain values from their emotional connection with their fathers in childhood, and take those values with them into adulthood, and into their own families.

While the poems portray two different perspectives of a father, both poems feature a torn relationship between the narrator and the narrator’s father. In Hayden’s poem, the narrator talks of his relationship with his father by describing the services he did with, “No one ever thanked him” (5). Among those who never shared their appreciation for what the father did is the narrator himself. The fifth line of the poem suggests that the narrator and his father did not speak comfortably or frequently when he was a child, and he obviously regrets it. The father does many things for his son and family, yet the narrator does not thank him for any of it. The son did not appreciate his father’s acts of love until it was too late. Comparatively, Clifton’s poem features a daughter who has a broken relationship with her father because of the resentment she

Regret is an emotion that sometime creeps up on us. We don’t realize it until it is too late. People experience regret in several ways. They may experience it right away or they may not experience it until later on. They may also act on the regret in different ways. In “Those Winter Sunday’s,” Robert Hayden varies his point of view in order to convey a tone of regret. He achieves this by using diction, imagery, and symbolism.

Have you ever felt unappreciated for doing something for someone? As children, people do not realize how much parents provide for them until they’re older. In the poem Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, it talks about a father who is unappreciated by his family. His child reminisces about the sacrifices his father made because he did not appreciate him for it when he was younger. This poem shows reflection upon selfless love that may have gone unnoticed in our lives.

In his poem “Those Winter Sundays” Robert Hayden he uses symbolism, imagery, and repetition to characterize the son’s feelings as regretful towards his father. Hayden uses the “cold” in each stanza which symbolizes the distance between the son and father, showing that the son could not clearly see that his father loved him. Hayden uses imagery with the “cracked hands” to describe how the father shows his hard work and dedication for his son. The son notices his cracked hands but only associates it with his father's work and not with how his father is also trying to support his family. On the second to last line is says, “What did I know, what did I know”.

In "Those Winter Sundays" Hayden tells a story about a son looking back at his father during his childhood. The poem describes a father that through words doesn't necessarily show love or affection towards his family. It captures the need of love from a distant father to his child. Through reading this poem, it is discovered that the love the son was looking for was always present it was just communicated more through the fathers efforts and less through the type of tenderness that is expected from a child. He explains in small details his fathers suffering. The man

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.

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

In the story “those winter Sunday” by Robert Hayden, He tells about an adult who looks back on his childhood relationship with his father. Reading the poem there is separation between the father n son, a lack of communication. As a child it seem as if he feared his father but now as an adult he reminisce about his father with love. The young boy who is now an adult appreciate his father hard work in and out of the home. Hayden's poem consist of only 14 lines but each line is filled with amazing power and meaning. Hayden brings out in this poem the lack of appreciation of youth , self sacrifice and Regret.

“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.

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.

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.