“What did I know, what did I know, of love’s austere and lonely offices?” This is the heartbreaking moment of recognition when the speaker in “Those Winter Sundays” finally regrets his disregard for his father’s love as a child. In “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, the authors illustrate the common message that many children are ungrateful for the unconditional care and support they receive from their parents. Both texts highlight the idea that a parent figure’s job is not simple; their hard work and effort is often dismissed and taken for granted. For instance, Robert Hayden reflects on growing up ignoring his father’s care; Amy Tan describes her adolescence and the unappreciation she had for the lessons her mother taught her. Their stories vividly illustrate that a good parent will care for their child …show more content…
"Those Winter Sundays” is a powerful poem that grasps a personal story about a father-child relationship. In the poem, the speaker remorsefully reflects on his apathy toward his father as a child. He says: “What did I know, what did I know, / of love’s austere and lonely offices?” (Hayden 4). In this quote, the word “office” means an assigned or assumed duty. Hayden chooses this particular word to emphasize the struggles of loving somebody while also having to assume responsibility for them. People often don’t realize that love isn’t only cheerful and happy; instead, there is also heavy responsibility involved. The author doesn’t use the word “sweet” in front of the word “offices”, but instead uses “lonely”, which portrays the dutiful and often desolate nature of love. Thus, the father in “Those Winter Sundays” is a good parent because he recognizes that being a strong parent involves taking responsibility of the child, even if they do not understand or appreciate the
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
Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world because the parents have to understand and guide their parents. In “Ode on the Whole Duty of Parents” by Frances Cornford, a child explains about how the parent’s role changes throughout different points of the his or her’s life. On the other hand, the “Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad” by Jan Heller Levi is about a child explaining how she had a father that was not the best, but tries his best to be one. Sadly, their relationship is strained due some problems between the child and father. In both these poems, parenting is shown through the ways the parents will treat their child and their emotions toward the child.
Authors tend to write on subjects that they know the most about, or subjects that affect them on a personal level. Authors and poets use various aspects of life for the basis of their works, such as life experiences, romances, and family roles. Poems like “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “Forgiving My Father” by Lucille Clifton feature one of the most important roles in a family: a father. The two poems differ vastly in many regards, but many similarities surface among them and a common theme resides between them. Through the similarities they hold, the poems represent a common theme of regret for one’s lack of action.
Imagine a world where people’s actions did not define us. In the excerpt The Book The Thief by Markus Zusak, the character Death interacts with others and their emotions. In the excerpt Night by Elie Wiesel, he was sent to concentration and lost faith in humanity. In the poem Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden, the father and his sons relationship is put to the test when they do not show their love for each other as much as they should. Interactions with others define us when we are unable unable to show our love to someone, take away our rights, and when they change how we view things in life.
These two styles of parenting are both ineffective in fostering the talent and passions of their children at early ages. One unable to maintain a stable, healthy relationship during early childhood years and the other being too overbearing over the child's decisions in life caused the children to both undergo an avoidable difficult childhood. The result of each mother’s parenting is the opposite of what the mother’s had hoped their parental
In “Those Winter Sundays” the father isn’t shown the appreciation he deserves. He gets up early on Sundays and works with “cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather” (3-4). In “ My Papa’s Waltz,” the father is not as hard-working as the father in “Those Winter Sundays.” He was a drunk, as shown in the text when, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). This poem
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 Susan Wood’s poem “Eggs,” she describes what her mornings were like growing up and how they later affected her parenting. She discusses that if she had sat down with her father to work through their issues rather than argue, they could have been happier people in the end. To emphasize these points, she uses repetition and pattern to create a feeling of hostility toward her childhood. Wood’s use of diction and allusion illustrates the speaker’s attitude toward mornings and her upbringing to shed light on how harboring feelings can create animosity toward family members.
Analysis of “Those Winter Sundays” By Ben and Matisse The title of “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden immediately indicates to the reader that the poem takes place in the past of the author, although it is not made known at this point what the author’s feelings are towards this part of his past. It becomes quite clear as we analyze the poem itself that the author’s purpose in writing this poem is to show that people show their love in different ways and that it is important to recognize love in all its forms rather than take it for granted. The theme of the poem could be summarized with the statement that we often take for granted, or even entirely miss other people’s love, and that we should strive not to do that.
Everyone has a father. No matter if the father is present in a child’s life or not, he still exists and takes that role. A father has a major impact on his child whether he knows it or not, and that impact and example shapes the child’s perspective on life, and on love. The authors, Robert Hayden and Lucille Clifton, share the impact of their fathers through poetry, each with their own take on how their fathers treated them. The poems “Forgiving My Father” and “Those Winter Sundays” have significant differences in the speaker’s childhood experiences, the tone of the works, and the imagery presented, which all relate to the different themes of each poem.
In both “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “forgiving my father” by Lucille Clifton, the speakers have deep discontent with their fathers. They both describe issues they had with their father when they were a child, which resulted in lack of respect. In contrast, both poems show a different healing outcome of the child, that is now an adult, and their lasting opinions of their father. Both poems represent a way a child can deal with a childhood issue with a parent and what it is like to either overcome it or still have it festering inside.
"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.
Although everyone has a father, the relationship that each person has with his or her father is different. Some are close to their fathers, while some are distant; some children adore their fathers, while other children despise them. For example, in Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” Hayden writes about his regret that he did not show his love for his hardworking father sooner. In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” she writes about her hatred for her brute father. Despite both authors writing on the same topic, the two pieces are remarkably different. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” have different themes that are assembled when the authors put their different uses of imagery, tone, and characterization together.
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