Those Winter Sundays In Those Winter Sundays By Robert Hayden

“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,

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.

Fathers are often the parent who kids, especially sons, look up to and use as an inspiration. They inspire them to one day become successful in life and be able to provide for a family of their own, similar to how they, the fathers, did. This is apparent in both, the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and the image of a baby holding on to his father's middle finger by Alex Taylor. The writer and photographer both portray the father and son relationship as one that requires a great deal of sacrifice by the father in order for their sons to lead a better life, whether this is in the form of education or even just a warm home to wake up in. However, they are able to get these points across in different ways, whether it is through the

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 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.

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.

¨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.

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

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 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.