Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden Essay

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

The next difference that stands out between the two poems is the different tones in the speakers. In the poem by Robert Hayden, the tone comes off as having sadness and regret towards the speaker’s father. The poem says, “What did I know, what did I know of loves austere and lonely offices?” (13). In this writing, the speaker is now older and is looking back on what her father did for her as a child to show his love. She is sad now because, in her mind, she thought that her father did not care about her, but looking back she can clearly see that he loves her, which now makes her regret her relationship with him. In the poem by Lucille Clifton, the tone of the speaker can be perceived as the speaker being bitter and angry towards her father because he never bothered to take care of her and her mother both emotionally and financially. Clifton writes, “But you were the only son of a needy father, and the father of a needy son; you gave her all you had which was nothing” (12). The speaker’s father never gave his family anything, therefore, the speaker wants everything she never got in return. Both of these poems tie into theme in a certain way. “Those Winter Sundays” tone ties back to theme because they deal with regret and sadness because of the love the speaker never knew as a child.

After reading the poem an issue I recognize was that this poem relates to my father.

Children are often too juvenile and ignorant to comprehend all that is done for them. The narrator of this poem is now a grown man and is looking back on his childhood. He says that he would “[speak] indifferently to [his father], who had driven out the cold, and polished my good shoes as well.” (Hayden) After working hard all week to provide for his family, the narrator's father would wake early Sunday mornings to tend to his family. As a grown man, he sees how much effort his father put in to keep him content. Sometimes it was difficult to see this because he was overcome by fear: “...slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic anger of that house.” (Hayden). Though the narrator was intimidated by his father, he still loved and appreciated him. This father- son relationship is unique because the bond grows and develops as a strong connection throughout time, with the help of maturity. The narrator of this poem recognises the unappreciated family sacrifices that are made which only improves the bond between a boy and his

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.

There is another side to this poem where the child admits to his own lack of empathy to his father. I suppose at that time he never realized what his father was doing. The line, "no one ever thanked him" explain the child's regrets.

You said.” Shows that despite both father and son saying the same thing, it has different meaning coming from each. The father doesn’t want to cause any trouble, and feels somewhat embarrassed and ashamed of what he has become. Incapable and weak. The son doesn’t particularly want to physically help him, but he does want to care for his Father, and it is expected of him to do so. These lines of the poem are particularly emotional.

A father-child relationship can be a good thing for some people, and problematic for others. There are different types of fathers. There are fathers who are always around their children, who give unconditional love and guidance. Then there are hard-to-please fathers who drain their children with extremely high expectations, leading to a strained relationship. Moreover, there are fathers who cannot handle the responsibilities that come with fatherhood, this type of fathers walk out on the family when the situation gets tough. Many people see their fathers in one way as a child and grow to see them in a whole different light as adults. The richness and complexity of the child and father relationship are the reason many poets write about fatherhood and fathers.

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

In the poem the speaker tells us about how his father woke up early on Sundays and warmed the house so his family can wake up comfortably. We are also told that as he would dress up and head down stairs he feared ¨the chronic angers of that house¨, which can be some sort of quarrel between his father and his mother in the house. This can also lead the reader to believe that the father may have had been a hard dad to deal with. However the father would polish his son's shoes with his cracked hands that ached. This shows the love that the father had for his son and now that the son has grown he realizes what his father did for him. The sons morals and feelings have changed him because as he has grown to become a man he has learned the true meaning of love is being there for one's family and not expecting it to be more than what it is. Consequently this teaches him a lesson on how much his father loved him and how much he regrets not telling him thank

In the poem, I get a sense that there is no bond, like my father and I have which leads to confusion in the narrator's life. For instance, in line eight when he says, "I would slowly rise and dress,/ fearing the chronic angers of the house"(8-9), this gives me a strong sense of sadness, for him because I feel that he is greatly deprived of what every child should have a good role model as a father, and someone to look up to. “Speaking Indifferently to him, / who had driven out the cold”(10-11) is saying that they really did not know how to communicate with each other. I feel that the boy will regret not having and knowing what it is that makes you who you are, and may never get a chance to have and hold a special bond with his father and having a relationship with a person that can not be held with anyone else. This would bring an enormous amount of sadness to my life had I not had my Dad there to guide and protect me, when I could have used tremendous support and security.

He seems to not realize how much effort the dad uses for him, and he speaks coldly to his father’s warmth. The speaker, however, questions his thinking here. At this moment, he says, “What did I know, what did I know/of love’s austere and lonely offices?” The words lonely and austere give a tone that is sad and placid. They are lonely, but love’s austere shows a presence of love and not hate. Offices, is one’s duty in this way. The father and speaker’s “duty” is to love one another and not cause “cracked hands”. The son seems to finally understand his father’s nourishment towards him. Back in stanza one, the line “No one ever thanked him,” shows that the son is now regretful of his cold words toward his dad. The son and father now can see each other’s love toward one another

“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.

This arising tone of regret and distance is also formed by the speaker’s depiction of his father having “cracked hands that ached,” (1. 3) which further signifies the father’s struggle with the severe coldness. The concept of self-sacrifice is apparent in this portrayal of his father’s disregard to his own pain in order to provide warmth and light for his family’s home. The stirring of “banked fires blaze” (1. 5) within the house,

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.