...Priscilla Camarena Intro to Poetry Essay #1 When envisioning winter Sunday memories of hot cocoa, snowmen, and Christmas appear. However Robert Hayden’s poem Those Winter Sundays is quite the opposite. In fact it illustrates the lack of relationship between a father and son. It is through Hayden’s usage of techniques imagery and diction which allows for the regret and sense of loss felt by the narrator. Hayden’s subtlety in the poem forces it to be carefully read so that the reader may reflect on the misunderstandings of their own relationship with their parent. The first line provides a hint to the reader on who the narrator is, “Sundays too my father…” this can possibly be a father reminiscing. An adult is reminiscing on the strenuous relationship he had with his father. It can be inferred that the narrator is a male due to the narrator’s shoes being “polished.” Only men during those this period polished their shoes. “Speaking indifferently to him,” reflects a sense of male pride that may be impeding the development of their relationship. Sunday and the “polished good shoes,” can represent the Sabbath or the Catholic Church. It can even allude to the relationship between God and his son Jesus Christ who happens to be born during winter. The difficulty in Jesus Christ understanding the methods of his Father, God. Another allusion that can be made is through the word “chronic” that can represent the revolt between Zeus and his father Cronus. A tone of remorse and regret...
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...TPS-FASTT “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden Title: Perhaps the poem is a description of the coziness and the joy of Sundays during winter; a time for indoors, family, hot chocolate, etc. I expect much imagery pertaining to cold weather, togetherness, and other winter wonderland type visuals. The word “those” is used to describe the winter Sundays, so therefore it is looked at as a common topic. Paraphrase: Both the son and his father got up early on Sundays, his father put his clothes on in the cold, and with his aching, cracked hands from the labor and weather, he put on the fire, and no one thanked him. The son woke up to feel the cold break with the fire, and his father called him when it was warm, he would dress, so that his father would not lecture him. The son spoke indifferently to the man who drove out the cold and polished his shoes. He explains that he didn’t know of love’s austere and lonely offices. Speaker: The speaker could be Robert Hayden himself, describing his regret for not appreciating his loving father. He is depicted in the poem as a little boy, oblivious to his father’s hard work and care and only concern about his dislike for the lectures. He regrets “speaking indifferently” (10) to his father and explains, “What did I know, what did I know of love...” (13). Figurative Language:` In the first stanza there is much repetition of consonants, “The blueblack cold, with cracked hands that ached, from labor in the weekday...
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...Robert Hayden 1913-1980 Those winter Sundays Sundays too my father got up early And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, Then with cracked hands that ached From labor in the weekday weather made Banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, And slowly I would rise and dress, Fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, Who had driven out the cold And polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know Of love’s austere and lonely offices? Poem “Those Winter Sundays” is wrote by Robert Hayden, generally seen as a crafted lyric on a universal theme---paternal love, describing a past day and showing a present reverence for author’s father. The title “Those Wither Sundays” emphasizes the time background. It is Sundays, not Tuesdays or Fridays. Sundays are days at home, days completely belongs to ourselves, days that we see our families the most. Hayden recalls the past and realizes how much he had to thank his father. It was a normal Sunday in winter when the author was a little boy; his father got up early, made the fire with his “cracked hands”, woke him up and polished shoes for him. The theme is presented directly and explicitly through every rich physical detail. The poem doesn’t use a masculine pronoun; it sounds more like a woman’s. Through the choice of the gender of voice, I can see the speaker is a soft and sensitive man...
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...Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” is a poem describing typically Sundays during the winter season. Hayden begins the poem with the father's getting up in the early morning making the necessary adjustment warming the house for his family to start the day after a long week of work. The element of figurative language that enriches imagery and sounding are an essential element of this poem contributing to the message of “Those Winter Sunday”. The element of figurative language with the use of metaphor and personification enriches the imagery of the temperature of the house. Hayden help illustrates the coldness of the house by stating: “fearing the chronic angers of that house, (2. 9). This metaphor helps explain the reason for the son of wanting to not leave his warm cozy room and he mentally not prepares to embrace the cold temperature of the rest of the house. The line also shows personification by giving the house, human characteristic in which also enhances the imagery. “Chronic angers” show's emphasis on the cold temperature of the house and conflict among the family....
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...Robert Hayden in "Those Winter Sunday" focus on the relationship between father and child and all the mixed feelings that come with it: love, admiration, fear, misunderstanding, and even hate. He couldn't understand these feeling until he got older, but it was too late for him to tell his father what he learned and how much he is thankful and grateful for his father's sacrifices, hard work, care, and for all the cold Sunday mornings " Those Winter Sundays" when he had to wake up earlier than the rest to worm the house for them. With cold weather and cold memory the speaker goes back from the present as an adult to his childhood, using a formal diction when he describe the old days with all the details, to indicate the personal attached in the poem and the extent of contact to the speaker and his past. the speaker uses vivid images to portray his father in the poem as a powerful father as he said also " Who had driven out the cold" (11) as if his father forced the cold to leave "hear the cold splintering, breaking (6)" who challenges the harsh "blueblack cold" (2) for his family with "cracked hands" (3). But then with words full of remorse "No one ever thanked him" (5) he gets back to hint that his father does not get the right appreciation for his hard work in the past and not in the present, too. Again, with shy words the speaker describes his childhood and how his father made this life warm and better for him, life full with warmth "when the rooms were worm, he'd call" (7)...
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...In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, ‘It might have been.’ ” In the poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” Robert Hayden reflects on what might have been. He remembers his failings as a child. Specifically, Hayden reflects on his unappreciativeness towards his father. Towards a man who did his best to give him a good life. Since Hayden deeply regretted his ungratefulness towards his father as a child, he used imagery, personification, symbolism, and other devices to craft an inspiring poem that teaches a moral lesson about gratitude and thankfulness. At its heart, this poem is about love. It’s about the regret that the speaker has for not loving his father enough during his childhood. As a child, the speaker...
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...Humans are born to be naturally selfish, cruel, and hypocritical even if they were taught “good morals”. The poems “Those Winter Sundays” and “Rite of Passage”,the book “Lord of the Flies”, Zimbardo prison study, and through personal experiences shows the evil behind mankind. The poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “Rite of Passage” by Sharon Olds both shows the evil of mankind. In the “Rite of Passage” the author depicts a birthday party where kids of various ages gather. A quarrel between a six and seven year old “men” arises where the seven says he could easily beat up the six, but is soon resolved as another kid says, “We could easily kill a two-year-old” (22). This shows that kids at such a young age are naturally aggressive...
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...From starting a fire in the morning, to giving life advice, to making sacrifices for their children, parents manifest their love in numerous, tangible and intangible ways. These subtle indications of affection are the driving forces behind two poems written with the same theme: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. In the two poems, the authors reveal the different ways in which parents show love for their children through point of view, imagery, and symbolism; however each poem deals with a different method of demonstrating their kindness. The two poems use different points of view to convey their similar messages to the reader. While both use first person point of view, “Mother to Son” is told from...
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...A Discussion of “Those Winter Sundays” The words of “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden encapsulate a single repetitious memory for the speaker. The emotion-filled recollection serves as the vehicle to express the true theme of this poem: guilt. The speaker recalls his father’s small acts of love, like starting a fire to warm the house or shining the speaker’s shoes for church, that were unappreciated during his childhood. The statements supporting the underlying theme of guilt vary in their degree of literalness, but the speaker’s remorse remains steady. “Those Winter Sundays” represents the memories of a child as considered by the perspective of an adult. The resulting conclusion is one of guilt and regret that the speaker failed to thank his father for the sacrifices he made to the family. The opening stanza of this poem describes the father’s Sunday morning routine before work. The poet utilizes imagery and sensory descriptions to represent the toll that difficult labor took on the dedicated father’s body and spirit. “With cracked hands that ached,” the father lived a life of sacrifice as he dressed in the cold and worked six days a week. Less literal, but equally important, is the indication from this stanza that the speaker’s family was monetarily poor. The necessity to work diligently six days a week and the inability to heat the house throughout the night support the likelihood that this family struggled to meet basic needs. The final line of the first stanza...
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...The poems “My Papas Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden are similar and yet drastically different poems. The poems are similar because they share a main theme. The main theme is the two speakers of the poems are remembering their fathers. Both of the fathers in the poem seem to some many similarities, but for the most part are very different Individuals. Firstly, in the poem “My Papas Waltz”, the speaker describes his father and himself dancing. The speaker alludes that the poem is a memory from his child hood. Implied in the lines "The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke lines 1-2). More importantly he depicts his father as an alcoholic. Unlike the father in the poem “Those Winter Sundays” where there is no mention of alcohol. Furthermore the speaker’s perspective is son or daughter reminiscing the things the father did for him or her as a child....
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...one of the most important things a child can have. A good relationship with one’s father results in a more stable life and mindset. Both My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden display father and son relationships. These poems have complications in the relationship between the two, but My Papa’s Waltz is a more negative complication. Those Winter Sundays shows more of a misunderstanding from the son’s point of view. Negative complications help emphasise how important a healthy relationship between a father and son is. My Papa’s Waltz shows a conflicting relationship between father and son. The boy seems to love his father. This is evidenced by the boy...
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...“My Papa’s Waltz” vs “Those Winter Sunday’s” Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sunday’s” are two hearts felt poems that are somewhat similar about respected fathers. In these two poems, both authors take an admiring look back at some of the most memorable actions of their fathers. It is clearly implied that their fathers were not perfect by any means, but deeply loved. The authors wanted us to see how much their fathers loved them, but by reading these poems, the love was expressed differently. Although there was unconditional love shown, I feel as if both Roethke and Hayden are expressing painful wounds and unmet needs by their fathers. In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, he wants the readers to understand a very heart breaking and traumatic situation that he encountered with his father in his earlier stages. From reading the poem, it is obvious that his father was a habitual drunkard. The “Waltz” that is mentioned in the story, is a sentimental dance that is shared between Roethke and his father. It is stated, “The Whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; but I hung on like death.” From personal experience, the harsh smell of...
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...Looking back at ones past often resembles memories that are treasured forever or resented. In, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, and in “Photograph of My Father” in His Twenty-Second Year by Raymond Carver, all the narrators have a relationship with their fathers. The narrators describe the negative memories of their father of either: drinking, being abusive, being fearful, or being a negative role model but, all still find the love for their fathers. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” the narrator describes his father as a drinker, “the whiskey on your breath” (line 1). The narrator wasn’t happy with his drinking, it made him feel sick, “Could make a small boy dizzy” (2) Similar to the narrator in “Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year,” demonstrates he was bothered and ashamed of his father, “I study my father’s embarrassed young man’s face. / Sheepish grin, he holds in one hand a sting/ of spiny yellow perch, in the other/ a bottle of Carlsbad beer” (lines 2-5). Both narrators have a negative memory of their fathers drinking. Different from the other narrators, in “Those Winter Sundays,” the narrator has a negative memory of his father calling him, “When the rooms were warm, he’d call,/ and slowly I would rise and dress, /fearing the chronic angers of that house” (lines 7-9). All the narrators had negative memories of their fathers. All three narrators had role model figure from their fathers. “In My Papa’s Waltz,” the narrator...
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...The poem titled "Those Winter Days" by Robert Hayden, the text from the Compact Literature (KIRSZNER & MANDELL), is about a hard working father who expresses the love he has for his son by doing simple things on a sunday morning. The poem is about a lonely father who wakes up on early on a sunday. Typically sunday is supposed to be a resting day, a day when you get to sleep in and relax but not this father. Regardless of that he wakes up early and does and with the hard labor that his hand have experienced throughout the weekday he *lyric poem, free verse *Two themes are love and ingratitude stanza1 Those Winter Sundays" tells about a father from his child's point of view. The first line "Sundays too my father got up early" (Hayden 1) indicates that the father wakes up early everyday, presumably part of his sacrifice to earn a living for his family as head of the household. The rest of the lines in the first stanza paint the picture of a father who, though it is still dark and though he is tired from working most of the week, tends to the fire - a task he takes upon himself and has never received gratitude for. stanza2 The second stanza describes the child getting up, first waking up to the cold then eventually being enveloped by the warmth of the house that his father started. In spite of the warmth, though, he is not eager to get out of bed but rather, tries to delay joining his father, "fearing the chronic angers of that house stanza3 Finally, the last...
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...Jiazhuo Mi 107A 006 Those Winter Sundays According to “Those Winter Sundays” is about love., which is not only between young lovers like Romeo and Juliet, but also the serious and deep familial love between children and parents. This kind of love is able to get you up at the crack of dawn, even when you are exhausted from a long week of hard working ,which is quiet 、 brave and unselfish. It is not showy, because there are no big hugs and kisses, which means that it can slip by unnoticed easily. “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him." According to this part of the essay, his father gets up very early every Sunday morning to light fires in the fireplaces to warm up their home, which reminds us of how a great father's love is. what day is Sunday ? As everyone knows ,it is probably a church day on which everyone should take a rest. It sounds like father never gets to sleep in, his dad is just tuckered out from an intense work week. But, in fact , everyone needs to sleep in once in a while. Then the author tells us how early his father wakes. it’s “blueblack” outside, which means it must be before sunrise. So that is going to be super cold out. Even the word itself feels cold. When I heard “blueblack,” I felt like that I were being...
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