Those Winter Sunday
ENC 1102
“ Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden is a poem about how the author is recalling how his father would wake up early on Sunday, a day which is usually a rest day by many people, to build a fire for him, so that he could get out of bed in to a warm house. However, he fails to appreciate his father’s love. This poem captures the sense of father and son relationship, and it also is a letter from Hayden to his father (Gallagher 245). It is sad because the son does not talk to his father in a loving way. By the imagery Hayden uses, and also with the tone he set, and the contrast through the imagery that appears in the poem, Hayden gives the readers the idea about his tough relationship with his father. The poet has used a lot of imagery to bring out the meaning of the poem. Hayden starts by using the image of Sunday in line one to mean the day of rest in which Hayden’s father never rested. The father is willing to work for his family. In this poem Hayden creates the same image by saying “Sunday too my father got up early/ and put his clothes in the blueblack cold”(lines1-2). The father cares so immensely that he sacrifices his own comfort for them. Also, the poem begins with imagery that contributes to the felling of winter, such as “blueblack”, “cracked hand”, “fries blaze”, “cold splintering”(line 2,3,56). This symbolizes Hayden inner felling. The winter imagery is representing his cold heart toward his father. Moreover, the imagery changes to the positive, such as “rooms were warm”(line 7). This change shows that Hayden has a change in heart about his father and all of his hard work. He realizes that his attitude was wrong, and his inner thought has been “polished” (line 12). Hayden is also setting a tone for this poem. The title “Those Winter Sundays” lets the readers know that it is cold because it is a winter Sunday. The concept of “early morning” adds to the silent coldness of the title “winter Sunday” (line 1). Also, the
“ Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden is a poem about how the author is recalling how his father would wake up early on Sunday, a day which is usually a rest day by many people, to build a fire for him, so that he could get out of bed in to a warm house. However, he fails to appreciate his father’s love. This poem captures the sense of father and son relationship, and it also is a letter from Hayden to his father (Gallagher 245). It is sad because the son does not talk to his father in a loving way. By the imagery Hayden uses, and also with the tone he set, and the contrast through the imagery that appears in the poem, Hayden gives the readers the idea about his tough relationship with his father. The poet has used a lot of imagery to bring out the meaning of the poem. Hayden starts by using the image of Sunday in line one to mean the day of rest in which Hayden’s father never rested. The father is willing to work for his family. In this poem Hayden creates the same image by saying “Sunday too my father got up early/ and put his clothes in the blueblack cold”(lines1-2). The father cares so immensely that he sacrifices his own comfort for them. Also, the poem begins with imagery that contributes to the felling of winter, such as “blueblack”, “cracked hand”, “fries blaze”, “cold splintering”(line 2,3,56). This symbolizes Hayden inner felling. The winter imagery is representing his cold heart toward his father. Moreover, the imagery changes to the positive, such as “rooms were warm”(line 7). This change shows that Hayden has a change in heart about his father and all of his hard work. He realizes that his attitude was wrong, and his inner thought has been “polished” (line 12). Hayden is also setting a tone for this poem. The title “Those Winter Sundays” lets the readers know that it is cold because it is a winter Sunday. The concept of “early morning” adds to the silent coldness of the title “winter Sunday” (line 1). Also, the
References: Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton introduction literature. Shorter Tenth Edition. New York, London: Norton & company, 2010. 666. Print. Gallagher, Ann M. "Hayden 's Those Winter Sundays." Explicator 51.4 (1993): 245. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.