Look Back on Those Days Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” is a memoir for the speaker’s father. The writer is looking back on how grateful he should have been. His father showed him an unspoken love, but he did not realize his acts of labor were acts of love until later in life. The speaker has grown up and been apprised that his father was more caring than he thought. There was an underlying stress for the family to provide. An indication of poverty was introduced and that brings stress to any family. This poem is a reminder that society should take a step back and look at the importance of people in their life because they might be taking them for granted. The poem uses symbols and imagery that reiterates the way the speaker took his father’s constant giving for granted. The “banked fires blaze” shows how even the smallest acts were done to provide. The …show more content…
There is an intense empathy for the father while realizing all he sacrificed for the children. In the first stanza he thinks, “No one ever thanked him” (5). The appreciation was not acquired until later in life. Children are not perfect and are sometimes blind to the hardships their parents endure. Now that the author sees, he is reflecting on the past and appreciative. The speaker now sees that the anger and stress in the house was because of poverty and striving to meet needs. Reiterating the importance of the father, the speaker writes: “Sundays too my father got up early / and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (1-2). Empathy is embraced by enlightening the reader with imagery. The father getting up early on the only day he can rest. Even in the cold and in pain he was putting his family before himself. He was selfless and the speaker is now seeing that selflessness with a heart of empathy. The speaker was ungrateful and blind to the importance of his father’s graciousness and
The feeling of gratitude indicates growth in his relationships because this is an abnormal feeling as a result of his often poor
Many hardships tear them down like: John and Lorraine’s parents betraying them, Mr.Pignati’s trust betrayed at a party, and Bobo, the monkey, dieing. Hardships can make a big change in someone’s life. Children can be scarred for life. Parent’s behaviors and comment can ruin their children’s future and how they think about life. In the book, John states, “...
The character feels an almost bittersweet sensation here due to his father not being there for him in times when he needs him. It is a tragedy that even though he is relieved that his health is in satisfactory condition, his father is not because of his own choices of an unsatisfactory
heart was heavy” (107) and as if he “. . . was doing it grudgingly” (107). The initial feelings of constant benevolence gradually vanished. As much as his father was selfish enough to take his rations, he should have been selfish enough to keep his provisions for
This relates to the poem because the narrator does not “grow up” and thank his father for acting selflessly, or even help his father
Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays" is about how his father never receives praise for anything he accomplishes. The poem illustrates an understanding of imagery and dedication that is never recognized through imagery techniques. "I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking," from the quotation, evokes an image of the father rising early to chop wood and light it on fire to keep the house warm for his family. This quote may refer to the father's tireless efforts to better his family's lifestyle and provide for them. The phrase "no one ever thanked him" implies that despite doing everything in his power to provide for his family during the difficult and cold times of life, no one ever expressed gratitude or even appreciation for
The repetition of "Sundays" at the beginning of each line creates a sense of regularity and routine, establishing a reflective mood. It suggests that these particular Sundays held a more profound significance in the speaker's memory. The poem opens with the lines "Sundays too my father got up early" - a simple statement that encapsulates the father's unwavering commitment and dedication. Vivid imagery is a hallmark of Hayden's poetry, and "Those Winter Sundays" is no exception.
“Those Winter Sundays” has a sad dark tone. “Speaking indifferently to him” (Line 10). It is clear that there is little communication between the father and the son. The author remembers how his father woke up early to heat the house and worked hard to provide for the family. Although this poem is much sadder, it still shows love.
He was grateful to my father because my father had intervened in saving his life. He had been singing loudly the International in the army barracks and was to be executed for inciting enemy propaganda. His family received us with open arms. We spent the night in their farm, but we did not find peace. An aerial enemy incursion terrified us and we, again, had to run in the open fields in the middle of the night.
The mother in this poem is a strong soul. She holds herself together in a difficult situation that could end up with her entire family hungry. Unknown to her children she is going hungry so that they might eat. The mother keeps this a secret so that her children do not have to deal with adult problems and allow them to play and act as children might.
Parents-Child's Poetry (Those Winter Sundays) In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden uses many metaphorical ideas to distinguish their bonds between the father and son. The father, working hard everyday to provide support for his son, gain nothing, but pure sadism from working. In the cold Sunday morning, the father gets up to go to work and makes the fireplace for his son, which makes him feel very distressed.
In the first stanza, the speaker reflects bitingly on his father’s commitment to his joyless job in an “automotive warehouse”. The narrator attitude to his father's commitment is obvious primarily in the imagery he chooses to express his distaste at his father’s choice to work for a paycheque, rather than for his own fulfillment. “A pay cheque over his mouth” suggests that his father hates his job but does not complain about, perhaps because the money to support his family is more important than his own happiness. However, the son does not respect this choice or his father’s commitment to support his family. Rather, he sees this job as shackles, as slavery, the “clocks stretched around his legs” revealing his resentment at his father working to “get his time in”.
Every story consists of different elements, such as characters, plotlines, and settings. Nonetheless, many stories portray the same messages or ideas. “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, depicts a reckless father who is loved by his child, while “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, depicts a hardworking father whose child is indifferent to him. Though the poems depict exceptionally different childhoods, both contribute to the idea that perceptions of parents alter as one grows into adulthood. Both poems use harsh words and critical tones in order to convey this notion, however in “My Papa’s Waltz,” they signify the recklessness of the father and how the narrator perceives his father as an adult, while in “Those Winter Sundays,” they
In the poem “forgiving my father”, Lucille Clifton writes of a young daughter reminiscing about her father’s recent death. The daughter talks about it being Friday, it being payday. She discusses her father and how he owed her and her dead mother money when really they just wanted him to be present. The daughter feels she has had no time with her father and she resents him for it. He was not present in her life and now he has passed away, leaving her with a yearning for something that she will never obtain.
Comparing and contrasting Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, one finds the two poems are similar with their themes of abuse, yet contrasting with how the themes are portrayed. Furthermore, the speaker 's feelings toward their fathers’ in each poem contrast. One speaker was hurt by the father and the other speaker was indifferent about how he was treated by his father. The fathers’ feelings toward the children are also different despite how each treated the child. Both poems accurately portray the parent-child relationships within an abusive home, even if they have different