Diction In 'Those Winter Sundays' By Robert Hayden

In the poem, “Those Winter Sundays” the speaker talks about his father leaving for “labor”. Curiously, the father goes to work on a Sunday, the speaker then elaborates how his father goes to work very early “with cracked hands that ached” (3). The theme of this poem is that love does not always appear in a friendly or lovable form. Lines like “I would rise and dress/fearing the chronic angers of that house” (8-9), we can see that the speaker lives in a dysfunctional house and imagery of cold and harshness "cracked hands that ached," (3) "blueblack cold." (2). The reader can also interpret that the speaker and the father have a dysfunctional relationship, “the chronic angers of that house” (9) The diction the author uses, can be used to give

The first passage reveals the parallel suffering occurring in the lives of different members of the family, which emphasizes the echoes between the sufferings of the father and the narrator. The narrator’s father’s despair over having watched

The poem Nighttime Fires by Regina Barecca explains the speaker’s complex view of her father. The speaker uses imagery to describe her father’s strange behaviours after losing his job. Figurative language is used strategically to explain the memories of this young girl’s strange adventures. The diction in this poem is also used very well helping us to understand why these nighttime fires left such a lasting impact on this grown woman from when she was only five years old. All of these things are very important to the progress of the poem and the engagement of the reader.

Hayden’s father worked very hard, “with cracked hands that ached” (4). Because hands are very durable, it takes a lot of constant force tearing away at them for them to crack (so the father’s work is indeed very hard). The father works hard because Hayden wants his readers to consider that he is practically slaving over getting his job done. The father could even be said to display a slight obsession over being able to complete this simple task on a consistent basis for his family. The visual imagery also becomes warmer as the poem continues. The father’s “cracked hands that ached” (4) did not only hard work, but “polished my good shoes as well” (12), which demonstrates a huge shift in Hayden’s chosen imagery. Near the end, the imagery “warms up” again as Hayden begins to understand the actions of his father, who helped so much to take care of him. As a young boy, he could not understand how his father could claim to love him, but “with age comes wisdom.” As Hayden grew older and wiser, he was able to visualize the ways his father, in his own unique way, showed love. However, even from all of this, to rely on sight alone is not to fully understand the meaning behind this

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.

He also describes the conditions of the father's hands demonstrating that he was a hard worker and still woke up before everyone else to warm up the rooms. The father basically says love in the simple act he does. Like many people I can personally relate to this poem. My father was not always demonstrative and affectionate but during my childhood years he always made sure I had everything I needed. That showed me that my father cared.

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.

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.

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.

The idea of "chronic angers" is introduced into the calm scene of the home in the early morning. It seems as though the father was a harsh man who scared his children but deep down he loved them very much. The "chronic angers" was what made the children not realize his love. It was clear in Hayden's writing that anger was a constant in the home; just as much a part of the mornings as the fire itself. With the presence of anger in the home, Hayden implies that he had a poor relationship with his father, although it may have been self-protective, but ungrateful.

Hayden also uses figurative language, such as alliteration and personification, to further illustrate the father’s arduous work and the son’s indifference. For example, Hayden repeats “w” sounds in “weekday weather” to create a sense of long, tiring weekdays rather than short, refreshing weekends (4). Such emphasized phrase shows that the father is continuously hard-working, taking care of his family even on Sundays, as stated in line 1. Also, “labor” that precedes the “weekday weather” further accentuates the father’s strenuous work done for the family throughout the week. Soon after establishing persistent presence of the father’s sacrifice, “banked fires blaze” highlights the father’s perpetual effort to make a better environment for the family through the stressed constance sound of “b” (5). Such drum-like sounds make a physical demonstration of the flames’ beating through the repetitive consonant sound. While alliteration indicates the continual sacrifices that the father makes, personification reveals some tense, cold parts of the father-son relationship, possibly resulting from the family’s indifference and ingratitude. Some anger is present between the son and the father, as shown through “the chronic angers of the house” (9). By personifying the house as “chronic [and angry],” Hayden indicates the unwanted heat of the house created by the father. The son, unable

The author choosing “Sundays” to begin his essay is refer to religion, particularly Christianity. It brings up images of a resurrected son, sacrificed by his own father. The speaker describes his painful yet pleasant memories of Sunday mornings with his father. He talks about his father in a loving manner, he goes as far as saying “from labor in the weekday weather made/ banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.”which describes how underappreciated his father was. The stanza is then punctuated with a terse sentence describing a sore silence “No one thanked him,” which literally stops the reader's speech in a recitation. Woken by the very sounds associated with his father, in the next stanza the speaker hears “cold, splintering, breaking”.