Those Winter Sunday English Paper

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Michelle Friedman Professor Mario Padilla English 1  November 25, 2013 The Meaning of Being a Parent in “Those Winter Sundays” In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, it is narrated through a voice voi ce of a man reminiscing about when he was a young boy growing up with his father. The speaker tells the reader what it means to be a parent by describes how his father was a hard worker and showed him the most basic and real love he has ever known and felt. Robert Hayden’s speaker in “Those Winter Sundays” discuses how hard working his father was during the week by noting: “Sundays “Sundays too my father got up early/And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (lines 1-2). 1-2). Sundays are commonly known for being a day for resting or for religious gatherings such as going to ch urch for Sunday worship or Sunday S unday Mass, so when the speaker father is working on Sundays shows that he is a hard worker. When the speaker says his father is putting putting on his clothes in the “blueblack cold”, cold”, this use of coloring with the cold can represent pain because blue and black are colors that usually show up in bruises as well as before the sun begins to rise.  Near the end of the first stanza, the speaker mentions about his father that: “Then “Then with cracked hands that ached/From labor in the weekday weather made/banked fires blaze/No one ever thanked him/” (4-5) (4-5) The speaker portrays his father having cracked hands that ached symbolizing that his father is a hard worker and uses his hands vigorously. Knowing that “ banked fires” fires” are piling up firewood and based on how the speaker’s father had “cracked hands” hands” could indicate that his father chopped up the firewood himself. On another note, the

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concept that no one ever thanked the speaker’s father and yet, he continues the same routine every Sunday as well as the weekdays shows that the speakers father did not need to praises or appreciation to be motivated to get up early keep on chopping firewood. In the end of the second stanza to the beginning of the third stanza, the speaker’s tone changes from praising his father to being afraid of him as shown by: “And slowly I would rise and dress/Fearing the chr onic anger of that house/speaking indifferently to him” (8-10). In addition to the speaker being afraid of his father due to his anger, the speaker as a young boy speaks indifferently or chooses his words carefully with his father in order n ot to trigger his chronic anger problem. There is a change of heart at the end of “Those Winter Sundays” with the speaker’s idea about his father. The speakers says about his father: “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?” (11-14). These lines hold a power message about how children look at their parent or  parents then as they do now because the speaker realizes that all that his father did such as making sure he was safe, housed, and had God in his life was out of basic love and he did not need anything else to prove his love. The “good shoes” symbolizing have God in a person’s life  because those are shoes people usually wear to go to church. When the speaker says “What did I know” two times, this emphasizes that the speaker is hav ing an epiphany about his father’s love and support. Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” show’s love co mes in many different ways, even if there is lack of emotions. The speaker believes that having a house to live under, food or water, and having God is all the real true love you can get from a parent. Although it may seem like an old fashion concept now, it is a thought of parents should raise a child and raise it right.