Robert Hayden's Poem, Those Winter Sundays

In Robert Hayden's poem Those Winter Sundays, we are told of the Sunday morning ritual of a son and his father from the son's perspective. Through a variety of imagery, we see that the father is hardworking, has sacrificed his life to provide for his family's comfort, and is all too often unappreciated by those for who he sacrifices.

The father in this poem is revealed to us through various images. He is the firs to rise in the freezing cold house on Sunday mornings, a house that is pervaded by "blueblack cold" (Hayden 1966, 1). The father's is a man who has worked hard to provide for his family, as despite his "cracked hands" that "ached" from his "labour" he still rekindles the fire to warm the house for his family (Hayden 1966, 1). Despite these sacrifices, we are told by the speaker,

Related Essays

Winter Sundays & Rites of Passage In Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Sharon Olds' "Rites of Passage .... on Nov 11, 2004: http://www.favoritepoem.org/poems/hayden/, 1. Olds, S. "The Rites .... (886 4 )

Those Winter Sundays Analysis .... A similar emotional dynamic is at work, for example, when the grief-stricken King David covers his face and "crie[s] with a loud voice, O my .... Hayden, Robert. .... (910 4 )

STANFORD-BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE .... The fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, is authored by Robert L. Thorndike, Elizabeth P .... Hayden, DC, Furlong, MJ, & Linnemeyer, S. (1988). .... (3955 16 )

Forms of Jazz .... Tom Turpin, Otis Saunders, Arthur Marshall, Louis Chauvin, Scott Hayden, John W. ``Blind'' Boone, S. Brunson Campbell, Artie Matthews, Robert Hampton, Charles .... (8532 34 )

HIV/AIDS in Contact Sport .... 4 Health Matrix: Journal of Law & Medicine 159 (1994). Magnusson, Roger S., & Opie, Hayden. .... 18, 1991, at 40. Thomas, Jr., Robert McG. .... (3668 15 )

PRIVACY ISSUES IN JOURNALISM IN THE 1990S ABSTR .... [and] constitute[s] a 'morbid .... interest." In other cases, such as Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc .... victim for profit." California State Senator Tom Hayden proposed a .... (4433 18 )

Category: Literature - R