Analysis of The Poem Those Winter Sundays

“Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden illustrates the struggles parents have made for their children, which sometimes goes unnoticed. Writing from a parenting point of view, the poet has the speaker thinking about the father’s leadership style. Many sacrifices were made by the father without even contemplating something in return. The poem, therefore, portrays parental treatment as selfless and sometimes ungrateful work. A recurring theme is a family and the struggles of parenting. The narrator admits how, after all his hard work and devotion as a boy, he was uncaring and hostile towards his father. In addition to warming the house practically, the father was a servant who had carried out such tedious duties as polishing the boots of his son. The key themes of the poem are passion, grief, and parenthood. The poet offers an insight into the struggle of his dad.

One of his many sacrifices is when he wakes up early, although he is exhausted from working outside during the week he still goes outside to light the fire to bring warmth into the household. He does this also on Sundays, this suggests that he does this for the remainder of the week. This compassionate routine indicates that emotional warmth is present throughout this poem. When we get older, wisdom and sophistication change our vision of the future. In ‘Those Winter Sundays,’ Robert Hayden refers to a person who reflects on his history and apathy to his father as a boy. As a grownup, the speaker realizes what had escaped him regrettably as a child. He now came to understand the way the affection of his dad took place. The speaker now realizes how hard and solitary parenting roles can be and how they are assisted with selflessness and without mutual anticipation. The different elements of the poem support this subject and add to the emotional appeal of the poem.

The author gives the child a feeling of uncertainty and concern for the child’s father and house when he states, “Fearing the chronic waves of the anger of that house”. He was also scolded by the father for improved fitness. The use of language suggested his ungrateful son was unable to understand the hardship of his parents. The speaker then regrets his father’s insensitive conduct. Now as an adult, he reminisces and recounts some important moments to display his appreciation for his father’s life. In the final lines of the poem, he talks about how he didn’t understand that his father’s behavior of shining shoes and lighting the fire was an expression of love that his father had for him and his family. But with his maturity, he finally understands that his father was making sacrifices for him and his family. 

Works Cited

1. Hayden, R. (1962). Those Winter Sundays. In: Collected Poems of Robert Hayden. Liveright Publishing Corporation.
2. Burt, S. (2019). The Poem That Will Make You Cry: "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69981/the-poem-that-will-make-you-cry-those-winter-sundays-by-robert-hayden
3. Beavers, H. (2015). Poem Analysis: Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden. Owlcation. Retrieved from: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Poem-Analysis-Those-Winter-Sundays-by-Robert-Hayden
4. Fagan, D. (2018). An analysis of Robert Hayden’s "Those Winter Sundays". LetterPile. Retrieved from: https://letterpile.com/poetry/An-Analysis-of-Robert-Haydens-Those-Winter-Sundays
5. Hirsch, E. D. (2013). A Poet of Grandeur and Inequity. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/books/review/a-poet-of-grandeur-and-inequity.html
6. Anderson, D. (2012). Domestic violence in "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden. Grin Verlag.
7. Lee, L. (2015). The Prosody of Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays". Prosody Matters. Retrieved from: http://prosodymatters.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-prosody-of-robert-haydens-those.html
8. Miller, R. (2019). Exploring 'Those Winter Sundays' by Robert Hayden. Humanities 360. Retrieved from: https://www.humanities360.com/index.php/exploring-those-winter-sundays-by-robert-hayden-4222/
9. Morrison, T. (2015). Recitatif and Those Winter Sundays. University of Louisville Writing Center. Retrieved from: https://louisville.edu/writingcenter/writing-assignments/research-paper-assignment/recitatif-and-those-winter-sundays
10. Roberts, J. (2017). Exploring Poetry: Those Winter Sundays. Artful Scribe. Retrieved from: https://www.artfulscribe.co.uk/exploring-poetry-those-winter-sundays-robert-hayden