Note to students: This is a poetry review that was written by an ELP Level 5
student. It appeared in “Inspirations” that semester. I am adding several
notes to explain some points about her paper. Obviously, you do not need to
do everything as she did. Write your essay to fit your poem and your ideas.
Peggy
A Response to Those Winter Sundays
By Timea Kunglne Muro
Those Winter Sundays
By Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
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?
Robert Hayden, the famous African-American artist, is a dominant figure of 20th
century American poetry. One of his most touching works is the “Those Winter
Sundays”, in which he describes an ordinary Sunday morning of his past. The tone of the
poem reflects the feelings which accompanied his tumultuous childhood exceedingly
well; this period of the author’s life marked both his spirit and his work. The poem
describes the author’s feelings toward his father as he reveals this former life. These few
lines are probably a self reproach and an attempt to understand the past and to heal the
old wounds. Even though the old mistakes can not be erased, the soul needs relief.
He writes about everyday, routine things, which happened in the past, but which
still live in his memory. Through this poem we can see their house on a cold winter
morning. On this morning everything is unmoving except his father, who gets up early to
take care of his family. He starts the fire and polishes the author’s good shoes as well.
We can see the poet as a child waking up and dressing. There is silence. Just the
splintering of the outside cold can be heard. He is speaking to his father and maybe they
are having breakfast. The poem closes with a question that the poet asks himself.
Although, these few lines describe just a quick moment in the author’s life, there
is a more serious problem that lies at the heart of the story: indifference. The poet himself
admits this when he writes that he is “speaking indifferently to him.” We see that his
behavior toward his father is unfeeling. The poem also suggests this emotion with its
lack of dialogue.
Moreover, Hayden masterfully handles colors to portray the contrast between the
characters. By using the term blueblack, he gives the reader a very expressive and
suggestive image. Both colors, blue and black, are cold shades, and using them together
intensifies the sense of rigidity. In addition, the poem’s two dominant colors are blue and
red: the chill of the frost, which is blue, and the warmth of the fire, which is red,
symbolize the contrast of dismissal and love. The father’s tireless affection comes up
against the son’s expressionless behavior.
Despite the warm home and the polished shoes, the poet feels only fear. The poem
expresses this feeling very well with harsh words such as cold, cracked, and breaking,
which sound like the breaking of ice. They are cold and stiff. This language indicates that
life is not easy, just as the winter is not soft and warm. The poet’s attitude is as cold as
the weather is. Throughout the poem we can see the father working hard every day for his
family. These activities remind us of the monotony of life, which gives a dispassionate
atmosphere to the poem. The contrasts, such as cold and warm, show the differences and
the similarities of the outside and inside world at the same time. There is a chill on the
streets, but the home, which was cold too, is now filled with warmth, thanks to the father.
However, his self-sacrifice is not appreciated: “No one ever thanked him”.
The term “chronic angers of that house” effectively depicts the atmosphere of the
house. The personification of the house indicates the unexpressed feeling within. The
emotions between the family members have become a permanent feature of the house.
This emphasizes the main problem which has come to stay. There is constant rancor and
fear between the walls every day. We cannot see or touch these feelings but we feel them
through the author’s words. Hayden uses progressive forms of words many times such as
“fearing”, “speaking” but in the last two lines he changes this. When we read the poem
we imagine the story like a dream, but the last lines suddenly wake us up. The mostly
smooth tone of the poem turns to a question, which is almost an exclamation.
The tone and the mood are quite objective throughout the poem but underneath
the surface, we can feel the turmoil of the feelings. The cold of the winter and of the
house are in contrast with the repressed emotions at the end. Although the conflicts are
unexpressed, they are continuously present. “The cold” shows the person’s behavior and
petrifies this situation. The father tries to “make banked fires blaze”, but his effort isn’t
enough to resolve the difficulties.
The poem grasps an essential problem of life which can occur to anybody. We are
ordinary people with everyday problems. As we struggle, love, and work, we can forget
the essential point of life. Why did the author hide his feelings and his love from his
father? Why do we often behave similarly? Maybe we realize our mistakes too late and
only one question remains: “What did I know…?” The poet knows that his father
brought warmth to the house and also to his life. However, this act was never appreciated.
The author’s real honesty gives strength to the poem. As a result, we realize that we can
change our life; we can correct our mistakes if we think about the message of this piece
of poetry.