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User Rating: |
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8.7
/10
(143
votes)
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Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueback 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
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Read poems about / on: weather, lonely, father, house, winter, fire, thanks, fear, rose
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Comments about this poem (Those Winter Sundays
by
Robert Hayden
) |
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comments about this poem (Those Winter Sundays by
Robert Hayden
)
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Francine Brady
(8/15/2009 11:51:00 AM) |
Life is hard, anger past on for generations.
Love does triumph in actions not words
Except for this beautiful poem
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Miss Brunette
(4/2/2009 9:34:00 PM) |
Denzel: I have to say that I do not believe in your analysis. There is not enough information given to the reader to determine if the father is single or widowed. It is about a man who on 'Sundays too', worked everyday to support his family but, 'No one ever thanked him'. This just shows the child's perspective of never noticing the father's work ethic. Also, in lines 13 and 14, the child is stating that he knows not of love's strict or moral lonely work. The father gets up to do this everyday out of sacrifice and devotion to his family. The word office just symbolizes the meaning of a divine duty or service to others. I believe it is a great poem that shows meaning for what a father does for his family.
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Chris Silva
(3/1/2009 10:34:00 AM) |
densel/tom the father was not a witower but he was a step father to hayden
jim dangle- this a great poem you are oviosly dumb
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Jim Dangle
(1/22/2009 8:48:00 AM) |
What the heck is this?
Absolute disgust in my heart!
Terrible in every way shape and form
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Tom G
(11/8/2007 7:44:00 PM) |
Denzel I have to object, the poem is left too open ended to assume that his father is widowed. Rather I think he was looking at all the time he had wasted in his childhood not realizing what his father had been doing for him the entire time. His mother might have been providing a good childhood, but she wasn't the center of his internal conflict as he looks back now at how he disregarded his father. Also the lines 'fearing the chronic angers of that house' might imply that his father might have been also fighting with his mother, because it would be natural for a child to fear his/her parents fighting.
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Sparkle Jones
(11/7/2007 6:13:00 PM) |
This is one the best poems i have ever read. It just forces me to think about being grateful to those around me
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Denzel D
(6/19/2007 9:09:00 AM) |
I think his father was widowed or single, thats the only reasonable explanation to the last 2 lines, 'What did I know, what did i know of love austere and lonely offices? '
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Blessing Faboro
(9/27/2006 4:51:00 PM) |
I found this page interesting: It took the speaker a long time to realize all the good effort his dad had put into his life especially when his dad had to drive out the cold and polish his shoes for him.It was towards the end of the poem that the writer acknowlege his regret for not telling his dad thank you.This can be found at the end of the poem when the speaker said 'what did i know, what did i know, of love's austere and lonely offices? He should have treasured hid father's love for him when he was still with him.
from,
Blesing Faboro.
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Brian Dorn
(7/21/2006 11:50:00 PM) |
It must have taken a lot of firewood to warm up that house... But in the end, Dad's loving and loyal service was accounted for, even if never spoken.
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