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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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Edith Assaff
(3/25/2010 10:15:00 PM) |
The key to this poem is the first two words: “Sundays too” – meaning, not only did my dad get up early in the bone-numbing cold to stoke the coal furnace during his work days, but ALSO ON WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS DAY OF REST. Those three letters, “TOO”, convey a world of sacrifice and pain with an incredible economy of words. Also, the father was the only member of the family who had to be naked (put on his clothes) in the “blueblack” (pre-dawn) cold, since, because of his sacrifice, the other members of the family rose after the house was heated and were able to dress in warmth. (He only calls the rest of the family “when the rooms were warm”.) Describing the pre-dawn cold as “blueblack” is very telling – the saying “it is always darkest before dawn” is very true – so dark that the black is almost blue. It is also coldest just before dawn, since the earth has been without sun the longest. “Cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather” indicates that Hayden’s father worked outdoors in the cold all week, and that his hands were chapped and cracked from never being out of the cold. This makes it even more poignant that he also has to wake to cold, and work in the cold, on Sundays – much more so than if he worked in a warm office all week.
To understand the first stanza, you must understand that, in the days of Hayden’s youth, homes in Detroit were heated by coal which burned out overnight and left the furnace, and the house, stone cold by morning. Thus every morning the coal furnace had to be “stoked” – banked with fresh coal and re-lighted. “Banked fires blaze” refers to a real fire, since the old furnaces burned hot with live coals. The line “hear the cold splintering, breaking” refers to the sound the coal furnaces made when the coal “caught” and pushed heat through the floor vents. It was an unmistakable cracking and snapping sound, accompanied by a cozy coal smell, which made it sound like the cold was actually “breaking”. The question about whether the man was a widow is easily answered by two references – one, “no one ever thanked him” and the other, “the chronic angers of that house” – he is clearly living in an unhappy marriage. “Chronic angers” uses, again, a great economy of words to perfectly convey the constant quibbling, sniping, and griping that chronically undermines a bad marriage. The child wouldn’t “fear” these angers unless they were between two adults – thus his father is definitely NOT a widow. His father’s unhappy marriage also makes sense of the last line: “love’s austere and lonely offices”. We must all face austere “offices” (used in the monastic sense of obligatory prayers said at various times during the day) – in this case, obligatory tasks that a man does out of love, even when he is lonely and unappreciated in his own home. His father’s uncomplaining sacrifice made a prayer out of these simple, thankless tasks. William Wordsworth said, “The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” These are the best portion of Hayden’s father’s life.
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Jerry Buckley
(3/22/2010 4:44:00 PM) |
I will leave the discussions to you guys, and just say Wow.....great poem in all respects.....see how it generates discussion on this website! !
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Gabe Satal
(2/15/2010 6:50:00 PM) |
you have forgotten to taken in account that the title of the poem is Those Winter Sundays
his father gets up early to heat the house, and when he is talking about 'polishing his good shoes' is possibly for church considering it is Sunday and that is also a likely reason for his father to call him to get dressed. and i also agree that he regrets not respecting his father and so on as a main point in the poem.
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Hea Chicklacko
(1/20/2010 1:31:00 PM) |
stanza 1; establishes the subject; the speakers father.
it is focussing upon the fathers suffering and how the father is sacrificing everything, and how he got up early to heat the house up, and work for his family. also the last line is saying is saying that the speaker never acknowleged his fathers actions.
stanza 2; once warmth is achieved the father calls his son to rise and get dressed, it is also mentioning the chronic angers of the house.
3rd stanza; begins with an image of the fathers rough hands, as a hard working man, but the speaker never really respected his father. speaker also admits his ignorance over the simple love for his father.
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Larry Laush
(12/7/2009 8:13:00 AM) |
Tom: I think you have good general ideas for what you think the theme of the poem is but you need to have support for why you think that those may be the themes. I think the theme of the poem is that the poet didn’t appreciate his father as a kid and now realizes that he should’ve thanked him. In line five, it says “No one ever thanked him.” The father made the house warm and polished the poet’s shoes. Lines 13 and 14 show that he knows that he should’ve thanked his father. As you see I gave support for my general idea of what I think the theme is and that’s what you should do next time too. -Devin
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Larry Laush
(12/7/2009 8:05:00 AM) |
Jim: you really need to start to write at a more intelligent level than you did in your response. You completely did not have any points of support for your response. Also, they were not even real sentences, and the response is more of a poem. In addition, if you were trying to make it like a poem that is just mocking the poetry which makes no sense. Moreover, this poem is not a disgust it is a true poem. Finally, “Those Winter Sundays” really makes me think about what my dad did for me. This is a great and educational poem about life. So next time before you write get a little more insight on the topic. - Mr. L
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Larry Laush
(12/7/2009 7:51:00 AM) |
Sparkle: I have to disagree with you. This poem is not a very nice poem for many reasons. For example, this is not the best poem that I have ever read because it talks about regret of his choices when the author was young. This is showing no respect for the father polishing the child’s shoes and getting them ready. Also as a child, he was “speaking indifferent to him” (his father) . Here the reader can see that there is not much compassion or love from the boy to the father. Finally this poem is written nicely, but it is hard to understand, and it almost is depressing to think that someone would not appreciate their father for who he is and what he does for his family. This is why I disagree with you, and that “Those Winter Sundays” deals with much regret. - Jacob
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Larry Laush
(12/7/2009 7:19:00 AM) |
Miss Brunette: I agree with your statement about the poem “Those Winter Sundays” for many reasons. First, I also agree with your saying with how the reader doesn’t have enough information to determine whether the father is widowed or single. I also agree that the son didn’t appreciate the father’s work until line 13 and 14. Finally, I think the poem could have been better if in the end of the story the poet could have added that the son went up to his father and thanked him for all the hard work his father had been doing. Loren
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Larry Laush
(12/7/2009 7:15:00 AM) |
Miss Brunette: I have to say that I do agree with you for most of your reasons. I agree because when you say he worked every Sunday, but no one ever thanked him because in the real poem it said, “No one ever thanked him” of what he did. I also agree with you because it does show that the child never knew what the father’s work ethic was. I also agree with you because the father dedicated his life to his family. Denzel: I do disagree when you say that the father is single or widowed because it has nothing to do with the poem. In conclusion, I believe that the son didn’t appreciate his father. Maddy
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