1. Those Winter Sundays
Robert
Hayden

2. Robert Hayden ( )
Born August 4th, 1913 as Asa Bundy Sheffey in Detroit, Michigan and was taken into a foster family
Was raised in a slum called Paradise Valley (Detroit’s ghetto)
Known for his poems that express African-American experience
Attended Detroit City College
Married Erma Morris in 1940
In 1976, he was appointed consultant to the Library of Congress, becoming the first African American poet to receive this honor.
In 1980, Hayden died of heart failure

3. Those Winter Sundays
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,

4. Those Winter Sundays
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?

5. Those Winter Sundays, Video Recording
By Kelly Gugan

6. The Speaker The son/daughter of the father Probably is his son
(“and polished my good shoes as well”)
He is an adult now, looking back onto what his father had done for him in the past
He realizes now how he wasted his childhood not recognizing the little things that his father did

7. The Attitude of the Speaker Toward his Father
A Subtle Love – building fires in the early morning that “drove out the cold”
Fear– (“fearing the chronic angers of that house”) –implies that his family fought a lot
* Regret – the boy didn’t understand the significance his father had until later in his life

8. The Poem’s Organization
3 stanzas
2 stanzas with 5 lines
1 quatrain
Loose blank verse
Length of the sentences vary

9. The Poem’s Organization
The first stanza, Lines 1-5
Establishes the subject, the speaker’s father
Focused upon the father’s suffering
The father sacrifices himself to get up early, work, and warm the home for his family
Ends with a very powerful line, “No one ever thanked him.”
The speaker never acknowledged his fathers’ actions

10. The Poem’s Organization
The second stanza, Lines 6-9
Once warmth is achieved, the father calls his son to rise and get dressed
Mentions “chronic angers” in the household

11. The Poem’s Organization
The third stanza, Lines 10-14
Begins with the image of distance as a continuation of the last line of the second stanza (“speaking indifferently to him”)
But also mentions that he was ungrateful for the things his father did
Speaker admits his ignorance over the simple love for his father (“…what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices”)

12. Imagery
Cracked hands
Implies the rough labor that the father went through
Sunday
Typically is a day of rest… Shows that the father got up early to do things for the family regardless of the day
Fire
Shows a contrast with “blueblack cold”
Shows a sense of liveliness and anger as well

13. Diction and Syntax Straight-forward language
Progression between the contrast of dark/cold and light/warm throughout the poem
1st Stanza (father getting up):
“blueblack cold” in contrast to “banked fires blaze”
2nd Stanza (son waking up):
“cold, splintering, breaking” in contrast to “the rooms were warm”
- Could symbolize a similar relationship between the father and son

14. Diction and Syntax
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,
The word choice in the first 2 stanzas emphasizes the hard “c” sound, which could symbolize the pain of the father and of the household
Uses alliteration as well to make the poem “sound” smooth

15. Diction and Syntax
3rd Stanza:
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?
The diction in the last stanza is a lot more calm and relaxed compared to the first two stanzas, as conveyed in the meaning of the final stanza (a sense of love/remembrance)

16. Conclusions
“Those Winter Sundays” is about an adult who is looking back at his past relationship with his father. He now recognizes the extremity to which his father did things for him even within the angry household. The speaker regrets not recognizing the habitual actions that his father did for him while he was young.
The title is significant in that it describes the typical winter Sundays that the speaker’s father would do things for him and how, in his youth, he never appreciated any of it.

17. Bibliography For Background Information:
"Robert Hayden." Poets.Org. Academy of American Poets. 16 Apr <
Kennedy, and Gioia. "Robert Hayden." Pearson Longman. 16 Apr <