book report about ` those winter sundays`, Robert Hayden

isfaYour Name

Professor 's Name

Course

Date

Those Winter Sundays : Portrait of Selfless Love

Those Winter Sundays ' by Robert Hayden is a man 's memory and realization of his father 's sacrifices when he was just a young boy The imagery produced through figurative language and sound devices in the poem creates a hauntingly sad recollection of an unappreciated selfless love . He remembers how his father used to rise in the bitter cold of the early morning to light the fire which will provide heat for the whole house

. Even though his hands were tired from working during the weekdays , he still made sure that his family was warm even on Sundays . It was a thankless job . He remembers waking up when the cold was already fading , and his father calling him when it was already warm He would then rise with some apprehension about whether the house was comfortable enough for him . The house had many problems and could be really cold during winter . He would speak to his father without much interest and appreciation for the latter 's efforts in keeping the house warm and in making sure his shoes were polished . Looking back to when he was just a boy , the man defends himself by saying that at that time he did not know any better he did not know that love can make so many sacrifices , and that love considers it a duty to loved ones

Through figurative language , the bitter cold becomes more real to the readers . With this , the sacrifice of the father becomes more emphasized The first stanza of the poem touches on what happens on early Sunday mornings . The day used is a Sunday to demonstrate the father 's untiring life . He works during the weekdays it is hard labor as evident in the phrase cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday ( Those Winter Sundays ) and he also works to keep his family warm during the weekends . He gets up at dawn in the blueblack cold ( Those Winter Sundays ) The descriptive word blueblack ' is so vivid in depicting a cold that can make the skin so frigid , that it turns bluish gray or bluish black . The father has to endure that freezing cold so that his family will not be cold after leaving their warm blankets . The phrase banked fires ' refers to the piles of wood that were heaped to keep a low glow during the night to make starting the fire again easier in the morning (Suite101

When the boy wakes up , he hears the cold splintering , breaking ( Those Winter Sundays . At this point , the boy is probably hearing the sound of wood being chopped or splintered to pieces to be fed to the fire (Suite101 . However , he attributes the splintering ' and breaking ' to the cold , so that the readers can almost feel ice breaking and melting , because of the growing warmth of the kindled fire The boy fears the chronic angers of the house ( Those Winter Sundays...