Ignorance Of Youth: Those Winter Sundays By Robert Hayden

Thomas Glowish

Ms. Chambers

English - D

3 February 2023

Ignorance of Youth

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, is a lyric poem which covers a boy contemplating his childhood where his father showed love through actions rather than words and how these actions were overlooked, like how he drove out the cold to keep him warm in the hard winters. Some people in the world convey love through actions and these actions although noble can go unacknowledged and tragically unappreciated. The use of poetic devices helps clarify the theme of the poem as one of regret and the wish to appreciate those you love while you can. Furthermore the use of two poetic devices perfectly convey this poem's theme of unappreciated love, one being imagery as it

The boy describes his fathers morning’s where “he got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (line 1-2) a routine the father followed everyday, including sundays which are considered a day of rest to many people. This description of the cold when it's described as blue black allows the reader to envision what harsh conditions the father was working in as blue and black are considered colors that relate to cold and darkness, which really deliver the extra needed emphasis on the struggles the father bears. Then the speaker refers to how his morning would begin as he would “wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call”. When paying attention imagery is once again used for cold when it describes the cold as splintering and breaking as what the speaker would wake to, but the speaker also says when the rooms were warm he’d call meaning the father would warm the house before his family would have to get up once and showing his love through sacrifice as he had to endure those cold mornings so his family didn't have