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Those Winter Sundays Figurative Language Essay

520 Words3 Pages

In Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays, the poet tells the story from a child’s point of view, reflecting on all the things that his/her father did on Sunday mornings for him/her because the father loves them so much. The author of Those Winter Sundays purpose in writing it is to show the reader that parents make sacrifices out of love all the time for their children, but the children don’t always see it at first. The poet communicates his theme through figurative language and sound devices.
In this poem, Hayden uses figurative language, such as hyperbole. Things such as “blueblack cold”(2), and “banked fires blaze”(5), show the sort of exaggeration of the endures his father did for him. The poet’s vivid words help the reader conjure visions in of a hard working father up alone in the cold darkness, all for his child.The poet also uses more figurative language, like …show more content…

He tells that it is so early when his father wakes, that it’s “blueblack”(2) outside. Meaning it’s before sunrise, and extremely cold outside. When the reader hears the word “blueblack,” they are able to sort of feel the cold wind being blown in our faces. It is the sound device alliteration that makes the reader able to sense the extreme cold early in the morning. Sound devices help appeal to the senses, like imagery. When the poet talks about how his father’s hands “ached”(3), or how the father made the fires “blaze”(5) in order to keep his family warm, this use of assonance is a slow, mournful sound, which communicates into how the dad might feel, having to get up and to work to keep his family happy so early every Sunday. In Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays, the poet’s purpose in writing it is to show the reader that parents make sacrifices out of love all the time for their families,even if they don’t always see it at first. The poet is able communicates his theme by using figurative language and sound

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