Robert Hayden's Poem 'Those Winter Sundays'

Maura Pozuelos
Mr. Keith Brooks
English 1102, Number 1
10 March 2016
"Those Winter Sundays"
Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays" major theme is love is shown in actions and children do not understand that immediately. It is about the relationship between a father and his child. It demonstrates the love a father has for his child, the sacrifices the father makes in order to ensure his child's well being, and how ignorant and ungrateful the child is at the time.
In the poem "Those Winter Sundays" it is clear the speaker is looking back at the time when he was a child, recounting the events of a typical Sunday during the Winter. His father, tired after working all week, would get up early just before dawn. He would start a fire to warm up …show more content…
At the time, he was a child and he did not understand what love truly meant. He disregarded the facts that his father got up early, worked very hard, lit a fire, and even polished his shoes. Now that he is older he can understand the love his father had for him. He understands the dedication of his father and the sacrifices he made were all tokens of love. Although it is not clear if the speaker is a man or a woman, perhaps the speaker is now a parent and can truly relate to the relationship between a parent and his child.
The poem "Those Winter Sundays" is a poem that anyone can easily relate to. It does not matter what race or culture one has, the parent-child relationship is universal. It does not matter if a child has the most loving parents in the world. A child can easily dismiss the silent acts of love a parent makes on an everyday basis. This is an example of how a child is blinded by ignorance of what true love and dedication means. It is not till a child grows wise that the true meaning of love can be