“What did I know, What did I know / Of love's austere and lonely offices?” (lines 13-14) is a quote directly from “Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden, in which the speaker sees a new light and begins a process of understanding. This sonnet uses many literary elements throughout it in order to further emulate that idea. Having a poem written this way allows the reader to experience the ashamed and regretful mood. By observing the imagery, repetition, and personification it can be simple to see just how unaware of all the great things his father did for him, and is especially important in that it indirectly explains that the speaker's father is not actually angry but tired and worn out after all of the hard work he has done.
The first and most prominent literary device used in this sonnet is imagery. The imagery in this writing is used so beautifully and thoroughly that it lays out the underlying theme that you may not know the reason why people are the way that they are. (Lines 2-3) “...And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold / Then with cracked hands that ached...” includes many descriptive words to help paint the picture of this specific situation. Without this literary element, this sonnet would seem dull, and it would be difficult to put yourself into this situation to be aware of how the speaker is feeling. …show more content…
This really helps the statement resonate with the reader. Repetition again shows just how regretful that the speaker is. It is written in a way that the reader will feel remorse for the speaker and the knowledge that he did not have about his father. In hindsight, he realizes that he had treated his father unfairly after learning this all much later in his life, perhaps after the father had passed
The first and most prominent literary device used in this sonnet is imagery. The imagery in this writing is used so beautifully and thoroughly that it lays out the underlying theme that you may not know the reason why people are the way that they are. (Lines 2-3) “...And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold / Then with cracked hands that ached...” includes many descriptive words to help paint the picture of this specific situation. Without this literary element, this sonnet would seem dull, and it would be difficult to put yourself into this situation to be aware of how the speaker is feeling. …show more content…
This really helps the statement resonate with the reader. Repetition again shows just how regretful that the speaker is. It is written in a way that the reader will feel remorse for the speaker and the knowledge that he did not have about his father. In hindsight, he realizes that he had treated his father unfairly after learning this all much later in his life, perhaps after the father had passed