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Relationship between father and son
Analysis essay of those winter sundays
Those winter sundays analysis poetic devices
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Recommended: Relationship between father and son
Like Father, Like Son? Being a father is one thing, but being a father to a little boy that looks just like him is another beautiful thing. A father-son bond, relationship can be complex and diverse. Not every relationship is the same, this can depend on behavior or different thoughts and insights on things in life. Some father and their son are best of friends that they are one another’s best friend. Others are not so close and only talk once in awhile. Some see each other from time to time, while others do not even live in the same state. Those who or best of friends talk about everything and are there on hand when when is in need. What is an ideal father-son relationship? Honestly, there is not one. Reading and analyzing poems “My Papa’s …show more content…
At the beginning of the poem, he reminisces on the memories of his father because he regrets how he did not realize how much his father did for him. “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (1-2). His father wakes up early in the cold mornings to go to work to provide for him and his family. “then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze” (3-5). This line is indicating that his father is not waking up to go to a desk, but that because his hands are achy, he is doing hard labor early in the morning. His father was never appreciated and “no one ever thanked him” (5). Now that his father is gone he has this guilt of regret of not thanking him for all he has done for …show more content…
My Papa’s Waltz has a rhyme scheme of ABAB, simply meaning that every other line must rhyme. The lines “could make a small boy dizzy” (2) is B in iambic trimeter, the next B to rhyme with that line is “such waltzing was not easy” (4). Those Winter Sundays is described as a sonnet. A sonnet has fourteen lines. This poem does not rhyme what so ever and it is not written in regular iambic pentameter. “Those Winter Sundays” is a poem about love, sonnets are usually known to be about love. “The Winter Sundays” is a poem that sets an example for kids in our current generation that may not appreciation their parents or their families. Hayden’s poem is a common situation that anyone can experience. Lesson is that you should appreciate your parents and love ones before they are gone and you are left with the feeling of guilt. That guilt can and will weigh heavy on you because your dad or mom have always been there and sacrificed everything for your
The lack of verbal communication between his father and himself can be seen in his poem "Those Winter Sundays." The overall impression of the poem is that love can be communicated in other ways than through words; it can be communicated through everyday, mundane actions. For example, in the poem, the father awakens on "Sundays too" to warm the house with a fire and polish his sons shoes. There is a sense of coldness in the beginning of the poem through the lines:
As Carter opens the poem, he tells how at this point in his life, he still has this essential want for things his own father presented him growing up. In the beginning, he expresses he has this “…pain [he] mostly hide[s], / but [that] ties of blood, or seed, endure” (lines 1-2). These lines voice how he longs for his father and just how painful it is without him at his side. In addition, he still feels “the hunger for his outstretched hand” (4) and a man’s embrace to take [him] in” (5). Furthermore, Carter explains how this “pain” he “feel[s] inside” (3) are also due to his “need for just a word of pr...
My Papa’s Waltz and Those Winter Sundays are similar because they use tone, imagery, and sounds and rhythms to prove these two boys in fact love their abusive father. In both of these poems there is a movement from a cold and serious tone to a warm and happy one. The use of imagery successfully accentuates the good things the father does while marginalizing the bad. And the sounds and rhythms also add to the theme of love by manipulating how the poem is read. Roethke and Hayden are two skilled poets that have much control over the techniques they use. It is interesting that these poems are so alike and perhaps it is due to the time at which they were written. In any case, these two poets made a lasting impression on American poetry and will continue to appear in poetry anthologies for years to come.
The central conflict in Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays”, is the unfortunate realization that the speaker never truly thanked or appreciated his father’s sacrifices when he was a child. After growing up, taking on responsibilities, and achieving a rehabilitated understanding of the world through experience, Hayden expresses his ingratitude that often accompanies with youth. The first line of the first stanza writes, “Sundays too my father got up early/and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold” (Hayden, 17). Out of these two lines, the word “too” is filled with importance because Sunday’s are dedicated to either religious practices, or rest for a working man. Fortunately, this was not his father’s case as his father would wake up early in order to perform his loving and self-sacrificing duties.
“Those Winter Sundays” had a sad and sorrowful tone to it as compared with “Begotten” which has a more pleasant and upbeat tone. One of the reasons why I chose to look at poems in the family album was because of how diverse every poem was going to be. Just like in real life, everyone has a different life story due to their families. Family life is an important part of life and I liked how the speaker of the poem was able to reflect back on his childhood after had grown up. Both of these poems were about child-father relationship, but family all together. It is easy to take your parents for granite, but when you grow up you start to realize how grateful you are for all they have done for you. Just because these two poems had two different tones did not make one better than the other, they were both equally powerful in their
"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden is a poem about a how the author is recalling how his father would wake up early on Sundays, a day which is usually a reserved as a day of rest by many, to fix a fire for his family. The mood of this poem is a bit sad. It portrays a father, who deeply cares for his family but doesn't seem to show it by emotions, words, or touching. It also describes a home that isn't very warm in feelings as well as the title" Those Winter Sundays" The author describes the father as being a hard worker, in the line "…with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday…", but still even on Sundays--the day of rest, the father works at home to make sure the house is warm for his family. The "blueblack cold described in the poem is now warmed by a father's love. This poem describes the author reminiscing what did not seem obvious at the time, the great love of his father, and the author's regretting to thank his father for all that he did.
The first poem, "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke (Page 18) presents a clear picture of the young man's father, from line one. "Whiskey" on the father's breath is one of many clues in appearance that mold a rough image of this uneducated, blue-collar worker, possibly a European immigrant, as indicated by the "Waltz" in the title (Line 1). These traits are not necessarily related. They merely exist at once in the father's character. Additional signs of roughness are his hand, "battered on one knuckle"(11), and "a palm caked hard by dirt"(14). This is a man who has probably known only grueling labor. His few escapes likely consist of a drink or two when he gets home from a tough day and maybe something good on the radio. This idea of the father as an unrefined oaf is further reinforced by his actions. His missed steps injure the child's ear, while the father and son's "romping" causes the pans to slide "from the kitchen shelf"(6). As he "beat[s] time"(13) on the child's head we see very clearly that he is quite brutish and careless with the child, and oblivious to his environment. All these factors make the boy's mother very uncomfortable. We can see the disapproval in her countenance, which "could not unfrown itself"(8). She is obviously upset but, strangely, does nothing to interfere with the horseplay that grieves her. This suggests that the waltz is enjoyable for not only one, but both parties. One might wonder why it is that the boy so delights in these moments. This is obviously a crude, boorish man. He probably doesn't flush. He may even smell bad. Are these reasons to love one's father less? Certainly not in the eyes of a small boy. This young man's father may not be the most sensitive or perceptive man around, but he still seems to be a hero in the eyes of his son. Finally, the son recalls these words: "Then you waltzed me off to bed/ Still clinging to your shirt"(16). After reading this poem, it is clear just how unconditional a child's love is.
While reading the poem the reader can imply that the father provides for his wife and son, but deals with the stress of having to work hard in a bad way. He may do what it takes to make sure his family is stable, but while doing so he is getting drunk and beating his son. For example, in lines 1 and 2, “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy” symbolizes how much the father was drinking. He was drinking so much, the scent was too much to take. Lines 7 and 8, “My mother’s countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” This helps the reader understand the mother’s perspective on things. She is unhappy seeing what is going on which is why she is frowning. Although she never says anything it can be implied that because of the fact that the mother never speaks up just shows how scared she could be of her drunk husband. Lines 9 and 10, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle”, with this line the reader is able to see using imagery that the father is a hard worker because as said above his knuckle was battered. The reader can also take this in a different direction by saying that his hand was battered from beating his child as well. Lastly, lines 13 and 14, “You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt” As well as the quote above this quote shows that the father was beating his child with his dirty hand from all the work the father has
The tone of a poem can only by recognized when reading carefully and paying close attention to the words and what they might suggest. The rhyme scheme of My Papa’s Waltz is extremely relevant to the poem. For example, in the first stanza dizzy and easy create the rollicking rhythm, as does the following stanza’s with the same pattern. The structure of words create an almost "waltz" like melody. The phrase " we romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" and " waltzed me off to bed" (Roethke 5-6, 15), convey a pleasant atmosphere to the reader. The title itself creates an affectionate attitude with the connection of Papa and waltz. The choice of words and details are used systematically to produce thoughts to the reader of happiness and affection, thus, establishing the tone of this poem.
The poem “Those Winter Sundays” displays a past relationship between a child and his father. Hayden makes use of past tense phrases such as “I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking” (6) to show the readers that the child is remembering certain events that took place in the past. Although the child’s father did not openly express his love towards him when he was growing up, the child now feels a great amount of guilt for never thanking his father for all the things he actually did for him and his family. This poem proves that love can come in more than one form, and it is not always a completely obvious act.
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels. Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions. More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son. The line Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning. The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.
In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.
Many writers use powerful words to portray powerful messages. Whether a writer’s choice of diction is cheerful, bitter, or in Robert Hayden’s case in his poem “Those Winter Sundays,” dismal and painful, it is the diction that formulates the tone of the piece. It is the diction which Hayden so properly places that allows us to read the poem and picture the cold tension of his foster home, and envision the barren home where his poem’s inspiration comes from. Hayden’s tumultuous childhood, along with the unorthodox relationships with his biological parents and foster parents help him to create the strong diction that permeates the dismal tone of “Those Winter Sundays.” Hayden’s ability to both overcome his tribulations and generate enough courage
The mood of the poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” written by Robert Hayden is regretful. The poet describes a cold winter Sunday morning staying in bed until the house is warm. The poet expressed sympathy for his father who got up early on a cold Sunday morning...