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those winter sundays by robert hayden response essay
those winter sundays by robert hayden response essay
reading response to these winter sundays
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“Art is not an escape, but a way of finding order in chaos, a way of confronting life” (Berry, Wendell). These were the judicious words that were once stated by American poet and educator, Robert Hayden. Despite being raised in an unstable home, moving from his family to a foster family, on top of struggling with impaired vision, Hayden found an interest in black history and poetry which would later bring him great recognition and success. And he would do so by utilizing his broad study of black history to “illuminate the American black experience” (Contemporary Authors Online). Writing of historical figures such as Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman, he shed light on his beliefs and went on to make history in the world of poetry.
Robert Earl Hayden was born on August 4th, 1913, with his birth name of Asa Bundy Sheffey. It wasn’t until he later lived with foster parents William and Sue Ellen Hayden, that his name was legally changed. Hayden was raised in a poor neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan known as Paradise Valley. After many years of witnessing both physical and verbal confrontations amongst his foster parents, he suffered from depression, and utilized poetry as an escape. In 1932, Hayden graduated from high school and attended Detroit City College, which would later become known as Wayne State University. At the age of 27, he published his first book of poems, Heart-Shape in the Dust, and then attended the University of Michigan. There, he was taken under the wing of Anglo-American poet Wystan Hugh Auden, who soon became a huge influence in Hayden’s writing. He admired a variety of poets, Edna St. Vincent, Carl Sandburg, and Langston Hughes just to name a few, and developed an interest in African-American his...
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...ntrism that is common in contemporary literature written by blacks” (Mann, James).
Works Cited
Berry, Wendell. "The Real Work." The Writer's Almanac. N.p., 4 Aug. 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"Robert E(arl) Hayden." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Mann, James. "Robert E(arl) Hayden." American Poets Since World War II. Ed. Donald J. Greiner. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 5. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Johnson, Jeannine. "An overview of “Those Winter Sundays”." Poetry for Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Gallagher, Ann M. "Hayden's 'Those Winter Sundays.' (Robert Hayden)." The Explicator 51.4 (1993): 245+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"Robert Hayden." Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Although Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden have very different experiences in childhood to write about, the overall message is appreciation of their fathers. Roethke's narrator appreciates that even though his father is not a polished dancer, he takes the time to roughhouse and dance with him as a boy. Even though it hurts a little, it is a fun moment between father and son. Hayden's narrator remembers what his father did for him every morning-lighting the fire and polishing his shoes-and has great regret that he didn't appreciate his father more for doing this things. However, Hayden gives us the chance, with this poem, to appreciate our fathers more.
Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol. 11. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, “My Father as a Guitar” by Martin Espada, and “Digging” by Seamus Heaney are three poems that look into the past of the authors and dig up memories of the authors fathers. The poems contain similar conflicts, settings, and themes that are essential in helping the reader understand the heartfelt feelings the authors have for their fathers. With the authors of the three poems all living the gust of their life in the 1900’s, their biographical will be similar and easier to connect with each other.
Hayden, Robert. ”Those Winter Sundays.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print.
Whittier, John Greenleaf. “Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Seventh Shorter Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2008. 654-70. Print.
The two poems I have chosen to analyze are Daystar by Rita Dove and Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden.
Although the majority of Robert Hayden's writings address racial themes and depicts events in African-American history, he also wrote short poems that capture his own personal experiences. Hayden has an enormous amount of great poems and short stories, but as I read through many of them, I was touched by two specific poems that I felt I could personally relate to. I chose these poems because I am able to put myself into the story-line and understand what the writer is talking about. I believe that a good writer is able to reach any reader regardless of race, gender, or age. Hayden possessed an incredible skill with his language and the structures of his poems that could almost pull the reader right out of their chair and place them in the center of his writings.
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.
The contradiction of being both black and American was a great one for Hughes. Although this disparity was troublesome, his situation as such granted him an almost begged status; due to his place as a “black American” poet, his work was all the more accessible. Hughes’ black experience was sensationalized. Using his “black experience” as a façade, however, Hughes was able to obscure his own torments and insecurities regarding his ambiguous sexuality, his parents and their relationship, and his status as a public figure.
Next is the poem called, ‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Hayden was based on the story of a young boy wondering about his father as he worked on every Sundays to make sure the house was warm for him. “Sundays too my father got up early.” (Hayden, pg. 1047) this showed that the father got up early on every Sundays while the readers rest on Sundays, so they would think why they would get up early on a day off. Also, it wouldn’t make sense to work on Sundays. The reader couldn’t imagine working on Sundays; they’d rather have the day off than working.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Winter Dreams." Print. Rpt. in English 102 Course Pack. By Megan Newell. Montreal: Eastman Systems, 2012. 33-40. Print.
"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 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.
The three poems, “Negro”, “I Too”, and “Song for a Dark Girl” were written by an African American male named Langston Hughes. Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. During his childhood, Hughes was familiar with the struggles of being an African American. By reason of his heritage and color, Hughes lived his childhood life in poverty and loneliness. Hughes’ farther left to Mexico because he felt indignation towards the fact that racism made him give up his dream of being a lawyer. His mother would frequently go out in a hopeless chase to find a stable job to support her family. His life experience led him to take refuge in books; which led to the love of literature and the interest in poetry. He started writing poetry when he was in high school at the young age of 17. His work was about the concern of soci...