Those Winter Sundays Literary Devices
The poem, “Those Winter Sundays” is a short lyric in which the speaker remembers a moment in his childhood and thinks about the sacrifices his father has made for him back in his past. The author Robert Hayden’s intricate language of this poem brings a great use of imagery, metaphors, and symbols to each stanza. The sonnet of the poem does not follow a strict rhyme scheme, however the pattern of the words brings a sense of euphony to the reader. Haydens language and artistic devices by which he transmits the idea that people often take acts of kindness for granted, often makes the reader stop and rethink his attitude towards som events in their life. The various literary elements of the poem work to support the theme of sadness and contributes
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This device lets the author convey ideas to the reader about what is going on in the story. An example of a metaphor in the poem is in the father's “austere and lonely offices,” (line 14) acts of love performed against the elements so that the family would not encounter the cold. Like the fire that the father creates, the imagery moves from cold to warm: The father raised in the “blueblack cold; then with cracked hands that ached with labor,” (lines 3-5) he builds a fire to warm the house. Still in bed, the poet as a young child wakes and hears “the cold splintering, breaking.” (line 6) The cold is bitter, and can be heard as well as felt. The sensory images become much more auditory with the words splintering and breaking. When the boy rises, he can still sense the “chronic angers” (line 9) of the house. This metaphor compares the harsh auditory images to complaints. That is, as though the house complains as the father seeks to get it to warm up for his family. In, “Those Winter Sundays,” Hayden uses many descriptive words to set up the scene for his work. His use of symbols helps the reader conjure up visions of this hard working father up alone in the cold darkness. When Haden writes, “cracked hands that ached,” (line 4) he is using the “cracked hands” as a symbol for the father's hard work, and a symbol for all the pain he puts himself
This device lets the author convey ideas to the reader about what is going on in the story. An example of a metaphor in the poem is in the father's “austere and lonely offices,” (line 14) acts of love performed against the elements so that the family would not encounter the cold. Like the fire that the father creates, the imagery moves from cold to warm: The father raised in the “blueblack cold; then with cracked hands that ached with labor,” (lines 3-5) he builds a fire to warm the house. Still in bed, the poet as a young child wakes and hears “the cold splintering, breaking.” (line 6) The cold is bitter, and can be heard as well as felt. The sensory images become much more auditory with the words splintering and breaking. When the boy rises, he can still sense the “chronic angers” (line 9) of the house. This metaphor compares the harsh auditory images to complaints. That is, as though the house complains as the father seeks to get it to warm up for his family. In, “Those Winter Sundays,” Hayden uses many descriptive words to set up the scene for his work. His use of symbols helps the reader conjure up visions of this hard working father up alone in the cold darkness. When Haden writes, “cracked hands that ached,” (line 4) he is using the “cracked hands” as a symbol for the father's hard work, and a symbol for all the pain he puts himself