Family Unit: Those Winter Sundays

"Those Winter Sundays"
Robert Hayden

Throughout the poem, the author ponders events from his childhood which he did not know at the time.  More specifically, he utilizes imagery related to winter in order to highlight the regret he feels for his lack of gratitude as a child.

The poem is told in the past tense.  More than that, the story is told in an indicative mood.  This occurrence of the father's waking up early on weekends to care for the house and his family did not happen only once; the father repeatedly made this sacrifice.  Likewise, the author and his family repeatedly neglected to show any gratitude:  "No one ever thanked him" (Hayden, 781).  Since these sacrifices were made, the author has matured and realized for himself how lonely sacrifices make one when not thanked.

In order to demonstrate the degree of sacrifice his father made on a daily basis, Hayden relies heavily on imagery related to winter, an aspect of the title.  Not only did his father have to get up early, but he had to greet a cold world and labor with cracked hands and lips for his family.  Then, Hayden shifts the imagery to warm and comfortable.  While the father faced the cold upon waking up, because of his efforts, Hayden got to wake up to a home warmed by a fire.  His father faced the hardships of the winter so that his family could enjoy the opposite of his experience.