7. Robert Hayden is an American poet ,
essayist , and educator. His works
often address the plight of African
Americans. He has written political
poetry including a sequence on the
Vietnam War.
8. THOSE WINTER SUNDAYS
Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
Then with cracked hands that ached
From labour in the weekday weather made
Banked fires blaze.No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering,breaking
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
And slowly I would rise and dress,
Fearingthe chronic angers of that house,
Speakin indifferently to him,
Who had driven out the cold
And polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
Of love’s austere and lonely offices.
9. WORD MEANINGS
Grief - extreme sorrow
Crack - break
Ache -pain
Blaze -burn with a strong flame
Splintering - breaking into small pieces
Chronic - very bad
Austere - sterness
Lonely -without company
Offices -helps that give to others
10. This is a poem about a hardworking poor father who is being
fondly remembered by his grown-up son.
Even on winter Sundays, the loving oldman woke up early in
the morning and kindled the fire with his cracked hands tha
ached , when everybody was shivering in the blue-black cold.
He is a lonely figure who makes the cold atmosphere prevailing
in the house warm with his love’s austere offices.
Parental love and affection are expressed through simpe and
gentle
acts of care and kindnes such as kindling the fire and polishing the
shoes without expecting others to thank him. Even the son was
thankless to him which he realised later and felt regret for that..
