3. 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.
4. 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
5. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering,
breaking.
when the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking 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?
6. This is a poem about a poor father who is
being fondly remembered by his grown-up
son
Even on winter Sundays, the loving
father woke up early in the morning and
kindled the fire with his cracked hands that
ached, when everybody was shivering in the
blue-black cold. He is a lonely figure who
7. Parental love and affection are expressed
through simple and gentle acts of care and
kindness such as kindling the fire and polishing
the shoes without expecting others to thank
him or love him. Even the son was thankless to
him which he realized later and felt regret for
that.
8. WORDS AND ITS MEANINGS
Blaze : burn with strong
flame
Splintering : breaking into small
pieces
Indifferently : having no interest in
Austere : sternness
9. Image
Poetic image is a sensuous picture in words.
It is charged with human motions. The most
commonly used images are :
1. Visual images
2. Auditory images
3. Tactile images
10. Visual Image
What you see.
Eg:
cracked hands
banked fires blaze
blueblack cold
11. Auditory image
What you hear.
Eg:
cold splintering, breaking
chronic anger
blueblack cold
12. Tactile Image
What you touch and
feel
Eg:
warm rooms
polishing shoes
