Presentation Outline Matthew, February 17, 2006 |
biography | outline | literary terms | links | works cited | literary criticism | activities | poetry presentation web | poem text
Literary Career There are three chapters to Hayden's literary career. He began writing poems in the 1930s and 40s working for the Works Progress Administration, which was a government sponsored program for artists. His early work centered primarily on the experiences of everyday blacks and their family relationships. The second chapter of his literary career during the 1960s saw Hayden ostracized by his more militant black peers who dismissed Hayden's focus on the more general human condition than on race and society. Hayden is quoted as saying, "There is no such thing as black literature. There is good literature and bad. And that's all." While his work gained increasing notoriety, his status among black writers waned as the majority of radical writers of the time saw themselves as black first and artists second. At the first black writers' conference in April, 1966, Hayden was denounced and marginalized. In 1969, Hayden found a home as a professor of English at the University of Michigan where he taught until his death. The 1970s brought Hayden more widespread acclaim. He published major collections of poetry in 1970 and 1975, and during that decade, he held a consulting position to the library of Congress, the position today known as poet laureate. In a White House ceremony in 1980, Hayden was one of the American artists honored by President Jimmy Carter. Background to poem / Biography Robert Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan on August 4, 1913, to Asa Sheffey and Ruth Finn. His father, Asa, was a coal miner and his mother, Ruth, was of racially mixed heritage. Before Hayden was born, his parents' marriage dissolved, and the boy was handed over to WIlliam and Sue Hayden. Hayden kept contact with his natural mother, spending vacations away from Detroit in his mother's home in Buffalo, New York. Hayden's relationship with his adoptive parents was tense as William Hayden was a very strictly religious Baptist, while Sue was somewhat less than a doting mother. The relationship between his adoptive parents was contentious, and young Hayden was often caught in the middle of emotional struggles between his adopted parents and his natural mother. In fact, he was never really formally adopted, and his legal name remained Asa Bundey Sheffey. In his teenage years, Hayden suffered from extreme myopia, limiting his athletic prowess and steering him toward literary talents. He wrote poems as early as age 16 while working all sorts of jobs as a typist, a grocery store clerk, and a bookie. He won a scholarship to Detroit City College in 1932 but left in 1936 before earning a degree. Read poem:
General structure and a general overview:
Rhetorical devices:
Literary criticism: Formalistic Approach Robert Hayden’s use of words with distinct negative connotations reveals the lack of love and compassion in the scene. The cold permeates everything while his father rises early on a Sunday morning to dress in the “blueblack” cold. Furthermore, the father’s “cracked” hands combined with “aching,” “splintering,” and “breaking” provides for a dismal setting and tone in the poem. Words such as "splintering" and "breaking" provide a use of onomatopoeia as they actually sound like ice cracking and breaking due to the newfound heat. The narrator never thanks his father for the simple pleasures provided on a Sunday morning as seen in "No one ever thanked him." This phrase constitutes the foundation for the theme of the poem as the narrator contains a profound hatred of his father due to past experiences. “Chronic angers” in the house also account for a lack of happiness that characteristically describes waking up to a fire on a cold Sunday morning. The personification of the house can also be seen through Hayden's description of the "chronic angers." It almost seems as if the house is the one that is constantly angry at the narrator of the poem. The depressing scene reveals itself further through Hayden’s repetition of “What did I know, what did I know.” This phrase depicts the childish nature of the narrator and his lack of understanding of what a father must do to preserve the love of a family. Hayden thus portrays a lack of compassion in the relationship between father and son through the description of the biting cold on a Sunday morning. Historical-Biographical Robert Hayden’s poem, Those Winter Sundays, reflects a personal experience with his father. While growing up in Detroit, Michigan, Hayden suffered through a period of constant turmoil and fighting in his family. His father and mother finally split after years of bickering, leaving newly born Hayden in the care of foster parents. Hayden’s relationship with his father was rocky at best as exemplified in this poem. “No one ever thanked him.” Hayden’s use of words with negative connotations combined with this phrase represents a rift of dissension with his father. The cold metaphorically depicts the total absence of love needed in a healthy relationship. Furthermore, "too" (line 1) emphasizes that these Sunday mornings occur regularly and in similar routines. Therefore, Hayden's relationship with his father is depicted through the totality of the cold which represents the extent of the dissent between father and son. Moreover, Hayden questions, “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely office?” Thus, through These Winter Sundays, Robert Hayden effectively depicts the dysfunctional relationship between a father and son. Comparison to other poems: Fire and Ice by Robert Frost Thoughts on Relationship with Parents: Create Metaphor for relationship with parents
|