Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor 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,

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?

 

    In "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, Hayden creates a contrasting connection between family relationships and the bitter cold. First he begins by stating "Sundays too", implying that even on Sunday, the day that should be dedicated to family and God, his father tended to hard work rather than celebration. His father insists on waking up earlier than the rest, in order to make a fire. This fire could be symbolism for many different things: anger, love, enlightenment, life, damnation, destruction, and other motifs.  But in this poem, it can be seen as a symbol for life, saying that his father did everything hard, whether he appreciated it or not, for him. He would get up in the cold, or in hard times, in order to create this future for his son. His son, it can be assumed, took him for granted. The odd thing is that, according to the first line in the second stanza, the cold wakes the boy up as well, suggesting that possibly he noticed how his father would do this harsh things, possibly even implying that his father was harsh and unfavoriable, and he did not see the benefits from his father's sacrifices. When the warmth meets him, his father would force him to get up and leave the warmth in order to obey him. The son predicts that he will be scolded or be treated harshly from his father, maybe even "tough love". His son does not appreciate him, "speaking indifferently", forgets that his father had made sacrifices for him by making the "cold" or the things that could hurt their family, and "polished his shoes" or made sure his future is bright. The boy than reminsces about the fact that he always saw his father as strict and curle, when really his father was actually protecting him and cared about him greatly to make sure he had a good life. and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,