-ROBERT HAYDEN

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.

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,

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?

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 makes the cold

atmosphere prevailing in the house warm with

his love’s austere offices.

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.

WORDS AND ITS MEANINGS

Blaze : burn with

strong flame

Splintering : breaking

into small pieces

Indifferently : having no

interest in

Austere : sternness

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

Image

Visual Image

What you see.

Eg:

cracked hands

banked fires blaze

blueblack cold

Auditory image

What you hear.

Eg:

cold splintering, breaking

chronic anger

blueblack cold

Tactile Image

What you touch and feel

Eg:

warm rooms

polishing shoes

“Love doesn’t always appear

in a friendly and warm

form.”