THE LASTING MEMORIES OF FATHERS
Written in 1966 and 1987 respectively, both Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and David Wagoner's "My Father's Garden" are two poems which pay special tribute to the speakers' fathers. Even though the poetic tones and family settings are different, however, the fathers in both poems are, in fact, very much alike. They appear to be conservative, in that they do not communicate with their sons through words: they do not to tell their sons directly that they love them. The sons therefore, never realize that their fathers subtly express their austere and lonely love through simple acts, and this significant connection ties the two poems together inextricably. Hayden and Wagoner's speakers reveal that reflections on their past can bring about complex memories and emotions. The speakers, now grown ups, try to recollect their childhood with a mature sense that they did not have when they were children. They both describe their fathers as hard workers and powerful men, doing what they could to provide what was best for their families. Hayden's speaker remembers the times when his father rose early every morning before everyone else, and he was the only one who built the fire in preparation for his sleeping children, so that they wo
The latter means "with great praise, and this is the second highest distinction awarded at graduation. If, however, taking it to a deeper lever, the melting of the father's brain might not wholly be the result of high heat, excessive noise, dusts or fumes in the steel mill, but also the job itself. "Those Winter Sundays" is a poem which appeals to difference senses, including sense of sight, smell, touch, and hearing. By creating a warm environment, it would seem like the room was comfortable. His father saw something good in those scraps and the skills he possessed allowed him to make good use of the scraps and create interesting things that every child needs, such as toys for his son, so that he would bring happiness to his family and offer his son a childhood which was as joyous and happy as other kids'. In contrast, the imagery in Wagoner's poem is very different from "Those Winter Sundays". The speaker now looks back and realizes how much his father must have sacrificed and done for him without being appreciated and acknowledged. The lines "In rusty rockeries of stoves and brake drums,/ In grottoes of sewing machines and refrigerators" (7-8) contribute to the image of an unusual garden. The speaker vividly portrays his father's hands: "then with cracked hands that ached/ from labor in the weekday weather. "Those Winter Sundays" and "My Father's Garden" are poems written from the perspectives of the sons, who admire and appreciate their fathers for what they did in their lives. He is now able to perceive his father's "austere love", which was expressed in a silent and indirect way. It is as if he is blaming himself that he never understood what love was until he himself has grown. When he was building the fires on those cold and dry mornings, readers can see and hear his 'cracked hands' cracking the logs and breaking the cold. In fact, "those warm rooms" (7) which are filled with "chronic angers" (9) turns out to be something they do not expect.
Common topics in this essay:
Winter Sundays,
Father's Garden,
Sundays Throughout,
Latin/ Greek,
Hayden Wagoner's,
winter sundays,
,
father's hands,
appears stanza,
magna sin laude,
father's garden,
magna sin,
sin laude,
winter sundays father's,
sundays father's,
tyger-mouthed mills,
simple acts,
chronic angers,
flowers father picked,
father's garden poems,
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