Those Winter Sundays

“Those Winter Sundays” (1962; 1984) by Robert Hayden (1913-1980) is an elegiac poem that combines elements of free verse and formal poetry. Hayden’s upbringing in a poor, Black household during the Great Depression adds historical and personal weight to this poem, but the poem’s enduring legacy and popularity are due to its simple messages of love, regret, family, and sacrifice. Often considered one of the best poems of the 20th century, “Those Winter Sundays” is Hayden’s most anthologized and recognized poem; it serves as a notable example of some of the social and poetic movements in which Hayden lived and about which he wrote.

Though the poem was originally published in his 1962 book A Ballad of Remembrance, the most popular version of the poem (and the one used in this guide) is a revised edition from 1984. This revised edition removes a line from the original and adds a syllable in the third stanza. Hayden constantly tinkered with his poetry after publication, and though some of his revised poems include significant changes, the revised version of “Those Winter Sundays” does not significantly alter the poem.

Poet Biography

Born Asa Bundy Sheffey in 1913, Hayden was adopted and raised in Detroit’s Paradise Valley, a predominantly Black neighborhood defined by its rich culture and crushing poverty. Paradise Valley prominently features in Hayden’s poetry both as location and subject.

Hayden’s interest in poetry and academics developed early. Because of his small frame and vision problems, Hayden took to activities like reading and writing instead of sports and more physical pursuits. This often led to other children ignoring or bullying him, and combined with a difficult home life, Hayden developed depression that recurred throughout his life; however, as an adult, he spoke of many positive experiences as a child with both Black and white kids, and his outlook on life was full of hope and a strong desire for harmony and love among all people.

Hayden’s early interest in literature continued as an adult, and upon graduating high school, he enrolled at Detroit City College where he studied Spanish and English. He did not graduate, though; instead, at the height of the Great Depression, he took a job with the Federal Writers’ Project, where he began studying the history of African Americans. This scholarship had a profound effect on him and his poetry. Many of his poems focus on Black historical subjects and crucial events of African American history.

During the 1940s, Hayden married Erma Morris and converted to the Baháʼí faith. His religious beliefs served as another major subject and influence in his later poetry. Hayden’s teaching career began in Michigan in 1942, but he spent most of his career at Fisk University where he taught writing.

While Hayden believed himself to be a poet who happened to be Black, he taught and wrote during the beginning of the Black Power movement. Many students, artists, activists, and thinkers during this time believed it was the Black artist’s responsibility to reject traditional western style and use their art to further the cause of oppressed Black people. Hayden viewed his responsibility as an artist in a more traditional way, and because of his rejection of some of the more progressive views of art shared by his contemporaries, he was often derided by younger artists and scholars.

Despite this, Hayden’s legacy as a monumental American poet and voice of the African American community is now secure. Critics consider his poetry technically masterful and his poems about African American history powerful.

Hayden died in 1989 in Michigan at the age of 66.

Poem Text

Hayden, Robert. “Those Winter Sundays.” 1962. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“Those Winter Sundays” is about a son’s acknowledgment and appreciation of the things his father did to take care of his family. In the poem, the speaker describes cold, desolate mornings when his father would awaken early and build a fire to keep the family home warm. The description of the father suggests he is a blue-collar, industrial worker, as the speaker describes his “cracked hands that ached / from labor in the weekday weather” (Lines 3-4). At the end of the first stanza, the speaker says “[n]o one ever thanked” the father for building a fire on a cold Sunday morning, but the speaker does not comment on this bleak acknowledgment (Line 5).

Instead, the second stanza describes the speaker waking to the warmth of the fire and his father’s call. The speaker suggests the home was not a happy one when he says he feared “the chronic angers of that house” (Line 9), though he does not elaborate or provide specifics about the history of this home.

In the final stanza, the speaker admits to “speaking indifferently to” the father (Line 10), and the poem’s tone begins to shift from one of memory to one of understanding. The speaker acknowledges that his father was the one “who had driven out the cold / and polished my good shoes” (Lines 11-12), and ends the poem with the lament, “What did I know, what did I know / of love’s austere and lonely offices?” (Lines 13-14), suggesting the speaker now regrets how he never appreciated his father’s thankless care for the family.