The poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden shows us how love can be presented in a way that is not necessarily obvious at the time. The speaker in the poem is an adult, most likely a male, who looks back at his childhood and sees a different perspective than he did many years ago. This child's father is the main character of this short but powerful sonnet. The title of the poem shows some ideas to the audience. First of all, it's winter, so it's cold, and secondly, it's Sunday. Sunday has always been seen as the "holy day" and even more so on the days the poem was written. Sunday is a day of rest and one should not work. The most important word in the first line of the poem is “too much”. It shows us that on Sunday, as well as every other day of the week, this man gets up early to take care of his family. The first verse contains a powerful message contained in the five lines. The father gets up before anyone else, in the dark and cold of the house, gets dressed and lights the fires to keep everyone else warm. This verse also shows that the father was a hardworking man "with chapped hands that ached from toil on weekdays. (3-4)." The last line "No one ever thanked him (5)" shows that no one appreciates what he has done to keep them warm and the devotion he has towards his family. The second verse is from the child's point of view. He is doing the same thing his father did by getting up and getting dressed, but he has done it in the warmth of the fire his father had agreed to light. After describing the bitter cold in which his father found himself, he states: "When the rooms were warm, he would call, and I would slowly get up and dress(7)" which shows that it is already beautiful in the house... ... in the middle of the paper ... good shoes too.” The art of repetition in the last lines “What did I know, what did I know of the austere and solitary offices of love?” places more emphasis on the emotion behind the words. He gives birth to a boy who is now a man and fully understands the wrongs he has done to this man who loved him so much. This is a man who truly regrets not understanding the affection his father showed him all those years ago and only wishes he had. I chose the mode of this poem to be thematic. The theme of love guides the readers' understanding of the poem. Although the love the father feels for his son is not directly stated and the son did not realize the affection his father showed him as a child, it is understood by the reader because of the father's actions. Works Cited Robert Hayden. "Those winter Sundays". www.poeti.org. Last seen 3.9.2014