Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden and My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke

In the two poems “ Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “ My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, they both reflect no two unique childhood memories. Both poets take a snapshot of their memory by using imagery and diction to reinvent the exact feelings during the time.

“ My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem about the adventures of bedtime between a father and son duo. The narrator describes “ Pans sliding from the kitchen shelf” and “ Mother countenance could not unfrown itself”. The quote about the pans describes that everhting has been put away and then due to the sparatic playing between father and son caused everything to be destroyed. The mother can’t stop frowning because she was just about to put her son to bed before her husband did. This shows that this boy lives ina loving and involved house. Theodore describes the play time as “ waltzing” and “romping”, these words produce the image of a exuberant dance being done. The poet also use’s the word dizzy, which all kids use as a game of entertainment. At the end the father then waltzes his uneager son up to bed.

In “ Winter Sundays” the author conveys a memory of longing and regret of a relationship involving a father and son. The narrator illustrates a cold and dark home full of anger. While he describes the weather he also describes the people in the home. “ Blue-black, cold” and “ Cold splintering, breaking” explains the harshness in the home. The family seems to be poor which explains the cold but the people seem to be cold. As we read the poem we feel pain and depression the boy feels in the story by the statemant about “ Chronic anger”. The emotions in the house are full of tension and regret. The boy regrets not ever thanking his father for the work he did for the family. Over all the story expresses sorrow by using imagery to convey the emotions of a boy.