Tuesday, January 21, 2020
The Contrasts between Hayden and Stevens Essay -- Poetry Analysis
Both Robert Haydenââ¬â¢s poem ââ¬Å"Those Winter Sundaysâ⬠and Wallace Stevensââ¬â¢ poem ââ¬Å"The Plain Sense of Thingsâ⬠describe different aspects of what defines house and home. Although a home can be a house, a house does not always mean a home. This difference, among other factors, correlates with how both poets play on the emotional undertones between a house full of people and a lone house in the woods. While Hayden seeks to describe how oneââ¬â¢s house is a home because of a fatherââ¬â¢s love-filled action, Stevens delineates a houseââ¬â¢s transformation from a home for people to a home for the natural world. Although the poets use two different tones for their respective poems, both define what a home could stand for. ââ¬Å"Those Winter Sundaysâ⬠depicts the speakerââ¬â¢s childhood memory of Sunday church mornings. The speaker explains that his father, despite having to work outside the rest of the week to provide for his family, would go outside early mornings to retrieve firewood to heat the home. Only when the heat from the fire would warm the whole house and he polished his sonââ¬â¢s church shoes, would the speakerââ¬â¢s father wake the family from their slumber. No one showed their appreciation for this action that displayed the fatherââ¬â¢s love for his family. The speaker shows deep self-reproach from his indifference toward his father, which he concludes was from being young and naà ¯ve. In line 5 (ââ¬Å"No one ever thanked himâ⬠) and in line 10 (ââ¬Å"Speaking indifferently to himâ⬠) the speaker explicitly states that during those times he did not particularly care whether or not his father took the time to warm the house, polish his good shoes and then wake him up for church. At the time the speaker may have been fearful of his parents fighting, confrontation or yelling tha... ...s and downs. Both ââ¬Å"These Winter Sundaysâ⬠and ââ¬Å"The Plain Sense of Thingsâ⬠set out to describe what the speaker feels a home is, whether itââ¬â¢s where oneââ¬â¢s family is or where life resides in. Either poem takes intricate detail using the seasons to help reflect the underlying emotions of the poemââ¬â¢s voice along with standout lines that help the reader know what the speaker aims to say, why they say it and how they choose to say it. Hayden and Stevens do a nice job of conveying a certain sense without having to be boldly explicit. Works Cited Hayden, Robert. ââ¬Å"These Winter Sundaysâ⬠. Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Karen S. Henry. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 6. Print. Stevens, Wallace. ââ¬Å"The Plain Sense of Thingsâ⬠. Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Karen S. Henry. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 8. Print.
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