Poem as Resonance

The satisfaction  and perhaps delight in reading a poem about a particular person or place may be in its relation to one's own life.  Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sunday's " is such a poem.  Hayden recalls how his father "got up early," and "made banked fires blaze."  He adds that "No one ever thanked him."  The poem concludes with the poet's  late recognition of his father's selfless action.


Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?

Robert Hayden
Copyright 1975
Angle of Ascent
Liveright /  New York