
What makes a family, a family?  What does it mean to be a family?  There are different responsibilities and expectations that keep families together and strengthen relationships.  Robert Hayden, an American poet, wrote “Those Winter Sundays”, reflecting on the memories he shared with his father each Sunday morning.  Lucille Clifton, an American writer and poet, published a very similar work, “Forgiving My Father”, which also recounts the memories she shared with her father. Both Hayden and Clifton emphasize the importance of family, but whereas the former recounts his relationship with his father in a positive light in "Those Winter Sundays," the latter describes the negative relationship she shared with her father in "Forgiving My Father”.  This is significant because the presence or absence of their fathers impact the remainder of their lives. 

Both literary works were written in the late 20th century, following the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the beginning of the rise of the Black Arts Movement, which served as a large influence on each of these pieces.  Clifton and Hayden, both African American writers, grew up in black communities, surrounded by poverty, which is evident in their writing (Foster, 1).  Ironically, both authors chose to have their fathers as the subject of their works.  During this time, “66% of African American children were born to unwed mothers”, which deprived those children of having a relationship with their fathers (McCabe 2).  Still, this shows that Clifton and Hayden recognized the importance of a fatherly figure because they chose to focus on them in each of their poems.  Both authors were compelled to use poetry to share his or her views about family and its support system, or lack thereof.

While each poem describes a different relationship that each narrator shared with his or her father, both stories have a specific, similar tone that connects back to the theme of the importance of family members’ presence.  Both poems employ a sad, melancholic tone when describing the memories they shared with their fathers.  The first work by Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”, expresses a tone of “sadness and regret” (Landau, 3).  Throughout his piece, Hayden describes all of the privileges that he took advantage of when his father was still there.  He remembers when his father would “warm [the room]” and “polish [his] good shoes” (Hayden, 7, 12).  Each of the generous things that his father did for him went unnoticed; as the narrator recounts on these times, he has feelings of regret because he did not recognize the greatness of his father at the time and now it is too late.  This regretful, sad tone illustrates the narrator’s realization of the importance of his father’s actions at the time.  

In comparison, Clifton’s work, “Forgiving My Father”, also has a very melancholic, but more resentful tone to describe the negative relationship she held with her father.  The speaker in Clifton’s poem refers to her father, using demeaning terms, such as “old pauper, old prisoner, old dead man” (Clifton lines 14-15).  The narrator is placed in the middle of a difficult marital relationship with a dispute over money, which directed the feelings of hatred toward her father, who she believed to be the one held responsible.  By titling the poem “forgiving my father,” Clifton shows that it is important to have a strong relationship with her father. However, she writes this poem to describe her feelings of neglect, so she can explain why she has given up on her father.  Both these texts share very similar, dejected tones to further express the theme of family members’ absence versus presence through regret or forgiveness. 

In addition to the similarity of the tones in each poem, the diction that Hayden and Clifton use is very alike and also emphasizes the underlying theme.  Both poems have a very “colloquial diction” when referring to the relationship that each speaker shares with his or her father (Landau, 4).  For instance, Hayden utilizes phrases such as “got up” and “put on”, which are generally used in everyday, informal speech (Hayden, 1,2).  By doing this, it creates a more calm and familiar tone, as compared to Clifton’s poem.  The colloquial diction gives the reader an easier way to relate to the text because the terminology is not as complicated. 

Similarly, Clifton also incorporates this type of diction to reiterate the theme of her poem.  Although Clifton’s tone is more resentful than Hayden’s when referencing the father, she still uses very colloquial language.  Throughout the entire poem, Clifton uses different words to refer to the father, such as “old man”, “daddy”, and “old lecher, old liar” (Clifton, 5,9,10).  The use of the word “daddy”, in particular, is one that stands out because of its connotation.  Since the word “daddy” is generally used in a positive light, it is slightly sarcastic, which adds to the caustic tone of the poem.  Overall, a colloquial diction supports the melancholic tone to reiterate the impact of a family member’s absence by using these informal terms.

Both Hayden and Clifton use a similar diction while simultaneously integrating vivid images into their works to illustrate the significance of a fatherly figure.  Hayden’s poem recounts the Sunday mornings that the speaker spent with his father and the responsibilities that he performed at the time: “Sundays too my father got up early… then with cracked hands that ached / from labor in the weekday weather made / banked fires blazed” (Hayden, 1,3,4).  Even when the father was exhausted from the workweek, he would rise early on cold, Sunday mornings to warm the house before anyone else woke up.  “When the poet says that his father labored in ‘he weekday weather,’ he not only informs us that his father worked outside but reminds us with the word ‘weather’ that he worked during the cold winter” (Johnson, 1).  By presenting the reader with specific images like these, it is clear that Hayden can distinctly remember all the generous tasks his father did for him.  This shows the importance of the role that the father played in this family.  As the head of the household, it would be difficult for the family to adapt to the absence of a fatherly figure to prepare the fires and “polish [his] good shoes” (Hayden, 12).  

Comparably, Clifton also uses imagery to illustrate the different responsibilities that her father could not complete to show how the absence of her father negatively impacted her life.  Clifton’s ideas throughout the poem focus on the father being in debt to his wife and shortchanging her all her life.  The speaker opens with “it is Friday, we have come / to the paying of the bills” to introduce that the father is the main source of income (Clifton, 1,2).  Although the father would “come up empty any Friday”, the speaker shows the importance of a fatherly figure through its absence (Clifton, 18).  Together, Clifton and Hayden use imagery to explain the duties of a father to demonstrate the importance of their roles.  

Ultimately, Robert Hayden and Lucille Clifton center each of their poems on the relationship a child has with his or her father to reiterate the importance of the absence or presence of a fatherly figure by utilizing similar a tone, diction, and imagery.  Both “Those Winter Sundays” and “Forgiving My Father” have a very colloquial diction to strengthen the theme.  Each of them also shares a melancholic tone when referencing their relationship with their father.  Also, the two authors incorporate imagery into their texts to help the reader visualize their circumstances.  By doing this, the authors show that it is important to have a fatherly figure in your life: a person who is able to support you and your family, and a person who serves as a leader and mentor for the rest of your life. 

During revisions, I visited the writing center to receive feedback on my paper, along with feedback from my peer reviewer. Since then, I added onto my thesis to clarify the significance of the paper: originally I defined the theme as “importance of family” but have altered that to be “importance of a family members’ presence or absence”.  Although it is slightly wordy, it is clearer in meaning.  I then went on to each body paragraph and related it back to my new thesis to clarify. I also split up some of the paragraphs to organize my essay better and avoid having too long of paragraphs. I edited the conclusion and analyzed each poem in more depth to support my points more. 
