In many types of literature, authors use different themes and senses to describe similar situations. This seems to be the case with the two short poems, Those Winter Sundays and forgiving my father. Both pieces exemplify relationships with their fathers, and in one way or another, how they relate. Despite the authors having contrasting experiences with their fathers in the writing, the image portrayed by the fathers are similar. Whether the authors meant to do it or not, the bond, or lack thereof, between a father and his family is revealed in these texts using comparable tones. In one piece, the father shows love in a manner that exhibits compassion while keeping sort of a distant relationship. Meanwhile, the relationship that is seen in forgiving my father is just pure hatred and disrespect. Despite these differences, both works show the variety of father-child connections that are apparent in the world today.

In Robert Hayden’s Those Winter Sundays, the speaker exerts the idea that the father shows his love in a brusque, yet compassionate, way. The poem starts out explaining that the father gets up early every day to heat up the house for the rest of the family before they woke up. Despite this act of pure selflessness, he also is a hard-working man who, unfortunately, does not get the appreciation he deserves from his family. In the next stanza, however, the contra idea is revealed. After the house was warm enough to wake up the rest of the family, he would do so. The speaker of the poem explains this process from his point of view, “When the rooms were warm, he’d call, / and slowly I would ride and dress, / fearing the chronic angers of that house,” (Hayden 7-9). This quote discloses the message that the father leaves an intimidating feel in the eyes of the speaker. By “fearing the chronic angers,” of the father, it is obvious that he must have aggressive or intimidating features that inflict fear on the speaker. This seems to be the only sign of hostility, though, as the rest of the poem shows the unconditional care the father has for his family.

On the contrary, forgiving my father by Lucille Clifton tells the unforgiving story of a poor relationship between a family and their father figure. From start to finish, the father is ravished by the speaker for his lack of proper care and financial aid for his family.  Clifton depicts the father as a cheap, egotistical man who had little to nothing to offer to those he pretended to care about. Evidence of this is hinted throughout, including in the second stanza when the speaker shares, “I wish you were rich so I could take it all / and give the lady what she was due…” (Clifton 10-11). This quote not only digs into the fact that the father owed the family some aid, but also reveals the difference in fatherly relationships in literature. Unlike Those Winter Sundays, this poem is more hostile in terms of the message directed towards the father.  

There are various aspects to both works that can be put up against each other. The most obviously distinguished comparison is the relationship between the narrator and the father in each of the poems. In Hayden’s work, the father cares for the family and speaker, but shows it in an offhand fashion. The subtle vibe of silent love overpowers the intimidation that is released by the father. To contrast, Clifton sets the scene of a poor, both connectively and financially, relationship with a father that ends in a feud. Both of these poems attest that regardless of on which side of the spectrum the bond is, literature is an art that can be expressed in many different ways, even when discussing the similar topics.
