Those Winter Sundays, by Robert Hayden and forgiving my father, by Lucille Clifton are both works of non-fiction that display the common characteristics of a literary work placed in the non-fiction genre. These two poems share many commonalities, including their tales of the past, and the different feelings told about their fathers. However, although they are similar in some ways, they are also many different from each other. They both have very differing views on their fathers. On one hand, Robert Hayden feels appreciation and thankful for all that his father does, whereas Lucille Clifton feels anger and hatred towards what her father put her through.  Both contain similar elements in the individual pieces of literature, yet also have some obvious differences. Together they form a cohesive mix 

Those Winter Sundays is a poem written by Robert Hayden about his father’s Sunday ritual in winter. His father is portrayed as a very hardworking man, who essentially does everything for his family. This poem discusses how hard he works even on his days off and never receives any gratitude. Due to the fact that he was never thanked, the author feels remorseful that he never thanked his father, as well as very grateful for all of the things he has done without ever being asked to do so.

This is also true in Forgiving My Father. Lucille Cliftion includes many of the same basic elements that Hayden did, such as it being a factual story about her past,and having written it about her father. This is also a work of nonfiction that discusses the past fellings of her father that molded him into the way that he is currently perceived. A commonality between the two works is that in the last stanza both feel switched from passive voice to present tense. In the last stanzas, they both start to feel remorse almost and a big change of emotion from the first parts of the poem. Hayden writes “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?”(Hayden). This clearly shows that he is starting to feel grateful and regretting not telling his father how he felt. Both writers suggest the death of their respective fathers and convey how their opinions change past death. Clifton writes “What am I doing here collecting? …You lie side by side in debtors’ boxes…and no accounting will open them up”(lines 21-23). This last stanza suggests that Clifton’s original opinion of her father is starting to wane away and she is beginning to come to peace with what she dealt with because she now realizes there is nothing she can do about it. 

Although many elements in the texts correspond with the poems being very similar, there are also ways in which it differs from the lens text. The stories told about their fathers end in similar ways, but substantially differ throughout the opening stanzas. Hayden tells us of all the hard work that his father has put in place to be able to provide for him and his family, no matter what the obstacles he faces, and no matter how little thanks he receives. On the other hand, in a much different world, Clifton tells us a story that portrays her father as a very bad person who was not cared for by her or her family and put them through some tough times. She is ultimately very disappointed in her father’s actions, and the way he took care of their financials, and family. She refers to her father as a “lecher” and a “liar” (9-10). She feels hatred towards him and disappointment. According to the poems and context clues, it would appear that both families in the poems came from bad financial situations, but differ in the ways in which the fathers handled these difficult situations. One worked extremely hard to work through the tough financial times to provide for his family and remain stable, whereas the other one was not there when his family needed him and possibly made the situation worse

Hayden and Clifton both tell stories about their fathers in the past. Both texts have many similarities towards each other and non-fiction, in addition to having equally as many differences. The different actions of the fathers provide the basic structure for a poem that could be questioned and discussed in depth. Both poems end open-endedly, and have a lot of room for questioning and analysis. The poems stick to the basic standards of non-fiction but also stray away from it with the minor detailing and lack of facts that is commonly associated with works of non-fiction.
