Appreciation

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the moments of appreciation, which is the primary theme in Simon Ortiz's poem "My Father's Song" and Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays." The poem focuses on the similarities between the two poems. First, the paper demonstrates how the poets of both "My Father's Song" and "Those Winter Sundays" use their writing as a sort of memory of something significant that their father taught them. At the time, continues the paper, this lesson seemed unimportant or irrelevant but in retrospect, it was instrumental in shaping the man the poet became. The paper also examines how the poems are both touching without being overly sentimental. Furthermore, the paper shows how both poems express love realistically, through simple events and actions. Lastly, the paper discusses the poems similar structure -- both are tributes to the poet's father, focusing on qualities that were unique unto him.

From the Paper:

"These poems are poignant because they are touching without being too sentimental. In "My Father's Song," the poet is remembering an event that probably lasted no more than ten minutes. However, within those ten minutes, he was able to hear his father's song, which consisted of strong, gentle, and silent movements. His act is significant because the man takes the time out of working to move the mice to the edge of the field. The grown up poet remembers "the very softness/of cool and warm sand and tiny alive mice/and my father saying things" (Ortiz 23-5). This moment triggers the poem in the first place when the poet misses his father and "his voice" (3). The simple and seemingly insignificant things he misses are more powerful than any momentous occasion could ever be. Likewise, in "Those Winter Sundays," we find that uncomfortable moments turn out to be the ones that evoke powerful memories. Johnson states that while we cannot ignore the fact that the poet calls actions of love "lonely" (Hayden 14) and "austere" (14), the "seeming contradiction is precisely what the poet wishes to portray. His idea of love is that it has many conflicting qualities and that it expresses itself in complex ways" (Johnson). The poems are about the actions of a father that speak love without ever saying it or ever having to define it. In many ways, this is how we learn to recognize love--by subtle actions and gestures. These poems also express the love of the each poet. In "My Father's Song," it is woven between the lines from beginning to end with the poet fondly remembering and missing his father and the things he used to say. In "Those Winter Sundays," the poet's final question releases the love that the father's actions prompt."

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