Gomez 1

Natalie Gomez
Mrs. Buescher
Period 6
3 April 2014
Deciphered Puzzles through Literary Devices

Showing love without saying the words is a powerful message to anyone. Robert Hayden
shows it in his poem Those Winter Sundays. In this poem, a son describes the Sunday of his
father. His description leads the reader to see and almost witness the events in the poem. The
main character presents to the reader love without words as the theme and is brought across the
poem with imagery, symbolism, and diction.
Many poem use imagery to seize the atmosphere and make it a whole for the readers to
improve their comprehension of the poem or for a better quality mental image of the poem.
Robert Hayden uses powerful imagery in his poem by his choice of words. Id wake and hear
the cold splintering, breaking. (Line 6). One would imagine the sound and the image of that
sentence, which is why this literary device supports the poem. When the word breaking: appears
in the sentence, it perfectly completes the imagery of the line. With cracked hands that ached.
(Line 3). This sentence holds powerful imagery because one would imagine a tired old man. The
love that the tired old man is showing cannot be explained with words, for that is why it is
explained through imagery. Weather made banked fires blaze. (Line 5). This sentence shows an
image of the old man making a fire after a long day, which can be seen as a safe haven to the
hardworking man. This is one of the most important lines because it describes the life of the old
man. A lot of imagery is set out through the poem and most of it introduces the symbolism of the
poem.
The symbolism of a poem is what puts the meaning of a poem together. In the poem Those
Winter Sundays there is symbolism shown as the entire poem. The narrator is describing the

Gomez 2
Natalie Gomez
Mrs. Buescher
Period 6
3 April 2014
Deciphered Puzzles through Literary Devices

Sundays of his father. He uses imagery to symbolize the love his father shows and the hard work
he does. The symbolism shown in the poem sense a powerful message. The symbolism couldnt
be put out better. Fearing the chronic angers of that house, (Line 9). The message that this line
sends to the symbolism turns feeling to fearing which will push the feeling towards the main
character to expand. The feeling that it brings to the reader is fear for the character. With
cracked hands that ached. (Line 3). This symbolizes hard work from the old man. The
symbolism of this line adds to the tone of the story. It can only be described if the right diction is
used.
Diction can make or break a poem. Id wake to hear the cold splintering, breaking. (Line
6). The diction used in this line allows the reader to create a visual or noise in their head to go
along, and the choice of words are perfect. They are put in the right place for the poem and
emphasizes the feeling. Banked fires blazed... (Line 5). The word blazed exaggerates the
meaning of the line as it creates a perfect image. The diction used is placed accurately. Loves
austere and lonely offices? (Line 14). The diction used here completes and concludes the poem.
As it uses the word austere to describe what love possesses. The diction in this poem sorts out
little details to complete the symbolism.
The three extraordinary literary devices used to decipher the theme of the poem is imagery,
symbolism, and diction. The way that these literary devices function through the poem wave
perfectly into the tone and theme of the story that is being told.

Gomez 3
Natalie Gomez
Mrs. Buescher
Period 6
3 April 2014
Deciphered Puzzles through Literary Devices