Themes and symbols The main focus of this poem is the love of parents for their children, but this kind of love can be easily misunderstood by the latter, as it isn't about being kind and saying lovely words but instead are all the sacrifices that parents do; for instance, as it is implied in the poem, keeping the house warm and polishing the "good shoes". "When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress [...]" "[...]who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well." The poem reflects how Hayden's perspective of his father's love has changed, and his understanding of it has actually gotten deeper as the years have gone by; eventually the speaker starts to appreciate the selflessness of parental actions, while feeling a sense of regret for not having ever thanked him for he has done. The main symbol is temperature: Imageries such as "blueblack cold" make the reader aware of the cold temperature. However, soon in the poem, it becomes warm and words such as "fires blaze" enhance this image. The difference in temperature outside and inside the house reflects the author's relationship with his father. The image of cold also evokes solitude and emotional human distance. "from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him." A small part of the poem is stated above, this summarises the main idea of the poem itself: the father works to keep the family safe and warm without expecting appreciation for it. Another symbol found in the poem is the symbol of the "good shoes". As the titles reminds the readers, it is a Sunday, a religious day. This shows how the father cares about his appearance like he cares about protecting his family. The author tells the readers that his father had "driven out the cold", an image which evokes a shepherd's behaviour with his herd. This can be linked to the idea of the Good Shepherd, thus creating a biblical reference. Analysis "Those Winter Sundays" contains 14 lines in 3 stanza. This makes it look like a typical Sonnet even though it isn't, it neither has a rhyme nor a regular iambic pentameter. The first line does not have a metrical pattern. In comparison, the second line is in a metrical pattern. Both lines are 10 syllables long. The third line is