Those Winter Sundays Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
What does the speaker come to understand when he or she is older? *
a. The speaker’s father never loved him or her after all.
b. That people may live and die and the seasons will always change.
c. It’s important to dress warmly in wintertime.
d. Though stern, the father expressed love through actions.
Did the speaker ever get to tell his father about his change of heart? *
a. Yes
b. No
c. The poem doesn’t say for sure.
d. The speaker tried to but the father had already died.
What color does the poet use to describe the cold? *
a, Red and cold
b. Blue black
c. Blue and dark
d. Purple
Whose actions drove out the cold? *
a. the coal deliverer’s
b. the child’s
c. the mother’s
d. the father’s
What is the weather like on these Sunday mornings? *
a. stormy
b. warm and rainy
c. freezing cold
d. cloudy and chilly
Did you enjoy this poem. What is your reaction to this poem? Does it bring to mind anything for you? *
What did the young speaker think of his or her father? *
a. He was the best father
b. The speaker had mixed feelings.
c. The speaker was ashamed of him.
d. The speaker hated his father
What is this poem about? *
a. hibernation
b. romantic love
c. familial love
d. changing seasons
What does the child in the poem fear? *
a. winter darkness
b. ongoing angers
c. blazing fires
d. splintering coldness
Who is the speaker of the poem? *
a. A father looking back on his child’s younger years
b. An adult looking back to a place and time in his or her childhood
c. The ghost of the father looking back on his child’s younger years
d. A person looking at growing up with their mother
How did people, including family members, treat the father? *
a. With chronic anger
b. With little or no care or concern
c. With warmth and gratitude
d. With blame and judgment