Winter Sundays

The theme of this poem was difficult to understand. The first time I read it, I thought it was about a father who is violent towards his family and causes upset in his household. It seems that this is not what the poem is about, though. "Polished my good shoes" and he "had driven out the cold". These things are hints that the father does good things. The first chapter is full of harsh adjectives describing the father and his work. Cold, cracked hands, fires, blueblack. These adjectives show the roughness of the father. The second stanza describes the tone of the household. It is hard to understand because some of the adjectives conflict. "when the rooms were warm, he'd call" and "facing the chronic angers of that house." The warmness of the house seems peaceful but then it goes on to talk about chronic angers. I think maybe the father causes both happiness and anger withing the house. This poem was hard for me to figure out.