Those Winter Sundays

The poem "Those Winter Sundays" seems to have an overall negative tone. There are many words that can describe the tone including: guilt, regret, fear, and distance. The speaker may regret not thanking the father for everything he has done for the family. This also leads to the speaker feeling guilty for causing an angry household through ungratefulness. The "chronic anger", coming from the father, most likely results in the fear of the children. The children are afraid of their father's anger which causes distance between them. The negative tone is achieved through the diction used in the poem. The words "harsh", "pain", and "cold" are used in the first stanza to describe the work the father did. "Chronic anger" is also mentioned, which describes the father's attitude toward his family. This also puts a negative feel to the poem.