Of all the poems in this unit, "Those Winter Days" is the poem that has the most clear progression, or plot line of all the other ones we studied. Most of the poems had progression, but few had a clear line of events that led to one conclusion. I appreciated the simplicity that wasn't dumbed-down, but was still understandable.
The poem first begins, and continues, with an extended metaphor comparing cold to the relationship between the son and his father. This metaphor is instrumental and defining the relationship, and demonstrating what the son learned about the way he has treated and should treat his father. The metaphor is developed through each of the three stanzas that also each have a separate and individual purpose.
The first stanza portrays the father. The diction about his "cracked hands" and "blueback cold" and "No one ever thanked him," all contribute to his self-sacrificing, hard-working man. The cold metaphor places the father outside to face the cold by himself.
The second stanza introduces the speaker, what I assume is the son. At this point the father has already risen and started a fire. The boy most cross the cold distance between them to reach the fire. Again, the metaphor about wintry cold between the father and his son, invading the house between them and giving it "chronic angers" (creaks?), defines how the relationship stands and why it is disfunctional.
The third stanza brings the son to realization to why the way he has treated his father is wrong. The last two lines, "What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?" show the son has truly learned a lesson from the examination he pursued during the first two stanzas with the help of his wintry metaphor.
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