National Black Poetry Day: "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden

Hayden's poem praises his adoptive father who was strict and hardworking but one who loved and provided for his family.
11 words 94 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. labor
    productive work, especially physical work done for wages
    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.
  2. weather
    atmospheric conditions such as temperature and precipitation
    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.
  3. blaze
    burn brightly and intensely
    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.
  4. wake
    stop sleeping
    I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
  5. splinter
    divide or break into slivers or fragments
    I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
  6. chronic
    habitual
    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.
  7. indifferent
    marked by a lack of interest
    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.
  8. drive
    push, propel, or press with force
    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.
  9. austere
    of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor
    What did I know, what did I know
    of love’s austere and lonely offices?
  10. lonely
    lacking companions or companionship
    What did I know, what did I know
    of love’s austere and lonely offices?
  11. office
    a position of power
    What did I know, what did I know
    of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Created on Mon Sep 18 16:08:34 EDT 2023 (updated Mon Sep 18 16:32:08 EDT 2023)

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