In this poem by Robert Hayden, the speaker describes how his father expressed his love for him by waking up early and, despite the fact that his hands were "cracked" and sore, banking fires so that his children would not be cold when they woke up. Nobody, the poet says, ever thanked the father for this work, indicating that, at the time, the speaker did not recognize that this was an act of love on his father's part. It was by performing these acts of service for his children that the father was able to demonstrate his love.

It is difficult to determine whether the speaker was actively afraid of his father. He notes that the house held "chronic angers," but these need not have related specifically to the father. Perhaps the speaker's mother was angry, and he felt his father did not adequately address this; or perhaps the general atmosphere was one of disquiet. What is clear is that the speaker, as a child, did not realize that his father was not as "cold" as the house. We can infer that the speaker's father was not a demonstrative man in traditional ways, perhaps not showing overt affection to his children. However, through his acts, as the speaker later realizes, he did demonstrate his love for them and his desire to protect them.