Try this at home

From English Higher Level Paper II

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labour in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

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.

What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?

Robert Hayden

1. (a) What impression of the father-son relationship do you get from this poem? (10)

(b) Choose a phrase or line from the poem that impressed you. Explain your choice. (10)

OR

2. Write a personal response to this poem. Your answer should make close reference to the text. (20)

UNSEEN POEM (20 marks) Answer either Question 1 or Question 2.