Hayden creates a sense of apprehension and fear that

Hayden creates a sense of apprehension and fear that the boy felt toward his
father and his home
In the last stanza, the reader senses the deep regret the speaker now feels over
his treatment of his father. He recalls
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? (10-14)
The speaker acknowledges that as a child he was apathetic and cold toward his
father in spite of all the latter’s hard work and devotion. This small image
underscores the love the father must have had for the child.
Hayden uses repetition for the question "What did I know?" in Line 13. In doing
so, he allows the reader to acknowledge the terrible sense of sadness and regret
the speaker now feels. The poem’s final line completes the question: "what did I

know/of love’s austere and lonely offices?" The child was unable to know the
difficulty and sacrifice of parental love. The word "offices" denotes a service
done for another. It implies that the father’s life revolved around serving his
son. It also signifies a religious rite or ceremony ("office"). This ties in
with the religious elements of the poem in that the father was participating in
the parental ritual of sacrificing one’s own happiness for that of one’s child.