Atwood has a very distinct tone throughout the entire poem, which generally follows a dismal, gloomy, and lonely feel. This first starts in her second sentence, “In the pewter mornings…” pewter being and ugly sort of grey color. This grey setting continues out through the rest of the poem when she describes her interactions with her cat, which checks to see if she’s dead as if the idea of it being cold outside is enough to kill us. Atwood also talks about the excessive eating of humans during the winter months simply because the icy weather is unkind and comfort food seems to help, as if we are fattening ourselves up because the day is simply miserable. Our polluting the air with fireplaces to keep warm and strong human and animal urges for
