Mary Effie Lee Newsome (1885–1979) brought a quiet, observant eye to the ordinary lives of children and families. Writing during the Harlem Renaissance, she published frequently in The Crisis and The Brownies’ Book, periodicals that gave Black children poems and stories reflecting their own daily joys. “Quoits” comes from that world—small in length, but rich in the understated affection of a family scene.
The poem unfolds around a simple winter game. A child plays quoits, a ring-toss contest, with their father and proudly reports, “I beat him almost every game.” The father does not sulk or demand a rematch; instead, “He never seems to bother.” What puzzles the child is that this same father defeats other adults without effort. The central idea lives in that puzzle. The father loses on purpose. His defeat is an act of love, a way of letting his child feel capable and joyful. The mother understands the gesture: when the father glances at her, he smiles, and the smile turns the game into a private family joke. The child senses something odd—“All this seems strange to me”—but cannot yet name the tenderness behind it.
Newsome shapes the poem in two short quatrains that move like a child’s chant. The lines alternate between longer and shorter bursts, creating a lilt in the opening: “In wintertime I have such fun / When I play quoits with father.” The rhyme of “father” and “bother” keeps the mood light, as if the father’s easygoing response is simply part of the game. In the second stanza, the rhyme between “me” and “easily” feels less exact, matching the speaker’s confusion. The rhythm hesitates for a moment at “He looks at mother and just smiles,” giving that small look between parents room to breathe before the child’s voice returns with wonder. The word “beat” appears in three different lines, so the idea of winning runs through the poem like a thread. Yet each use quietly changes meaning: the child’s proud triumph, the father’s lack of concern, and finally the father’s adult skill all circle the same truth—the game’s outcome matters less than the relationship it builds.
The imagery is spare but warm. “Wintertime” frames the scene, suggesting indoor closeness and comfort rather than harsh cold. The tossing rings are never described in detail; what lingers instead is the father’s smile and the mother’s shared glance. That silent exchange between parents is the poem’s most important image, because it tells the reader what the child cannot. “Grown-up folks” signals the divide between the speaker’s understanding and the adult world, and the final word, “easily,” lands with gentle force. If the father can beat other adults easily, then losing to his child cannot be accidental. The speaker’s “strange” feeling is actually the edge of a realization.
What makes “Quoits” significant is this very restraint. At a time when Black family life was often distorted or ignored in mainstream literature, Newsome offered an affectionate portrait of a father who is strong, capable, and tender. He does not need to prove his power at home; he gives it away so his child can win. The poem also respects the child’s point of view enough to leave some mystery intact. The reader smiles with the parents, recognizing love hidden in a small defeat. That shared recognition—across generations and beyond the page—makes an eight-line poem feel larger than its size.