The poem is a tiny domestic scene with a surprisingly sharp edge. On Good Friday, the day Christians remember Jesus's crucifixion, the speaker is simply at home with his wife. Then comes the odd detail: a ham, which he reads to, and which is also "supper-to-be." The title, "Hanging," fits both worlds. A ham might hang in a kitchen to cure, and the word also recalls the cross.
The speaker's feeling seems relaxed, even fond. Reading to a ham is a gently silly, affectionate image, and the phrase "a good ham" sounds pleased rather than solemn. Yet the poem sets that comfort beside a day of suffering and sacrifice, and the pairing is a little darkly funny. The mood is quiet and wry. It suggests, judging by the imagery, that ordinary life, food, and religious memory sit side by side, and that the speaker can hold both without making a fuss.