The Writer Analysis

In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden,
My daughter is writing a story.

I pause in the stairwell, hearing
>From her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys
Like a chain hauled over a gunwale.

Young as she is, the stuff
Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
I wish her a lucky passage.

But now it is she who pauses,
As if to reject my thought and its easy figure.
A stillness greatens, in which

The whole house seems to be thinking,
And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
Of strokes, and again is silent.

I remember the dazed starling
Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
How we stole in, lifted a sash

And retreated, not to affright it;
And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
We watched the sleek, wild, dark

And iridescent creature
Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
To the hard floor, or the desk-top,

And wait then, humped and bloody,
For the wits to try it again; and how our spirits
Rose when, suddenly sure,

It lifted off from a chair-back,
Beating a smooth course for the right window
And clearing the sill of the world.

It is always a matter, my darling,
Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish
What I wished you before, but harder.


Submitted by Michael Schiavo

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This poet was either a mother or father who compares their daughter indirectly to a bird in a cage. They want to keep her safe, but need to let her learn for herself; outside of her room. The daughter’s persistence in her writing encourages the parent that she is ready.

| Posted on 2009-10-16 | by a guest

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I believe that the speaker of the poem either mother or father is comparing the daughter a trapped bird. The speaker sees she is struggling to find her way just like the bird trapped in the room. And wishes that she find her way or her own path.

| Posted on 2009-04-16 | by a guest

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I believe it is a naturalistic-drama, the protagonist is actually the daughter due to her major conflict in the poem.

| Posted on 2009-02-24 | by a guest

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this poem is about how the father wishes he could steer her in the right pathin life but the ocean is a sea of addoleance where the sea can triumph.and the father wishses her well on the passage which is her life.

| Posted on 2008-10-15 | by a guest

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the poem's speaker is a father who is telling a story of how he sees his daghter struggle as a writer through the use of symbolism.
often than not,the speaker of the poem is not the author. but i've read somewhere that the speaker here, is actually richard wilbur himself.

| Posted on 2008-10-09 | by a guest

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Hello.
I am not a very deep person when it comes to analyzing poetry, but I think this poem is about a father who at first did not want his daughter to become a writer. His daughter reminds him of a bird that was trapped in her room and kept on persevering to try and get out into the "real" world. Seeing his daughter persevere in writing her book, and by seeing how much emotion and passion she puts into her writing, he now is happy that she does it.
Sorry if this confused you more

| Posted on 2008-05-21 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

A man is telling about his daughter writing a book and how he hears her typing and it affects him emotionally. He says even the house seems to hear and react to her typing. It reminds him of a starling bird that was trapped in her room 2 years ago and how they let it out the window.

| Posted on 2008-05-18 | by a guest

.: the writer :.

What Type of poem is this? What is the Topic of this poem? What is the Tone and the Theme of the poem?

| Posted on 2008-02-14 | by a guest