“Tree at my Window” was written by Robert Frost, an American poet who was born in 1874 and died in 1963 (DiYanni 624). His poem will be the basis of the discussion of this brief essay.
The narrator in this poem appears to be speaking to the “tree at my window”; then, repeating the phrase in reverse order, he calls it the “window tree,” as if to emphasize the location and nearness of the tree. Calling the tree a “window tree,” might also suggest that this tree is something he sees through, perhaps to some higher truth, to something beyond the mere physical presence of the tree.
As night approaches, the “sash” or movable portion of the window is lowered, perhaps to prevent the air, cooled from lack of the sun’s warmth, from entering the house (Webster 1026). The narrator continues, “But let there never be curtain drawn / Between you and me.” Literally, this statement could imply that he does not want a drape to cover the window betwen them. A sense of foreboding arises if one looks at additional definitions. “Curtain” can refer to death and “drawn” can refer to being brought about by inducement or being allured (Webster 280, 346).
The narrator begins the second stanza mentioning a dream that is unclear. He then stops short and continues, seemingly describing the appearance of the tree. Referring to “head lifted out of the ground, / Not all your light tonuges taliking aloud / could be profound.” Perhaps the speaker could be describing the vastness of the tree’s height and width along with the magnitude of leaves. Comparing tongues to leaves is a possibility because, as the wind rushes through them, it causes a distinct sound. The speaker may even believe that the tre…
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…In stanza four, the speaker compares “outer” and “inner” lives.
“Tree at my Window” contains descriptions and comparisons that almost bring an image to one’s mind. Perhaps I have been able to relate to this poem because I have often looked out of the window at the trees and mountains in the distance and contemplated some dilemma. Perhaps we could all learn from nature not to be so anxious about things that in the long run do not really even matter.
Works Cited
Cox, James, M. Robert Frost: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962.
DiYanni, Robert. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Thompson, Lawrence. Robert Frost: The Early Years 1874-1915 New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966.
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. Massachusetts: G
Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres
Body and Nature as Signifying System in A Thousand Acres
The female body, in literature as in other texts, functions as a kind of signifying system; a site of continuous signification. Traditionally, this has been understood in terms of transposing patriarchal or even misogynist cultural values onto the construction of the female body.
In A Thousand Acres, however, Smiley turns this around. Just as this novel tries to gain control of the discourse of King Lear, and of metaphors of women therein, it also foregrounds the body as a textual matrix through which the subject can understand herself and the world.
For Ginny Cook, social interaction escapes the realm of language, because so much of what is going on is hidden and because Larry is this silent signifier that only has to be to signify. Instead, she processes the information bodily.
Thinking of Caroline’s snubbing of her sisters when getting married, Ginny “realized that I felt the insult physically, an internal injury.” (139) Later, shame, one of the feelings most often arising in Ginny with impetu…