‘Boy at the Window’ by Richard Wilbur is a poem about innocence and the power of empathy. An omniscient narrator relates the feelings of the two characters in the poem: the titular boy at the window and a snowman.
A short poem of only two stanzas, ‘Boy at the Window’ elaborates on the boy’s emotions in the first stanza and records the snowman’s response to them in the second stanza.
Summary
‘Boy at the Window’ by Richard Wilbur is a short poem portraying an emotional interaction between a boy and a snowman.
‘Boy at the Window’ by Richard Wilbur begins with the omniscient persona speaking in third person about a boy’s feelings. From the descriptions rendered in this stanza (“small boy”), one can tell the boy is a child. The persona zooms in on the boy’s emotions as he watches a “snowman” outside. The boy is clearly downcast as he weeps for the “man of snow,” who is doomed to spend a cold night alone.
In the second stanza, the speaker lets readers know that this “snowman,” who is apparently alive, is moved that the boy aches for what he perceives to be the snowman’s predicament. In response to the vulnerability shown by the boy, the snowman sheds a tear by the poem’s ending.
Structure
‘Boy at the Window’ by Richard Wilbur is a poem comprising two octets, that is, two eight-line stanzas. Each stanza has the rhyme scheme ABBA BCBC. ‘Boy at the Window’ has an interesting rhythm due to its mix of iambic pentameter and trochaic pentameter. This means that although every line is composed of ten syllables, the syllables in some lines are grouped in trochaic feet while others are read as iambs.
As is common among poets, Wilbur employs enjambment. However, he appropriately uses punctuation to indicate a pause or an end to a thought.
Literary Devices
- Personification: The snowman is personified in the second stanza of the poem. He is given human attributes like feeling, crying, and even dying. Another instance of personification is found in stanza one, between lines 3 and 4. Here, the narrator gives the wind animate attributes as well.
- Allusion: Line 8 of stanza one spots an allusion. The poet persona refers to the Christian faith when he speaks of “Adam” and “Paradise.” According to Christianity, “Adam” is the first man who disobeyed God and was cast out of the garden Eden, also called “Paradise.”
- Parallelism: This literary device appears in stanza two, line eight. The repetition in “Such warmth, such light, such love…” is a form of parallelism. Wilbur enhances the poem’s rhythm where the word “such” repeats, followed by a particular part of speech: noun. This example of parallelism may also double as an example of consonance, seeing as the sound “ch” also repeats in this line.
- Alliteration: The first line of the poem spots alliteration. The consonant sound “s” repeats in the words “seeing,” “snowman” and “standing.” This serves as a good hook for the poem.
- Simile: Simile appears in the last line of stanza one. Here, the persona compares the look in the snowman’s eyes, from the boy’s point of view, to what must have been the look in Adam’s eyes when God sent him out of “Paradise.”
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
Seeing the snowman standing all alone
(…)
As outcast Adam gave to Paradise.
The opening stanza of ‘Boy at the Window’ explores the boy’s perspective on the situation at hand. An omniscient persona burrows into the mind of this boy and interprets events as the boy sees them. The boy’s innocence is apparent from his desire to protect the snowman from the cold. He is not aware that the snowman is simply frozen water so he would melt anywhere that was not cold.
The child’s innocence reveals his compassion in line three. The empathy the boy displays in this line makes the stanza sad, even though the speaker tells his tale from an objective standpoint. The diction the persona uses to describe the cold outside stirs even more sadness in the poem. One may not realize when they, like the boy, begin to view the snowman as a human being deserving pity as well.
Besides the boy’s compassion, he also has the overactive imagination common among children. This is seen between lines six and eight. The child effectively personalizes this snowman up to the look in his eyes. At this point, the persona introduces an allusion, referring to “Adam,” the first man according to Christianity. The Christian faith says that due to Adam’s disobedience, God cast him out of “Paradise,” the garden of Eden. The persona imagines that Adam must have been downcast by this. They compare what they presume to have been the look in Adam’s eyes then to the look in the snowman’s eyes.
This stanza creates the perfect rhythm and rhymes to hook a reader, and the diction makes sure readers stay. Courtesy of the persona’s ability to capture both the physical setting and the emotions of the character involved, readers are able to follow the narrative. It also stirs nostalgia for any adult who once upon a time reasoned like the boy.
Stanza Two
The man of snow is, nonetheless, content,
(…)
Such warmth, such light, such love, and so much fear.
Stanza two runs parallel to the first, especially, and ironically, regarding perception. The irony in this stanza appears in the knowledge of the personalized snowman. This snowman, contrary to what one may expect, assumes the position of an adult in this narrative and offers a more realistic analysis of his situation. The second line reveals this and even introduces humor to the poem. He knows that in a warm house, he would quickly melt away.
The punchline is in line three. Here, the poem reveals its overarching theme: the power of empathy. The narrator reveals to readers how the snowman responds to the boy’s raw emotions. It is a beautiful moment that sends a powerful message to readers. It is as though the poem attempts to show just how far a little vulnerability in our human interactions can take us.
At first, the snowman seems to be on guard, untrusting, like many adults come to be as they grow older and harder. However, this last stanza, ‘Boy at the Window,’ shows how another human’s empathy can crack our hardened shells and makes us interact like children again: trustingly and lovingly.
FAQs
‘Boy at the Window’ was first published in a print edition of The New Yorker. It was printed in the issue of January 5, 1952, and can still be found in their archives. It was reprinted in the collection, Collected Poems in 2004.
Like many poets, Wilbur’s personal life inspired a good number of his poems. In a poetry reading, Wilbur admitted that ‘Boy at the Window’ came to him courtesy of his son, Christopher, who, at the age of five, on a December afternoon, cried because the snowman he made could not join him and his family for dinner.
The elements of sadness, hopelessness and even realism constitute, overall, a sober mood. Despite this, the omniscient persona’s factual relation to events is given in an objective, almost stoic tone.
The overarching themes are innocence and empathy. Both factors come into play in this poem as it explores another major theme: human interaction. Wilbur uses both virtues, which seem to be less and less remembered today, to remind people that virtues like this still have positive effects on people and by extension, the world. The speaker also explores the theme of vulnerability, as the child is not afraid to bare their heart in front of the snowman.
Similar Poetry
If you enjoyed reading ‘Boy at the Window,’ you should check out similar poems:
- ‘Snow’ by Louis MacNeice: a poem depicting a speaker who wonders how beautiful yet dangerous things, like snow, exist in the world.
- ‘Tears, Idle Tears’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson: a poem portraying a speaker who laments the loss of their youthful innocence.
- ‘The Lesson’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar: a poem revealing how compassion, when expressed, heals oneself as well as others.
