In the next poem by Robert Frost, the poet considers his life by comparing it to the life of a tree outside his window. Like other poems you have read, Frost uses language that works on a literal and fi gurative level. As you read the poem, consider the literal and fi gurative meanings of the words.
‘Tree At My Window’
Tree at my window, window tree, My sash is lowered when night comes on; But let there never be curtain drawn Between you and me.
Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground, And thing next most diffuse to cloud, Not all your light tongues talking aloud Could be profound.
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed, And if you have seen me when I slept, You have seen me when I was taken and swept And all but lost.
That day she put our heads together, Fate had her imagination about her, Your head so much concerned with outer, Mine with inner, weather.
The poetry of Robert Frost is full of mystery. Many of his poems show a lonely fi gure looking out at nature and seeing himself refl ected in it. These are quiet, thoughtful poems with a very unique atmosphere. In this poem, Frost thinks about the branches tossed and blown by stormy winds and he is reminded of when life threatens to knock him down.
