This poem by Richard Wilbur is an old favorite of mine. It startles me to realize how much this cherished simile: “the commotion of typewriter-keys/like a chain hauled over a gunwale” dates me. Whoa. Ancient history. I think of Jean McCrosky, who told me when I was 13, “You girls, you young girls, there are so many things you’ll never experience…the world is changing so much — you’ll never know what it’s like to try to put on a girdle in the upper berth of a train.”
The urgent sound of a big ol’ manual typewriter operated at top speed is something that today’s teens will probably never experience, either, except maybe a short burst in an old movie. But Wilbur’s poem is for the ages, speaking eloquently of the elation of the launch, when a girl’s life somehow takes flight. And poignantly, he addresses the helplessness parents and teachers feel when she suffers the ineluctable pains of growing and learning.
THE WRITER
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.
—Richard Wilbur
Tags: daughter, launch., poem, richard wilbur, the writer
I remember being that girl… with pen in hand working hard to solve the mysteries of life at age 15…and I think that is why I bring a touch of wisdom and a lot of joy to my work at the happy age of 61 with the Young Women’s Leadership Network of all girls public schools in Philadelphia, East Harlem, Jamaica, Astoria, and Brooklyn. Our girls are the most lovely, vulnerable, special human beings and each year we are blessed to see them leave the ‘nest’ nourished and ready for flights unimaginable. Thank you for the poem and for the inspiration! Kathleen
Ah, Kathleen, thank you so much for your good words and especially for your good work. NCGS is proud to have The Young Women’s Leadership Network in our “tribe.” And you are so right. If you can remember your girlhood, really richly and fully remember how it feels — the anguish and the elation both — then you are more than halfway there.
-S.
Sally,
Thank you for sharing this wonderful poem. -J
What a terrific column — the poem, but also the introduction. Tears to my eyes.
More poetry, more poetry, all ’round! Great posting. I love this poem.
This poem also brought tears to my eyes…I have never read it before, thanks for sharing it here. As the mom of two daughters, it resonates powerfully.
Another great poem, Sally, thank you. My goddaughter, a young writer/poet, will enjoy it – and her parents as well. I know that ache of watching one’s children stumbling to find their way, powerless to help beyond caring. And the bittersweet reminder that it’s not really help they want (or need) anyway, but to find the path on their own. Beautiful poem! XOX K
Forgot to add how much I enjoyed your introductory comments, and your friend Jean McCrosky’s. I once brought the metal fastener from a girdle, which I had found rusting on the street, to use as my object at one of the drawing workshop sessions. The younger members of the group had no idea what it was – ! Kh
You have explained this well, Have you been working on this a long time?? Do you think you have described everything correctly though I have noticed some common mistakes but I get the point your making? I will link your blog to mine.