The Writer Richard Wilbur Analysis

In the poem “The Writer” written by Richard Wilbur about his daughter writing has many figurative language devices. At first glance, the reader gets swept up in “The Writer” and does not realize the devices being used, however, a further analyzation of the poem lets the reader see that simile, metaphor, personification and others. The first figurative device Mr. Wilbur explores in his poem is a metaphor. He does this in the very first line when he compares his daughters room in the house to the bow of a ship “her room at the prow of the house” (line1). Metaphor comes up again with “the stuff/ of her life is a great cargo” (lines 7-8). Similar to metaphor, simile is also used twice, in lines five and six “commotion of typewriter-keys/ like a chain hauled over a gunwale” and in line 23 “drop like a glove.” I find it interesting how in the first …show more content…
Instead of abandoning the theme of a journey, however, Wilbur continues it in the stanzas six to the end of the poem. Instead of dropping the imagery, the author seems to increase his use of imagery inducing words. For example, “sleek, wild, dark/ and iridescent” (lines 21-22) all conjure up a slippery creature that is magical but with a frightening undertone to it at the same time. Personification is the most important in the whole poem because it is the device that conveys the message the most and is used the most throughout the whole poem. Mr. Wilbur personifies his daughter’s journey of writing, making mistakes, figuring out what works and what doesn’t to a boat ride and then to a bird. When I imagine a boat ride I imagine the ocean waves rocking me back and forth, a slight imbalance when I walk and a slight fear of a storm and of