Poem Analysis: Tree At My Window

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.

Robert Frost

     Have you ever learned about the magic of the nature? Have you ever been a friend with a tree? A tree may be able to be your soulmate. The poem, Tree At My Window, talks about man and nature. "The tree" means not simply a tree in front of the window, it can also be a reflection of someone's spirit and soul. If you stay with the tree, feel about it and look at it for a long time, you will find yourself making a subconscious conversation with the tree. And it will form a internal connection between you and the tree. Eventually the tree will become another you, who is able to understand yourself more than you do. And this discovery is always delightful and relaxing. It feels like we find a soul mate who we can tell every single secret to him or her. That is the magic of the nature and this is how the poem wants to show to the readers.

     The first and second stanzas are mainly talking about how the poet sees the tree out of the window at night and keeps the curtain up and has a deep, subconscious and spirital conversation with it. Then the rest of the stanzas talks about how the poet has seen the tree suffering for the outside violent wind at night; the tree has also known the poet fell asleep in a state of disaster, dillema and worry. In an isolated place, fate connects the poet and the tree together. The tree is concerned about the harsh environment; in contrast, the poet worries about the anxiety in his mind.

     The figurative languages can be easily found in this poem. The most obvious one is personification, which describes a tree as an alive individual and considers the fate as a woman. Using personification makes the whole poem be more vivid and attractive. The poet describes the tree as a person who has something to worry about. This allows the poet to have a deep "conversation" with the tree because the poet is suffering from the dillema in his heart. Thanks to the fate, the common experience connects the poet and the tree, and thus the poet is able to feel peaceful and safe when staying with a tree.

     Other literary techniques are rhyme scheme, consonance and assonance. In the first stanza, there are not clear figurative languages but only a repetition of the word "window". Then in the second stanza, the words in each lines, which are "ground", "cloud", "loud", and "profound", sound alike. And this is a type of rhyme scheme. And it's also an assonance of the vowel sound "ou". In the third stanza, words such as "slept" and "swept" sound similar, and there are repetitions of "s" and "t" letters. In the last stanza, the rhyme scheme is the "er" sound. Every last word in each line sound alike. These make the whole poem clear and interesting. Although there are 16 lines in total, it's still very easy to memorize.

     Tree At My Window is really a short but fascinating poem. Robert Frost uses a simple way to perfectly reveal the good relationship between man and nature. From the poem it seems like the poet rejects the decision made by the fate, who puts the poet himself and the tree together because he thinks they are not alike. The tree cares about the storms and heavy rain; the poet worries about the dillema and emotional changes. But the fate thinks she makes a right thing to put their "heads together" because they actually have a connection. And this is the main point of the poem: man and nature are able to understand each other.