The morning air is all awash with angels.
In this short line, the narrator establishes the ever-present nature of spirituality on Earth. The narrator suggests that the air is filled with angels. Though this may appear to be a metaphorical wish or a hyperbolic depiction, it should be noted that the narrator is quite serious. In this poem, the natural and spiritual world are blended together. They are an integral part of each other. The narrator means to exemplify that angels are not with us in moments of crisis; they are with us during seemingly arbitrary and mundane times of our lives. In other words, the spiritual world is always present in our earthly one.
All night, this headland
Lunges into the rumpling
Capework of the wind.
This very short poem is a metaphorical depiction of insomnia and sleeplessness. In this haiku, Wilbur describes a headland, which is a narrow stretch of land that juts out from a coastline. Wilbur explains that this jut of land constantly “lunges” into the building and destructive wind. In this way, Wilbur is comparing the agony of sleeplessness to the constant battle between the headland and the wind. Just as the small stretch of land is constantly battled by the wind and elements, so too is the insomniac constantly battered by sleeplessness.
Young as she is, the stuff
Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
I wish her a lucky passage.
Here, the narrator ponders his daughter’s existence as he watches her type and listens to the clacking of the typewriter as she does so. The narrator comments that, though she has not lived much life yet, she already carries great cargo—some of which he describes as heavy. This suggests that his daughter’s life has not been an easy one. She carries with her numerous experiences and heartaches, all of which have sculpted her in the strong, fervent young woman she is today. The narrator then wishes his daughter a luck passage. Here, is simply wishing that her life may be more easy and simple than it has been thus far.
The soul descends once more in bitter love.
In this short stanza, the narrator discusses the complexity of love. The narrator suggests that the soul makes sacrifices for the human that loves. It offers itself completely, only to risk destruction and heartbreak. The narrator then hints that the soul resents its role in love just a bit, due to the way love, loss, and heartbreak affect it. In other words, the soul makes many sacrifices for love and his rarely rewarded.
