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Richard Wilbur

Comments & Themes

 

    • What does the image of light in "A World Without Objects Is a Sensible Emptiness" symbolize?

 

    • Compare Wilbur's playful verse in Opposites, More Opposites, and Runway Opposites to Mary Hunter Austin's child-centred Children Sing in the Far West.

 

    • Contrast the post-World War II sensibilities of Wilbur's "The Beautiful Changes" with incisive scientific eye of William Carlos Williams' "Queen Anne's Lace."

 

    • Define what is may be considered as a confessional voice and why Wilbur's voice differs (or not) from that definition.

 

    • Analyse "The Mind-Reader" focusing on perspective. Which is the method behind the composition of the poem?

 

    • Analyse the use of language in "The Death of a Toad" (1950). Which is the purpose of so much discipline of language?

 

    • Can serious changes or improvements be detected between Wilbur's early poetry and his mature work?

 

    • How can be described Robert Frost's influence on Wilbur's poetry?