The Writer by Richard Wilbur - Essay Example

The Writer by Richard Wilbur In Richard Wilbur’s creation of “The Writer”, the extended metaphor commences at the realization that the daughter of the speaker along with her passion for writing is altogether conveyed to resemble a sailing traveller whose first venture on the sea is bound to take place. As the father watches from outside of her daughter’s room where it is only possible to hear the sound of the keys and look at a faint view of lights at her window, so is a quiet observer who can only see the moving ship from afar.

By extended metaphor, the course of analyzing the girl’s journey in life as a writer-in-the-making leads a reader to figure out the points of analogy between writing and sailing, wherein Wilbur utilizes the terms “clamor”, “stroke”, and “silence” in the poem to depict the typewriter work of an aspiring writer and which are collectively in reference to the manner by which a ship is maneuvered by a yet inexperienced seafarer. At the onset of “The Writer”, the poem exhibits inclination to a ship’s journey as detailed in where the narrator’s daughter is situated in her room which serves as the prow of the house as well (Wilbur 1).

This concretizes the idea of a ship since the prow is the front part of a ship. The author goes on to indicate that the “windows are tossed with linden” (Wilbur 2). Here, the term ‘tossed’ correlates to the movement of a ship in the sea where it seems to be continually tossed by the water waves. As such, the reader can deduce right from the introduction that the poem has invested heavily in the metaphor of a ship’s journey. Moreover, Wilbur indicates that from behind the daughter’s closed door, he can hear the commotion of typewriter keys which likened to a chain being hauled over a gunwale (6).

Going back to the ship’s journey, it is well known that just before the ship sets off to sail, the anchor is released to signify the beginning of the voyage. The idea of the chained being hauled over the gunwale implies that the daughter is starting off her life’s journey. Apparently, she has found the course of her life in writing and is bent on to proceed despite the challenges of thought that go with it and this is the reason that the father’s child engages at the typewriter. She may be compared to the ship workers or the sailors who are about to set out for a voyage just like how the daughter manages to initiate her journey into the sea of life from the age of youth.

Probably the most obvious metaphorical application in the poem can be seen in line 8 where Wilbur indicates that the stuff in the girl’s life is a great cargo. The luggage in a ship is referred to as cargo; the same term is used to describe the issues that the girl has to face in her life. This is an indication that in the journey of life, the girl is bound to face many challenges. If she has to make it through, she needs to have the courage and inspiration to face them off. This is why the author quips “I wish her a lucky passage” (Wilbur 9).

A similar wish is often extended towards the passengers in a ship. It also has to be noted that the passage is from one dry land to another through a water body. In this case, the daughter’s passage involves moving from her young years to old age. Therefore, she needs luck in facing the challenges of life. On understanding the literary piece at depth, it turns out that Wilbur has truly extended the metaphor of a ship’s journey with significant effect in his writing of “The Writer.” The daughter’s life is embodied in a ship’s voyage.

There are various instances in which this relation can be found and it begins right from the description of the house where the notion of a ship is initially brought up. Hence, her challenges in life are analogous to a ‘cargo’ while her life’s journey overall as a writer is likened to a ship’s passage. Work CitedWilbur, Richard. “The Writer.” N.d. (Attached)