The Writer

The poem opens with the beginning of an extended metaphor: “In her room at the prow of the house” (Line 1). This creates the image of the suburban house (“the windows are tossed with linden” [Line 2]) as a symbolic ship, as well as establishing a narrative voice that is rich in figurative language. While the two opening lines are quite rhythmic, the third line is concise and matter of fact: “My daughter is writing a story” (Line 3). This creates a juxtaposition between the extraordinary and the everyday.

In the second stanza, the focus of the poem moves from the unseen daughter to the speaker. This moment reveals that the events of the first stanza are “off stage” while the poem’s speaker listens behind a closed door. He continues to view his daughter’s foray into creativity through the lens of a ship: The sound of the typewriter becomes “a chain hauled over a gunwale” (Lines 6), while her limited experiences from which to draw inspiration become “great cargo, and some of it heavy” (Line 8). These images combine to create a launching point in the girl’s journey; this is the moment she is sailing away toward new lands.