I wish what I wished you before, but harder.

That line of poetry has been my facebook status about four or five times since I've heard it. Richard Wilbur's poem "The Writer" was something I happened upon as a Senior in high school. Did I know what that meant? Absolutely not. It was just very beautifully worded and I probably thought it would make me sound smart.

It is always a matter, my darling, 

Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish 

What I wished you before, but harder.

I think that is so beautiful. It is merely the last stanza of longer poem. When Dr. Burton asked if we had any poetry memorized, these two lines and "Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout" was all I could claim to know.

I do believe that the message in this poem is a strong one. Wilbur begins the poem as he is speaking about his daughter, who is furiously writing in her bedroom. He tells his audience as she is typing on her typewriter, how it is difficult for her to write.

Young as she is, the stuff 

Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: 

I wish her a lucky passage.

Young as she is, she still has hardships. She still has trials, heavy things in her life. He describes how she types, the sound of her typewriter keys "like a chain hauled over a gunwale" (a gunwale is the side of a boat) but then she becomes silent and her typing stops. Wilbur shifts then, to talking about a bird that was once caught in that room.

I remember the dazed starling 

Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago; 

How we stole in, lifted a sash 

And retreated, not to affright it; 

And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door, 

We watched the sleek, wild, dark 

And iridescent creature 

Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove 

To the hard floor, or the desk-top, 

And wait then, humped and bloody,

For the wits to try it again; 

They watched as the bird tried and tried to fly out of the bedroom. They had lifted the window so the bird could get out but it kept flying into things. They watched for "a helpless hour" until the bird gathered the wits to try again. Finally it was able to make it out.

Beating a smooth course for the right window 

And clearing the sill of the world.

He compares his daughter to this starling, as she is struggling with her writing. He watches helpless as she is metaphorically running into walls.

I think that the message in this poem is that life is full of trials and hard times, but that we will always triumph in the end. Just as the starling cleared the sill of the world, Wilbur believes his daughter will also be successful. Just as any father, he wishes his daughter a lucky passage and leaves her with these parting words:

It is always a matter, my darling, 

Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish 

What I wished you before, but harder.

Wishing her a lucky and safe passage on life's journey. This poem can be applied to anyone going through hardships or trials. It can also be a metaphor for growing up, going through hard times but looking ahead for brighter days.

I love the idea that there is always that open window, and we will beat a smooth course to clear the sill of the world.