Collected Poems of Richard Wilbur
Richard Wilbur (1921-)
In Trackless Woods
In trackless woods, it puzzled me to find
Four great rock maples seemingly aligned,
As if they had been set out in a row
Before some house a century ago,
To edge the property and lend some shade.
I looked to see if ancient wheels had made
Old ruts to which these trees ran parallel,
But there were none, so far as I could tell—
There’d been no roadway. Nor could I find the square
Depression of a cellar anywhere,
And so I tramped on further, to survey
Amazing patterns in a hornbeam spray
Or spirals in a pinecone, under trees
Not subject to our stiff geometries.
Questions for Discussion
1. The poem uses the word “trackless” (line 1) to introduce a
A) rhyme
B) contrast
C) simile
D) hyperbole
2. The narrator is “puzzled” by the four maples because they are
A) at least 100 years old
B) near a large clearing
C) beside an old road
D) in a straight line
3. Lines 6 through 10 tell us of the search for evidence of
A) man’s altering of nature
B) time’s passing in nature
C) nature’s effect on man
D) nature’s display of mathematics
4. In lines 11 through 14 the narrator decides to look for
A) additional varieties of trees
B) further evidence of past dwellers
C) other arrangements in nature
D) another path out of the woods
5. The author prepares the reader for the final line by using frequent references to
A) effects of light
B) types of trees
C) surveying
D) mathematics
1) B
2) D
3) A
4) C
5) D
The Reader
She is going back, these days, to the great stories
That charmed her younger mind. A shaded light
Shines on the nape half-shadowed by her curls,
And a page turns now with a scuffing sound.
Onward they came again, the orphans reaching
For a first handhold in a stony world,
The young provincials who at last look down
On the city’s maze, and will descend into it,
The serious girls, once more, who would live nobly,
The sly one who aspires to marry so,
The young man bent on glory, and that other
Who seeks a burden. Knowing as she does
What will become of them in a bloddy field
Or Tuscan garden, it may be that at times
She sees their first and final selves at once,
As a god might to whom all time is now.
OR, having lived so much herself, perhaps
She meets them this time with a wiser eye,
Noting that Julien’s calculating head
Is from the first severed from his heart.
But the true wonder of it is that she,
For all that she may know of consequences,
Still turns enchanted to the next bright page
Like some Natasha in the ballroom door–
Caught in the flow of things wherever bound,
The blind delight of being, ready still
To enter life on life and see them through.
Questions for Discussion
1. “She is going back, these days” (line 1) indicates that the reader is
A) looking at old photographs.
B) rearranging a library.
C) rereading old books.
D) searching for new books.
2. Who are the people described in lines 5-12?
A) Friends from childhood
B) Characters from literature
C) Famous actors
D) Noted authors
3. The “bloody field” (line 13) and the “Tuscan garden” (line 14) suggest the reader’s interest in the
A) setting.
B) plot.
C) character.
D) point of view.
4. The paradox in line 15 indicates that the reader
A) guesses her future.
B) regrets her childhood.
C) invents the characters.
D) knows the endings.
5. In line 18, “a wiser eye” implies that the reader now has
A) superior goals.
B) better eyesight.
C) greater insight.
D) stronger opinions.
(C) This is an analysis question. The reader must interpret the words, “Going back” to mean that she is going back to reread “great stories that charmed her younger mind.” The description “younger” indicates that she has read the books once before.
(B) This is an analysis question. In line 4, the poet states, “And a page turns now with a scuffing sound.” After that “page turns,” different people appear as characters from the books she has read.
(A) This is an inference question. The author “suggests” but doesn’t state outright; therefore, the reader must infer. Since the “bloody field” and the “Tuscan garden” are both places, and setting is the literary element that defines place, setting is the answer.
(D) This is a vocabulary question. Paradox is the literary element that defines a statement or phrase that can be contradictory but still be true. The paradox of line 15 is that the reader already knows the endings of the books she has read. Therefore, she simultaneously knows the beginnings and ends of those characters’ lives.
(C) This is more than a vocabulary question because the poet implies, and the reader must infer. The use of “eye” in this context is more figurative than literal. It does not merely refer to the eye as a sight organ but rather as insight itself. “Wise” implies greater insight.