101 Poems, Number 7

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

7: “Boy at the Window,” in New Yorker, January 5, 1952, by Richard Wilbur (1921–2017)

It seems I’m fond of Wilbur, yes?

(It wasn’t hard for you to guess?)

And this one is about a child—

A winter’s day—the weather’s wild.

He sees a snowman in the yard—

Is worried for it—worries hard.

And Wilbur moves inside the heart—

The snowman’s heart—so clever, smart.

And then we see the snowman cry—
In empathy. (And so did I.)

Link to poem.