“The Open Window” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The old house by the lindens
Stood silent in the shade,
And on the gravelled pathway
The light and shadow played.
I saw the nursery windows
Wide open to the air;
But the faces of the children,
They were no longer there.
The large Newfoundland house-dog
Was standing by the door;
He looked for his little playmates,
Who would return no more.
They walked not under the lindens,
They played not in the hall;
But shadow, and silence, and sadness
Were hanging over all.
The birds sang in the branches,
With sweet, familiar tone;
But the voices of the children
Will be heard in dreams alone!
And the boy that walked beside me,
He could not understand
Why closer in mine, ah! closer,
I pressed his warm, soft hand!
After reading this poem, I could feel the pain of the speaker. This poem is about the loss someone special. The speaker is looking through his window to see the normal sights he is used to, but over time, those things are no longer there. I saw this poem as a change over a long period of time. I pictured the speaker as an older man who is close to the end of his life, and reminiscing about the past. He used to look out the window and see his children playing, but now they are all grown up and have children of their own. He is missing their presence and feels the loss of his loved ones.
Another way to loo at the poem is that the speaker lost a loved one permanently (death). Things have changed in the house, the yard, and the whole neighborhood, and the normal sights are no longer seen due to the absence of that person.
Two poetic techniques that Longfellow uses to draw the reader in include: personifications, and imagery. The personification of the objects such as the house in lines 1 and 2 makes the poem itself seem more alive. The house “stood silent in the shade” not only shows personification, but also allows for great imagery. After reading those lines, it is very possible to see the quite, little house on top of a hill. In fact it makes it almost impossible not to imagine what the house would look like. “And on the gravelled pathway the light and shadow played.”, I’m sure the light and shadow didnot actually “play”, but something such as a breeze could account for the shadows, due to trees, moving back and forth. After continuing to read these lines, we the reader begin to analyze more and more about the poem. The imagery of the absence of the children playing outside with the dog is easy to see. I can imagine an empty swing set, a lost and lonely old dog, maybe some tumbleweed blowing in the breeze… I think that Longfellow did a great job of making the poem easy to see as we read. The personification and the imagery lend to the poem and help make the great poem that it is.
The poem is easy to relate to because no matter who you are, you have had a feeling of loss at some point in your life. When reading this poem you might either picture the speaker in a certain situation, or you might even think of a situation in your own life in which you felt lonely and hurt by the loss of a loved one.
Liveandlearn4's Weblog 
I really enjoyed reading this poem. I feel like alot of people like you said may be able to relate to this in one way or another. I love how the poem just flows as you read it. And you can definetly feel the pain of the speaker as the poem progresses.
This poem really seems to get the feelings right, when talking about his loss. It was very easy to read this and feel the emotion that the author was trying to convey. It seemed to me when first reading this poem that the author was talking about the death of loved ones. After reading it a second time through though, it does seem to indicate more that the children have moved on in their age and life and he (and the dog!)seem to be reminiscing. So i agree with you totally liveandlearn. The way he talks and the adjectives he uses makes this poem very effective.
I’d love to see you bring in quotes from the poem and deal more directly with the text. I agree with the things you are saying, but I’d like to know how you got there…
I liked this poem. I liked the meter in it. It flows nicely. I find your interpritation of the poem to be interesting but It seems in the last lines that his is telling the reader he knew he was going to lose this person so he tried to hold them tighter by the hand to keep them from leaving. Its very sad, it reminds me of losing someone and not wanting them to go and begging them not to leave you. I am a big fan of longfellows. I brought in a poem of his myself.
I love this poem. Longfellow is a brilliant writer. This poem reminds me of the constant theme, “the loss of innocence”. I can almost picture a man or a woman looking out the window seeing children play and then a few years later, there are no more children. I can also get a sense that a parent is mourning the loss of a child. Day after day seeing their child play and then that child plays there no longer. This poem has a very sad tone to it. I thought you did a very good job of analyzing this poem. I also feel like many people can relate to this poem, whether it be having adult children or having the unfortunate loss of a child.
Great! Much better when we can see you interact with the poem.
I agree that anybody could relate to this poem because losing someone you care about happens to everyone at some point in their life and Longfellow must have wrote this for someone he really cared about. I really liked the rhyme scyme in this poem because the rhyming makes the poem more enjoyable to read to yourself or out loud to a group of people. I like how he uses past memories to show how much he thinks of this person that he cares about and that as long as he has these memories, he will never let go of their hand.
Lots of comments here, too. 🙂
I am a poet and a genealogist, and this poem is a meeting of these two divergent topics bringing them both to life. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived next door to some distant cousins of mine – John and Rebecca Brewster. They had 4 children – 3 of whom died at a young age and, it appears, within the same year of 1848. The youngest child, William, who was born in 1851, and the small hand that Longfellow was holding could assuredly be William’s hand. The last stanza of “The Open Window” could be referring to the fact that William does not understand the loss of his siblings who were gone before he was born – but that the adults still keenly feel the sorrow and pain of these 3 lives cut short. William does not understand Longfellow’s squeezing his hand – as if by this pressure – Longfellow can make real again, those young children, whom the poet grew to love and now misses, despite the lovable child, William, standing and sharing this moment with him. Very touching.