Blow out the candles of your cake.
They will not leave you in the dark,
Who round with grace this dusky arc
Of the grand tour which souls must take.

You who have sounded William Blake,
And the still pool, to Plato’s mark,
Blow out the candles of your cake.
They will not leave you in the dark.

Yet, for your friends’ benighted sake,
Detain your upward-flying spark;
Get us that wish, though like the lark
You whet your wings till dawn shall break:
Blow out the candles of your cake.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Richard Wilbur's poem For K.R. on her Sixtieth Birthday

1 Comment

  1. Jesse Hornok says:

    Here’s a website on the William Blake reference http://www.blakearchive.org/
    He was an 18th cent artist who did many spiritual and mythical engravings, as for Plato’s mark, I can only assume he means death

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Richard Wilbur better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.