Tree at my window, window tree,
My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.
Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,
And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.
That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem Tree At My Window

7 Comments

  1. Kamal says:

    “That day she put our heads together
    Fate had her imagination about her,
    Your head so much concerned with outer,
    Mine with inner, weather.”
    The “she” of the first line of the fourth stanza is mysterious, not clear enough who she is. Frost brought her in as a third person as if she were to judge or compare them. This “she” compared the thoughts or minds of the two, the poet and the tree, with a balance. The first “her” of the second line is “fate” itself, in feminine gender (in personification) and the second “her” is the “she”. The second line indicates fate understood what “she” thought of the fate’s decision about the poet and the tree. The last two lines mean as fate decided that the tree is mostly concerned with the weather of storms that could rip off limbs, lightning that could split it in two or start a fire that could burn it down while Robert Frost is most concerned with in weather (thoughts) in his head that could make him lead him astray or to uncertainty / indecision.

  2. tommy says:

    “what do these lines mean:
    “That day she put our heads together
    Fate had her imagination about her,
    Your head so much concerned with outer,
    Mine with inner, weather.”

    what the heck???????

  3. toby says:

    i dont get line 5, vague dream head lifted out of the ground….could someone give me a ddetailed explanation?????

  4. edwardo says:

    There is a tree at my window. I see it spying on me when I touch myself. I know it is there and it knows I am here. Then my grizzly mother walks in. That is my life story. What is yours; beautiful woman?

  5. Samsara says:

    I feel Frost was saying that although he lives in a house made of wood he also has a deep connection with the earth and the life sustaining items it produces.

    Each night he draws the curtains and sees the tree that represents to him the very essence of nature. He feels mildly guilty that he is drawing a curtain between himself and that which is so vital to our survival.

    “what do these lines mean:
    “That day she put our heads together
    Fate had her imagination about her,
    Your head so much concerned with outer,
    Mine with inner, weather.”

    These lines mean that the tree is mostly concerned with the weather of storms that could rip off limbs, lightning that could split it in two or start a fire that couuld burn it down while Robert Frost is most concerned with in weather (thoughts) in his head that could make him beleive all sorts of horrible things or lead him astray.

  6. stephanie says:

    what do these lines mean:
    “That day she put our heads together
    Fate had her imagination about her,
    Your head so much concerned with outer,
    Mine with inner, weather.”

  7. Brittany says:

    Poem Analysis: Tree at my Window by Robert Frost

    This poem seems to be about a tree that is of some importance to its author, Robert Frost, but it seems more to me that the tree at his window is symbolizing someone that he feels comfortable with. In the verse: But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed, and if you have seen me when I slept, you have seen me when I was taken and swept, and all but lost, it represents the well-to-do relationship that Frost and whomever or whatever the tree stands for. This is an unusual rhyming poem because it rhymes every two lines. The poem also has a metaphor in it: But let there never be a curtain drawn. The mood of the poem gives the impression of infatuation and/or astonishment.

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