poem being strictly regulated off track. In the
same way, the lines do not seem as if they are
mostly written in the ten-syllable, five-foot pen-
tameter standard (though they are). This is
because Wilbur is not strict, allowing the lines
to swell to twelve or thirteen syllables at times.
And the meter, predominantly iambic, is riddled
with exceptions as well. As much as the poem
seems to support the idea of a physical world, it
also undermines that idea by allowing the poetic
style to swing freely. Everyone can be happy with
this poem because form and freedom, body and
soul, are all presented with equal, balanced
attention.
Examples of how well order is balanced
against mystery in this poem are nearly count-
less, starting with the obvious, the central meta-
phor of the mundane laundry being animated by
the heavenly hosts and going on to the person-
alization of angels (‘‘filling whatever they wear’’)
and the final image of nuns, who balance their
heavy habits on their heads in exactly the same
way they balance their transcendent spirits
against the physical requirements of their
worldly bodies. One aspect of the poem that
reflects this balance, but does so in such a subtle
way that it would be easy to overlook, is the
work’s overall structure.
Wilbur’s use of six stanzas, along with the
line-by-line consistency of shape, invites readers
to look for patterns, since six divides evenly into
segments of two or three. In fact, such a pattern
emerges when studying ‘‘Love Calls Us to the
Things of This World.’’ The first three stanzas
concern themselves with the central metaphor,
laundry on a clothesline. Throughout these lines,
visual imagery of sheets and shirts waving in the
breeze, mildly then wildly, impresses upon read-
ers the relationship between that which can be
observed and that which can only be known
through speculation. As much as this image is
drawn with specificity, however, it stops at the
end of line 15. Wilbur uses a full half of the poem
to set up his idea without comment, and does notWHAT
DO I READ
NEXT? Readers can gain a sense of what everyday
life in America was like at the time that this
poem was published fromThe 1950s, written
by William H. Young and Nancy K. Young.
It was published in 2004 as part of the
‘‘American Popular Culture Through His-
tory’’ series by Greenwood Press.
This poem is such a familiar piece of Amer-
ican literature that writer Sherman Alexie
uses it as a springboard for his own poem
entitled ‘‘Grief Calls Us to the Things of
This World.’’ The poem is included in Alex-
ie’s collectionThrash, which was published
in 2007.
Wilbur is often associated with the poet
Anthony Hecht, his contemporary. Hecht’s
poem ‘‘Late Afternoon: The Onslaught of
Love’’ has quite a few similarities in form
and subject matter to ‘‘Love Calls Us to the
Things of This World.’’ It can be found in
Hecht’s collectionThe Light(2001).
Conversations with Richard Wilbur(1990)
contains a dozen interviews with the poet.
Subjects discussed range from poetic form
to current events.
Richard Wilbur is as famous for his trans-
lations of plays as he is for his poetry. In
particular, his translations of the works of
the comedies of the French writers Moliere`
and Voltaire are considered definitive. Most
notable among his many exceptional accom-
plishments in translation is his version of
Moliere’s` Tartuffe(1963).THROUGHOUT THESE LINES, VISUAL IMAGERY
OF SHEETS AND SHIRTS WAVING IN THE BREEZE,
MILDLY THEN WILDLY, IMPRESSES UPON READERS
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THAT WHICH CAN BE
OBSERVED AND THAT WHICH CAN ONLY BE KNOWN
THROUGH SPECULATION.’’Love Calls Us to the Things of This World