I Looked Up
I Looked Up - meaning Summary
Wonder Against Fear
The poem records a brief encounter with a brilliantly colored bird in a pine tree, then turns that sight into a challenge to human fear and skepticism. Its speaker sees the bird as a vivid presence beyond easy explanation, suggesting that attention to the natural world can unsettle a life governed by dread of death or by demands for proof. The bird's departure preserves its mystery.
Read Complete AnalysesI looked up and there it was among the green branches of the pitchpines – thick bird, a ruffle of fire trailing over the shoulders and down the back – color of copper, iron, bronze – lighting up the dark branches of the pine. What misery to be afraid of death. What wretchedness, to believe only in what can be proven. When I made a little sound it looked at me, then it looked past me. Then it rose, the wings enormous and opulent, and, as I said, wreathed in fire.
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