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Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

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The text of the poem is presented with my notes, which are specific to my class, and not intended to be considered as an explication or full interpretation of the poem.

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What kind of a view of a blackbird is this? It is cinematic. aerial view of a town, Think of a typical then focuses in on a opening scene in a movie: One way of looking at a house, then on a person 鍖rst you see a vast blackbird is to zoom in on in a house, until the focus expanse of land; the your subject, to focus on is on the face of the camera zooms in to an one tiny thing among a person in the house. great expanse. I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird.
Picture a tree with three blackbirds in it; this is This way of looking at a like your mind when you blackbird is to compare Not only can humans juggle three different blackbirds in a tree to concentrate on a single ideas, struggle to focus thoughts in a mind. point of focus in a vast on one of several world, humans can also competing thoughts. multi-task or have a mind focused on more than one idea. II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds
There is a play without words going on--a Subtle things that pantomime. The happen on the edges contribute to the story We dont know what is blackbird is whirling of the whole. going on, just that a around the action. blackbird is circling the Though the blackbird is action and is somehow on the edge, the blackbird connected to it, part of it is included. from its position above. III The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds. It was a small part of the pantomime.
How are a man and a woman one? They are This way of looking at a While one way of looking both humans. blackbird may have you at humans and animals rolling your eyes, but it 鍖nds a difference in KIND How are a man and a actually asserts a strong bet ween the t wo, woman and a blackbird opinion about the another way of looking one? All three are living relationship bet ween asserts that the beings. humans and animals. difference is merely one of degree. IV A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one.
Do I prefer the way the Do I prefer the way the song sounds or what the meaning comes through Do I prefer the sound of words and music the singers vocals or the the blackbird singing or communicate? subtle meanings the feeling I get suggested by the words? immediately after hearing it. This way of looking at a blackbird concerns music, language, and meaning. V I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of in鍖ections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after.
To whom does this MOOD ...or a blackbird 鍖ying belong? To someone on past. the indoors-side of that window, some paranoid This is a very paranoid person who assigns cause and superstitious way of to coincidental looking... happenings like icicles forming on the window... VI Icicles 鍖lled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro. The mood Traced in the shadow An indecipherable cause.
Haddam is a town in What do they spend The thin men look at Connecticut. It could be their time imagining? blackbirds as common. any town. The men are Golden birds. What birds thin--what do they need are they ignoring? The suggestion here is to nourish them? Blackbirds. Golden birds that these men should are not common. stop imagining ideal Blackbirds are. women and get to know the women around them. VII O thin men of Haddam, Why do you imagine golden birds? Do you not see how the blackbird Walks around the feet Of the women about you?
What are noble accents? This way of looking at a Fancy ways of talking? blackbird suggests that To me, this suggests that though the speaker the speaker understands understands complex has mastered higher language, he maintains a learning without sense of connectedness abandoning common to common language, sense. maybe common sense. VIII I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know.
This stanza creates a visual of a point in space, the blackbird, de鍖ning the space, de鍖ning the edge of one of many circles. This is almost a mathematical way of looking at a blackbird. IX When the blackbird 鍖ew out of sight, It marked the edge Of one of many circles
This, however, is a very emotional way of looking: even jaded prostitutes would become enthusiastic upon seeing the beautiful sight of blackbirds 鍖ying in a green light. X At the sight of blackbirds Flying in a green light, Even the bawds of euphony Would cry out sharply.
HE is a wealthy man in a This is another paranoid glass carriage whose way of looking. money cant buy him peace of mind. He sees the shadow of his own carriage and thinks it is some kind of swarm of blackbirds on his trail. XI He rode over Conneticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds.
This way of looking at The action of a blackbird blackbirds is as a 鍖ying is as natural to the This way of looking sees constant: if the river is living world as breathing constant motion. moving, the blackbird is is to the living human. 鍖ying. XII The river is moving. The blackbird must be 鍖ying.
This way of looking sees stillness and sameness. This blackbird sitting in the cedar limbs could be the same one in the 鍖rst stanza, among the t wenty snowy mountains. XIII It was evening all afternoon. It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar limbs.
There are so many ways to read this poem, but the purpose it serves in this class is to emphasize the point that there are many ways of looking at the same subject. Diverse viewpoints on the same issue can be reasonably held. Many factors in鍖uence our ways of looking. Our views are informed by our backgrounds, by our degree of attention and curiosity, our level of education, our personal experiences and beliefs, among many other factors. For example, a person with a mathematical mind has a di鍖erent way of looking than a person with an analytical mind. One is not necessarily more valid than the other. The ability to look at a subject !om more than one angle of vision is a skill of higher order thinking.

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Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

  • 1. What kind of a view of a blackbird is this? It is cinematic. aerial view of a town, Think of a typical then focuses in on a opening scene in a movie: One way of looking at a house, then on a person 鍖rst you see a vast blackbird is to zoom in on in a house, until the focus expanse of land; the your subject, to focus on is on the face of the camera zooms in to an one tiny thing among a person in the house. great expanse. I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird.
  • 2. Picture a tree with three blackbirds in it; this is This way of looking at a like your mind when you blackbird is to compare Not only can humans juggle three different blackbirds in a tree to concentrate on a single ideas, struggle to focus thoughts in a mind. point of focus in a vast on one of several world, humans can also competing thoughts. multi-task or have a mind focused on more than one idea. II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds
  • 3. There is a play without words going on--a Subtle things that pantomime. The happen on the edges contribute to the story We dont know what is blackbird is whirling of the whole. going on, just that a around the action. blackbird is circling the Though the blackbird is action and is somehow on the edge, the blackbird connected to it, part of it is included. from its position above. III The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds. It was a small part of the pantomime.
  • 4. How are a man and a woman one? They are This way of looking at a While one way of looking both humans. blackbird may have you at humans and animals rolling your eyes, but it 鍖nds a difference in KIND How are a man and a actually asserts a strong bet ween the t wo, woman and a blackbird opinion about the another way of looking one? All three are living relationship bet ween asserts that the beings. humans and animals. difference is merely one of degree. IV A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one.
  • 5. Do I prefer the way the Do I prefer the way the song sounds or what the meaning comes through Do I prefer the sound of words and music the singers vocals or the the blackbird singing or communicate? subtle meanings the feeling I get suggested by the words? immediately after hearing it. This way of looking at a blackbird concerns music, language, and meaning. V I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of in鍖ections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after.
  • 6. To whom does this MOOD ...or a blackbird 鍖ying belong? To someone on past. the indoors-side of that window, some paranoid This is a very paranoid person who assigns cause and superstitious way of to coincidental looking... happenings like icicles forming on the window... VI Icicles 鍖lled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro. The mood Traced in the shadow An indecipherable cause.
  • 7. Haddam is a town in What do they spend The thin men look at Connecticut. It could be their time imagining? blackbirds as common. any town. The men are Golden birds. What birds thin--what do they need are they ignoring? The suggestion here is to nourish them? Blackbirds. Golden birds that these men should are not common. stop imagining ideal Blackbirds are. women and get to know the women around them. VII O thin men of Haddam, Why do you imagine golden birds? Do you not see how the blackbird Walks around the feet Of the women about you?
  • 8. What are noble accents? This way of looking at a Fancy ways of talking? blackbird suggests that To me, this suggests that though the speaker the speaker understands understands complex has mastered higher language, he maintains a learning without sense of connectedness abandoning common to common language, sense. maybe common sense. VIII I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know.
  • 9. This stanza creates a visual of a point in space, the blackbird, de鍖ning the space, de鍖ning the edge of one of many circles. This is almost a mathematical way of looking at a blackbird. IX When the blackbird 鍖ew out of sight, It marked the edge Of one of many circles
  • 10. This, however, is a very emotional way of looking: even jaded prostitutes would become enthusiastic upon seeing the beautiful sight of blackbirds 鍖ying in a green light. X At the sight of blackbirds Flying in a green light, Even the bawds of euphony Would cry out sharply.
  • 11. HE is a wealthy man in a This is another paranoid glass carriage whose way of looking. money cant buy him peace of mind. He sees the shadow of his own carriage and thinks it is some kind of swarm of blackbirds on his trail. XI He rode over Conneticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds.
  • 12. This way of looking at The action of a blackbird blackbirds is as a 鍖ying is as natural to the This way of looking sees constant: if the river is living world as breathing constant motion. moving, the blackbird is is to the living human. 鍖ying. XII The river is moving. The blackbird must be 鍖ying.
  • 13. This way of looking sees stillness and sameness. This blackbird sitting in the cedar limbs could be the same one in the 鍖rst stanza, among the t wenty snowy mountains. XIII It was evening all afternoon. It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar limbs.
  • 14. There are so many ways to read this poem, but the purpose it serves in this class is to emphasize the point that there are many ways of looking at the same subject. Diverse viewpoints on the same issue can be reasonably held. Many factors in鍖uence our ways of looking. Our views are informed by our backgrounds, by our degree of attention and curiosity, our level of education, our personal experiences and beliefs, among many other factors. For example, a person with a mathematical mind has a di鍖erent way of looking than a person with an analytical mind. One is not necessarily more valid than the other. The ability to look at a subject !om more than one angle of vision is a skill of higher order thinking.

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