Wilbur’s ‘A Late Aubade’
Carpe Diem and Imagery Theme Strong in Poem
A carpe diem theme runs through Richard Wilbur's poem, which relies heavily on imagery that appeals to all five senses.
“A Late Aubade” consists of seven quatrains, each with the rime scheme ABBA. The speaker addresses a woman, trying to persuade her to remain in bed instead of getting up and going about her regular activities.
First Quatrain: “You could be sitting now in a carrel”
In the first quatrain, the speaker muses about what the woman could be doing: she could be studying some old manuscript at the library, or she could go shopping.
Second Quatrain: “You could be planting a raucous bed”
The speaker continues to mention things his bedmate could be doing: she could be planting flowers or having lunch with friend.
Third Quatrain: “Or making some unhappy setter”
Continuing to speculate on what the woman could be doing—training a dog or listening to a lecture—the speaker then asks a leading question: “Isn't this better?”
Fourth Quatrain: “Think of all the time you are not”
In the fourth quatrain, the speaker makes his pitch that all of those things previously mentioned are a waste of time. And he insists that he knows her well enough to realize these things are not what she most enjoys.
Fifth Quatrain: “Of time, by woman's reckoning”
He tries to convince her that by remaining in bed with him, she is saving time instead of wasting it, because he is sure that she “had rather lie in bed and kiss / Than anything.”
Sixth Quatrain: “It's almost noon, you say? If so”
In the sixth quatrain, the woman finally speaks. She tells the speaker that it is noon. Here they are in bed at noon, and she finally decides that she should get up and go about her daily activities. But the speaker just bushes off the notion that noon is so late.
He just casually remarks that well, if it is noon, then all I can say is time flies, and then he alludes to Kerrick’s line, “Gather ye rose-buds while ye may” in his poem, “To the Virgins.” But finally seems to concede that she must go.
Seventh Quatrain: “Wait for a while, then slip downstairs”
However, even after seemingly conceding that she must go, he tells her to “[w]ait for a while” and then to go downstairs and bring them up something to eat. It is lunch time, and he no doubt feels that well, we have to eat, and then you can go.
Commentary
The poem contains visual imagery: “liver-spotted page,” “raucous bed of salvia”; auditory imagery: “a screed of someone's loves,” “a bleak / Lecture on Schoenberg's serial technique”; tactile imagery: “lie in bed and kiss”; olfactory and gustatory imagery: “chilled white wine, / And some blue cheese, and crackers, and some fine / Ruddy-skinned pears.”
