Objective Observer

One recurring theme in James Dickey's poetry is the idea of the main persona as an objective observer. At first, it may appear absurd to include "The Hospital Window" in this category, for this poem's general premise—a son and his dying father—would speak of anything but objectivity. And yet, Dickey is a poet who can make the ironic seem natural and who can take his speaker to extremes without getting him helplessly tangled in a bizarre setting or in the emotional plot of the work.

In "The Hospital Window," the glass itself is a barrier between the speaker and his father. Not only is it a physical separation, but the window also serves to take the son mentally further away from the dying man and the crowd of angry drivers as well. Within the glass, he sees "blue light," the sun that seems to burn...