The Speaker’s Bedroom

The poem takes place in and around the speaker’s childhood bedroom, where they are reflecting on their impending mortality. Little description is given apart from a bed and a window; the window looks down over their backyard, and they can see their treehouse and garage. There is an implication that this room once contained the speaker’s entire world, and now it is shrinking around them as the world outside gets bigger.

Suburban America

Although the geographical location is not specified, there are images and motifs present that bring to mind the mid-twentieth-century America of the poet’s childhood. While the speaker does not exude a sense of great wealth, the family is comfortable enough to afford a house with a yard, a treehouse, and a garage as well as a bicycle for the child. These, along with the images of the glass of...