Context:
– Frost moves with his family to England engaging in many new acquaintances with well-known poets and writers
– gathers inspirations from his new environment and the people he met

Literally:
A flower sitting behind the open window frame shaken by a light wind coming through.

Analysis:
– Flower vs wind
The personification of a woman sitting in her warm sheltered home. The wind represents a man, wild and free-flying outside desiring the woman’s attention. While he is cold and untamable, she is still and safely kept by the house and the window, she is trapped inside not being able to go out. The man is the powerful one, being his own unpredictable person whereas the flower is quiet without any sense of having an identity, the man wants her as her trophy. The poem suggests a major age difference presenting the flower as pure and young and him as an old winter breeze. He realises that what he is doing is wrong but since he has never experienced the feeling of love he is still trying in a subtle way. (l. 15, like unmated birds). This together with the bird trapped in the cage shows the impossibility of them ever being together and not loosing their whole identity, they will eventually die (Reference: Romeo and Juliet)

– The window
The window acts as the only barrier between the two desirable people, even in the headline, it is literally distancing them. The house and the window could present the father and the family of the young woman. She relies on her father to keep her safe from the evil man on the cold outside.

– Desire and love
The wind is desiring to get the flowers attention, he is not doing it in an assaulting way but rather by gently shaking the sash hanging around the window frame. The flower is not able to react, as she is sitting still. Although both are possibly longing for each other they would both sacrifice themselves in order to be together. If the flower goes outside she would die and if the wind breeze gets inside the house it would slow down until its faded. He is trying to win her over, but it’s not possible because she is bounded to her safety and warmth protected from him through the window. He is outside, not stable and cold in need of some stability and love.
The flower is not giving in to his ways of trying to persuade her and the next morning he is fare gone.

-Structure:
Separation is shown through the use of commas to separate the stanza about them as well as abab rhyme scheme. Continuous structure including ejabements shows the impossibility to break out of their situation. The duality between stanza two and three makes the connection and emphasises the metaphor of the bird trapped in his cage.

Resistant read:
– The power structure is turned around, the woman is the one with a stable and warm house whilst the man is homeless, unstable and does not have a clear plan for his future
– The stereotypes are still very typical (a reference to the stove marks the wanted place for the woman)
– If we have to give up and sacrifice a piece of us in order to be with someone else, who is the first person to do so? The wind is asking the flower to give something of her to him
– Prey and predator scheme, the woman is objectified (taking advantage of her)
– Both characters are virginal, he wants to lose his inexperience and has a strong desire for sex to which the woman is not responding