"Shimmer"

Schuyler's "Shimmer" is the perfect poem for a warm, early spring Sunday in which the view from my window reflects an equally dazzling portrait of gleaming botanical bounty. "Shimmer" is a delightfully optimistic poem, despite the initial negative observation, "The pear tree that last year/ was heavy-laden this year bears little fruit." The speaker pardons the slim yield and chooses to instead reflect on the brilliant, bright animated quality of the summer sunlight as "all the pear tree leaves go shimmer, all at once."

The reader receives the impression that the speaker is merely obsverving the morning out of doors from his window, his usual occupation being The New York Times which "is on strike." However, he finds himself enjoying the view from his window and simply jots down his obvservations as his eyes take him from the canopies above to the window sill below, where balls of twine shimmer indentically to the leaves of the pear tree. His eyes fall to the coffee mug in his hand, displaying two boys, a dog and a duck "half full of sunlight" as well. The final image of the poem leaves the speaker collecting the shimmerings outside of the window in his cup.

It would be very easy try and make out the meaning of all the possible metaphors and symbols in the poem and how they might be interpreted, but I feel that distracts from the message which is to simply find the beauty in the present moment and nothing more. The full gravity of the moment is often lost in trying to derive meaning from it. Just like the speaker, who does not ponder too long on why the pear trees did not yield as much fruit this year, he chooses instead to broaden his perspective and find the perfection the artist wishes to create right before his eyes, simply waiting to be noticed.