Hall, Donald : Out the Window

Literature Annotations

	On-Line Audio
Genre	Essay (4 pp.)
Keywords	Aging, Human Worth, Individuality, Loneliness, Mother-Son Relationship
Summary	The writer Donald Hall gives us a lyrical armchair view through the windows of his house not only of the New Hampshire landscape, but also of his and his anscestors lives lived in that landscape. His honest and moving account from his 83rd year is captured in the following: "I feel the circles grow smaller, and old age is a ceremony of losses, which is on the whole preferable to dying at forty-seven or fifty-two [the ages his wife Jane Kenyon died and his father died]. When I lament and darken over my diminishments, I accomplish nothing. It's better to sit at the window all day, pleased to watch the birds, barns, and flowers. It is a pleasure to write about what I do" (p.41).
Commentary	Without is Hall's collection of poems that chronicles and poetically renders Hall’s living with the loss of his wife Jane Kenyon.
Source	The New Yorker
Alternate Edition	January 23, 2012
Annotated by	Kohn, Martin
Date of Entry	02/27/12
Last Revised	03/02/12