A man hurries through a wet winter dusk, tired and weighed down by problems that never seem to end. Then a grimy shop window lights up with cheap toys—masks, valentines, tops, candy, marbles—and suddenly his childhood rushes back. In that moment the trinkets look not gaudy or pathetic but precious, just as they once were to him. He stares at the marbles with a boy’s longing, then walks on. The closing lines are quietly wistful: he has left his boyhood behind in that lighted window. The poem’s mood is tender and melancholy, catching the way memory can briefly make ordinary things shine before life moves on again.
The Lighted Window — Summary
HE SAID: "In the winter dusk When the pavements were gleaming with rain, I walked thru a dingy street Hurried, harassed, Thinking of all my problems that never are solved. Suddenly out of the mist, a flaring gas-jet Shone from a huddled shop. I saw thru the bleary window A mass of playthings: False-faces hung on strings, Valentines, paper and tinsel, Tops of scarlet and green, Candy, marbles, jacks-- A confusion of color Pathetically gaudy and cheap. All of my boyhood Rushed back. Once more these things were treasures Wildly desired. With covetous eyes I looked again at the marbles, The precious agates, the pee-wees, the chinies-- Then I passed on.
In the winter dusk, The pavements were gleaming with rain; There in the lighted window I left my boyhood."