A Wind Gone Wild — Summary

Do I beg to be pinned on some wheel where a babble of sounds can tell me I am This? I am That? I am I? Or wait in the deep, silent night For some dream That would tell of a longing And end reality? Where, I ask, can you tame A wind gone wild... In a hole in the wall? Or a hollow in the earth?

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The speaker pushes back against being labeled. The opening image of being "pinned on some wheel" suggests a person fixed in place and defined by a "babble of sounds," meaning the noisy, confusing voices that insist on telling her who she is. The quick questions, "I am This? I am That? I am I?", show how flimsy and uncertain those labels feel, with even the last one, "I am I?", turning into a doubt.

The speaker then imagines another option: waiting in the "deep, silent night" for a dream that could "end reality." That sounds like a wish for escape, though it also feels passive and a little unsure.

The poem ends on its central image, a "wind gone wild." The speaker asks where such a force could ever be tamed, in a hole in the wall or a hollow in the earth. The answer is nowhere. The mood is restless and defiant, with a longing for freedom running through it. The wildness belongs to the speaker's own spirit, which no small space can contain.

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