Talking in Bed

The word “bed” appears both in the title and in the first line of the poem. The bed and its two occupants make up an “emblem” (Line 3), which is an object or a picture of an object that symbolizes another object or idea—in this case, intimate and honest communication between lovers, as well as the warmth, comfort, and security that a bed provides. In this poem, the symbol of the bed might also be ironic, since what it might normally stand for is undermined by the poem’s theme, which is that no communication of any value is possible between the two individuals in the bed. Two people are physically close together in bed but in another, more important sense, they are far apart from each other. The bed becomes an ironic symbol of what people might reasonably want or expect but do not, in fact, experience.

Like the bed, the wind acts as a symbol in the poem, although of a different kind. The couple in bed are unable to express their feelings openly and honestly. In that sense, they are stuck, and because they are not interacting with each other, “more and more time passes silently” (Line 4).