Saving Time

"A Late Aubade"
Richard Wilbur

   You could be sitting now in a carrel
   Turning some liver-spotted page,
   Or rising in an elevator-cage
   Toward Ladies' Apparel.

   You could be planting a raucous bed
   Of salvia, in rubber gloves,
   Or lunching through a screed of someone's loves
   With pitying head.

   Or making some unhappy setter
   Heel, or listening to a bleak
   Lecture on Schoenberg's serial technique.
   Isn't this better?

   Think of all the time you are not
   Wasting, and would not care to waste,
   Such things, thank God, not being to your taste.
   Think what a lot

   Of time, by woman's reckoning,
   You've saved, and so may spend on this,
   You who had rather lie in bed and kiss
   Than anything.

   It's almost noon, you say? If so,
   Time flies, and I need not rehearse
   The rosebuds-theme of centuries of verse.
   If you must go,

   Wait for a while, then slip downstairs
   And bring us up some chilled white wine,
   And some blue cheese, and crackers, and some fine
   Ruddy-skinned pears.

   The majority of this poem takes place in the imagination, and not reality. Richard Wilbur illustrates several hypothetical situations before commenting on the present state of the speaker. When the reader finally learn the speaker's purpose in creating all of these hypotheticals, this poem can be seen as a love poem: albeit one that criticizes other love poems. In "A Late Aubade" Wilbur twists the traditional love poem and exchanges passion for gratitude.
   It is obvious that this poem is going to be a lot of visualization on the speaker's part when he begins by addressing an unknown you with various activities that she could be doing. First, it's reading in a sort of study space, then riding an elevator to the women's section of some store. This is how we learn the ambiguous "you" is presumably a woman. Next he moves on to planting a "raucous", or rowdy, bed of salvia, an ornamental type of sage. Here, the first hint is made towards the literal situation of the speaker, which is later revealed to be in bed. Wilbur's use of "raucous bed" at the end of a line more than likely holds sexual implications. Then he moves back to studying, mentioning a "screed" of someone's loves, a discourse or an essay. She could also be walking a dog, an unhappy and disobedient dog. After this hypothetical, the poem changes tone. The speaker poses the question "Isn't this better?"
   Now he implores the woman to think of how much time she could be wasting on such activities. He then reveals that none of these are in fact activities she enjoys. He thanks God they aren't "to her taste." Next, he claims that all of the time she could have wasted is spent on something better: laying in bed, kissing him. Which is, apparently, her favorite activity, as she'd rather be doing it than anything else. This is the current state of both the speaker and the addressed. 
   The woman then speaks for the first time. It's not written explicitly, but the speaker repeats a comment made by her, questioning it. It is almost noon. This is where the criticism of the classic love poem comes in. The speaker claims he has no need to copy "centuries of verse" comparing love or who is loved to roses. Just the fact that she has stayed so long, that she chooses to be in bed rather than participating in any of the aforementioned activities, proves her love. 
   In the last stanza, the speaker makes a suggestion. If the woman really has to leave, he suggests staying just a little longer. He wants her to stay as long as she can. When she leaves, he only wants her to "slip downstairs", where she'll prepare some food and wine for consumption when she returns to bed. Here, they will most likely spend the rest of the afternoon. The last line, "Ruddy-skinned pears," seems to be another sexual innuendo. The female figure is often compared to pears, and he comments on the texture of the skin of said pears. With this last line, one can speculate about what will take place in their bed.