"I Knew A Man By Sight" by Henry David Thoreau

I knew a man by sight,
A blameless wight,
Who, for a year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.

I met him in a lane,
Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.

In a more distant place
I glimpsed his face,
And bowed instinctively;
Starting he bowed to me,
Bowed simultaneously, and passed along.

Next, in a foreign land
I grasped his hand,
And had a social chat,
About this thing and that,
As I had known him well a thousand years.

Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess,
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been;
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.

And as, methinks, shall all,
Both great and small,
That ever lived on earth,
Early or late their birth,
Stranger and foe, one day each other know.

Vocabulary:
-Wight-a living being (especially a human being)

Analysis:
a) The poem is about a man who at first only knows this other man by his appearance. They later meet again 3 miles from home and they just stare at eachother.  Further from home, the two men meet again and bow to eachother.  When they meet the next time, they chat as if they have been friends their whole lives. Finally, the original man helps his new friend in the wilderness.  The poem ends with the plea that nobody should be unknown to anybody.

b) The theme of the poem is that knowing someone just by sight is not good enough, and that a deeper relationship should exist. This idea is illustraded in the story the poet creates in the poem.

Personal Connection:
    This is one of my favorite poems because it tells a great story of how two strangers become great friends.  I also enjoyed the idea that the last stanza illustrates.  It says that everyone should get to know everyone, and by the story of what comes from knowing someone, it sounds like a good idea.