Biographical Perspective
Nemerov lived most of his life in New York City. A storm window is a window that is fixed outside a normal window for protection and insulation in bad weather or winter. Because Nemerov lived most of his life in New York, storm windows was a common seasonal occurrence for people in the area. Nemerov's family background in appreciation of the arts as his nurturing school environment inspired Nemerov into his style of "opposing elements" which create a philosophical aura in his poetry. The after effects of World War II most likely influenced Nemerov to write about the regrets that haunted him. It appears that Nemerov was haunted by the words and actions he never took. At first his prose creates the literal, physical object of the storm window however, the prose shifts into a darker pessimistic undertone midway and the reader can tell his mind isn't physically where the speaker is. The heavy rain imagery used within the prose means the speaker's lost opportunities. The rain represents his regret which hits the storm window, missing the crushed dry grass behind the pane, the window representing his failure to say what he wanted, and the crushed dry grass representing the damage done by not doing so.