Richard Wilbur
Lesson plans and teaching resources

"Advice to a Prophet"
In this video Poetry Out Loud contestant Amy Burzak recites the poem.

Poet Richard Wilbur's Letter About "The Death of a Toad"
In 1997, Richard Wilbur's poem "The Death of a Toad" appeared on the Advanced Placement English Literature Exam. At that time, an AP teacher named Penny wrote to him about the poem, and he responded with a long, detailed letter about the writing of the poem.

Richard Wilbur
Links to 10 poems, including audio links of Wilbur reading them.

Richard Wilbur, "Boy at the Window"
Text of the poem.

"The Disappearing Alphabet"
Text of the poem. Scroll down for activities and an audio file of Wilbur reading the poem.

"Some Words Inside of Words"
Downloadable audio file of the poem.

"The Writer"
Text of the poem. Follow links to a brief biography and other poems.

Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment
This lesson uses Richard Wilbur's poem "The Writer" to encourage students to develop an extended metaphor describing themselves as writers.