III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
Summary
The third section changes to a couplet form and returns to a natural scene where all is in motion: a blackbird flies in circles amid autumn winds, and it is only a small part of the larger activity. The scene is compared to a "pantomime," evoking broad theatrical movements without speech.
The fourth section presents two sets of creatures, each within two lines: in the first, a man and a woman "are one"; in the second, the human couple and a blackbird are also "one." This section raises the question of how the human pairing of man and woman changes when a blackbird is introduced.
Analysis: III
Our friend the blackbird is humbled somewhat in this section: after its striking appearance in section I, and its elevation into an imagined tree of thought in section II, the blackbird is still but "a small part" of the big natural world. This section reminds us of the blackbird's place in nature, and despite the apparent chaos of the whirling "autumn winds" as a "pantomime," the blackbird appears perhaps most at home here, of all the sections—devoid of any interfering human presence. We are reminded of how ordinary the blackbird is—but in a way, this makes the blackbird even more astounding: we can make any creature or object from nature extraordinary by choosing to study it closely, and using it as a way to understand our own minds. This section reinforces the identity of the blackbird as the commonplace-made-significant by its usage in the poem.
Though this section names the specific season of autumn, the poem remains timeless: the "snowy mountains" of the first stanza sound wintry, but could be snowy in any season—thus we have no idea if section three is a step back in time, forward, or out of time entirely. The 'whirling' flight of the blackbird evokes a circle that could be infinite. Though the poem makes the blackbird our link to many disparate scenes and feelings, this section gives us a view into a cycle in nature in which a human observer does not participate at all.
The assonance and consonance of "blackbird whirled," with the repeated short internal "ir" sound, has the effect of bonding the whirling motion with the bird: the word "whirled" sounds like a natural extension of the blackbird. It also sounds like "world," perhaps evoking the universality of the blackbird and the many varying perspectives on it. "Pantomime," however, is a strange word to choose, making reference to a human activity in an otherwise all-natural scene. Its meaning may be layered: initially, it evokes broad, theatrical motions, and the word choice may be a way to familiarize nature. However, a pantomime is primarily notable for being wordless, so even as we conflate the natural scene with a human performance form, it is one that defies explication in words. Thus we have fooled ourselves in a way: we cannot, after all, fully understand nature and its convolutions. The best we can do is sit back and watch attentively as the various meanings present themselves.
Analysis: IV
Section IV is, grammatically, perhaps the most understated and cryptic section in an already cryptic poem. It is less that a scene is being presented, and more that a hypothetical equation is brought up in our minds. What does it mean for a man and a woman to be considered a union as one entity, and a man, woman, and blackbird also to be considered as a union? The easiest explanation is that the blackbird makes no difference: perhaps the blackbird is included either way—as nature is always present—it is just a matter of whether we acknowledge it verbally or not.
For an even closer examination, though, what does "one" mean here? For a man and a woman, the answers are fairly obvious: there is the Biblical sense of coupling sexually and in marriage, and a sense of the male and female sexes together forming the whole human race. With the blackbird included, the definition becomes hazier. This is not the first trinity we have seen in the poem: in section II, the "three blackbirds" mark different branches of the same tree. Thus, likewise, the man, woman, and blackbird are all parts of the same tree of life. In this section, it also makes a great difference whether we consider the blackbird as a symbol of death: not only are the humans and blackbird united via the tree of life, but the humans also inevitably become "one" with death. Either way, the thought experiment of section IV shows us that the difference is our perspective. We can consider two humans a complete union, or, adjusting our perspective, we can broaden that scope to include nature.
Like sections I and II, word and line order in section IV are crucial to establishing a balance between two things. The first and third lines of the stanza let us visually see the difference between the couple and the trinity: the latter line begins identically and is made longer by the addition "and a blackbird." In contrast, the short line "Are one" is repeated twice, anchoring the stanza in its sameness and letting us see each set of creatures condense into the same unity. The stanza puts immense pressure on the verb to be, sounding like a divine commandment, establishing the contents of each sentence as absolute fact. This pressure highlights the power of the poet and reader as the makers of meaning, encouraging us to actively consider how we choose to define the creatures in the poem and which creatures or images we include in our interpretations of it.
