Lines 1-2

In the first few lines of "Climbing," the speaker sets the tone of the poem by describing a ghostly apparition. By describing the woman on the rope as having "dangling braids the color of rain," the speaker signals that she is in the realm of the imagination. Rain is transparent and has no color per se. Rope, as a symbol, has many associations: it is both a form of transportation and a device used to pull things. It can also be used to hang people. The fact that it is a "long rope" implies that the speaker has a hard journey ahead of her.

Lines 3-5

In these lines, the speaker begins the list of "maybe's" that structure the rest of the poem. By questioning whether she herself should have had braids, the speaker introduces the subject of regret. Braids themselves are decorative—and dangling braids...