If when my wife is sleeping
And the baby and Kathleen
Are sleeping
And the sun is a flame-white disc
In silken mists
Above shining trees,-
The speaker is a husband and father. He is isolated in his own house, not only physically in his “north room”, but also as the sole male figure in a family of females or sexually ambiguous babies. 
 Kathleen refers to Kathleen McBride, the Williams' nanny, which places William Carlos Williams immediately in the position of speaker. This is a personal poem. 
 
 Husband, Father, Doctor, Poet, Baller
Danse Russe