Tag Archives: Poetry

Wallace Stevens

Of Hartford in a Purple Light

This poem imagines that the sun, making its daily westward journey to Hartford, brings with it all the appealing aspects of Europe. The warm “purple” light of late afternoon in Hartford reminds Stevens of the romantic allure of Paris, with the legendary beauty of its women and its rich cultural atmosphere (for instance, the elaborate architecture and musical splendor of the Paris Opera House).  He jokingly compares the sun to a French poodle, wet from its trip over the ocean, shaking off a shower of iridescent drops that transform Hartford (“the town, the river, the railroad”) into a sparkling paradise. Continue reading Of Hartford in a Purple Light →

Wallace Stevens

Tea

This poem contrasts the cold of a late autumn day in the Northeast with the warm, welcoming atmosphere of a comfortable living room overlooking a park.  Stevens once referred to the poem as “A Tea,” suggesting that it describes a gathering where you enjoy drinking tea together.  Note that the speaker addresses another person in line five (“Your”), giving the poem a personal tone.  Where do you see tropical imagery in this poem?  How does it make you feel? Continue reading Tea →

Wallace Stevens

The Snow Man

What do you think it means to have “a mind of winter” and “not to think / Of any misery in the sound of the wind, / In the sound of a few leaves”?  What would the snow man be doing if he did think of “misery” in those things?  The poem is all one sentence; why do you think Stevens did that?  Why do you think he repeats “nothing” three times in the final stanza? Continue reading The Snow Man →

Wallace Stevens

Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock

Here the speaker is bored by all the monotonous “white nightgowns” in his neighborhood—nightgowns presumably worn by his fellow Hartford businessmen who all dress alike, without imagination.  He longs for something fresh and unusual, to add interest to this routine life.  Why do you think he uses the French word, “ceinture”?  What is unusual about the combination of “baboons and periwinkles”?  (Think of the sounds of those words.)  How do you feel about the old, drunk sailor?  Continue reading Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock →

Wallace Stevens

Anecdote of the Jar 

Stevens thought a lot about the importance of imagination in life.  Here the speaker performs one odd, imaginative act—he places a jar on a hilltop.  The man-made jar sticks out from the natural scene surrounding it, commanding our attention and becoming a focal point in the landscape.  The speaker’s gesture is an example of how we create human order in the world.  How does the jar affect the landscape around it?  Does the poem suggest that this is a good or a bad thing?  How?  Continue reading Anecdote of the Jar  →

Wallace Stevens

The Emperor of Ice-Cream

This poem describes preparations for a wake (a social gathering in memory of a deceased person). The two stanzas contrast the lively and youthful scene in the kitchen with the dead body laid out in the bedroom. Life and death are presented side-by-side. Stevens said the poem is “about being, as distinguished from seeming to be” (L 341).  Does this help you interpret the refrain, “The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream”?  Stevens called this his favorite poem because it contains “the essential gaudiness of poetry” (L 263).  [“gaudy” = bright and colorful but in bad taste] What do you think he meant by this? Continue reading The Emperor of Ice-Cream →

Wallace Stevens

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird 

Stevens said, “This group of poems is not meant to be a collection of epigrams or ideas, but of sensations” (L 251).  So don’t worry about trying to figure out what the blackbird “means.”  It doesn’t have one meaning.  Instead, ask yourself how each episode makes you feel.  We look at life from many different perspectives. Continue reading Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird  →