{"id":236,"date":"2025-09-22T17:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T17:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=236"},"modified":"2026-01-28T21:32:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:32:44","slug":"thirteen-ways-of-looking-at-a-blackbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/?p=236","title":{"rendered":"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stevens said, \u201cThis group of poems is not meant to be a collection of epigrams or ideas, but of sensations\u201d (L 251).\u00a0 So don\u2019t worry about trying to figure out what the blackbird \u201cmeans.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have one meaning.\u00a0 Instead, ask yourself how each episode makes you feel.\u00a0 We look at life from many different perspectives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird<\/strong><\/h2>\n

by Wallace Stevens<\/strong><\/p>\n

I<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among twenty snowy mountains,
\nThe only moving thing
\nWas the eye of the blackbird.<\/p>\n

II<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was of three minds,
\nLike a tree
\nIn which there are three blackbirds.<\/p>\n

III<\/strong><\/p>\n

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
\nIt was a small part of the pantomime.<\/p>\n

IV<\/strong><\/p>\n

A man and a woman
\nAre one.
\nA man and a woman and a blackbird
\nAre one.<\/p>\n

V<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not know which to prefer,
\nThe beauty of inflections
\nOr the beauty of innuendoes,
\nThe blackbird whistling
\nOr just after.<\/p>\n

VI<\/strong><\/p>\n

Icicles filled the long window
\nWith barbaric glass.
\nThe shadow of the blackbird
\nCrossed it, to and fro.
\nThe mood
\nTraced in the shadow
\nAn indecipherable cause.<\/p>\n

VII<\/strong><\/p>\n

O thin men of Haddam,
\nWhy do you imagine golden birds?
\nDo you not see how the blackbird
\nWalks around the feet
\nOf the women about you?<\/p>\n

VIII<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know noble accents
\nAnd lucid, inescapable rhythms;
\nBut I know, too,
\nThat the blackbird is involved
\nIn what I know.<\/p>\n

IX<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the blackbird flew out of sight,
\nIt marked the edge
\nOf one of many circles.<\/p>\n

X<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the sight of blackbirds
\nFlying in a green light,
\nEven the bawds of euphony
\nWould cry out sharply.<\/p>\n

XI<\/strong><\/p>\n

He rode over Connecticut
\nIn a glass coach.
\nOnce, a fear pierced him,
\nIn that he mistook
\nThe shadow of his equipage
\nFor blackbirds.<\/p>\n

XII<\/strong><\/p>\n

The river is moving.
\nThe blackbird must be flying.<\/p>\n

XIII<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was evening all afternoon.
\nIt was snowing
\nAnd it was going to snow.
\nThe blackbird sat
\nIn the cedar-limbs.<\/p>\n

—— ————————<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/strong>
\npantomime<\/em> (III):\u00a0 a drama using only actions and gestures, without words
\ninflections<\/em> (V): changes in tone or pitch of the voice
\ninnuendoes<\/em> (V): subtle suggestions; insinuations
\nindecipherable<\/em> (VI): unclear in meaning
\nlucid<\/em> (VIII): clear, easily understood
\nbawds<\/em> (X): people who engage in crude, inappropriate behavior
\neuphony<\/em> (X): pleasing sounds
\nequipage<\/em> (XI): a carriage with horses<\/p>\n

Wallace Stevens, \"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird\" from Harmonium<\/i>. (New York:\u00a0<\/strong>Alfred A. Knopf, 1923. Public domain.)<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stevens said, \u201cThis group of poems is not meant to be a collection of epigrams or ideas, but of sensations\u201d (L 251).\u00a0 So don\u2019t worry about trying to figure out what the blackbird \u201cmeans.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have one meaning.\u00a0 Instead, ask yourself how each episode makes you feel.\u00a0 We look at life from many different … Continue reading Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird\u00a0<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[32,31],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wallace-stevens","tag-poem","tag-poetry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hartfordlit.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}