This definitive poetry collection, originally published in 1954 to honor Stevens on his 75th birthday, contains:
- "Harmonium"
- ... read full description
reviews
Jun 01, 2011
Sarah
rated it: 
i fell in love with two men in my undergrad senior seminar. it was on wallace stevens and t.s. eliot.
the way i loved both of these writers hurt. (i'll set eliot aside for another time).
stevens kills me when he uses very innocent symbols - making ice cream, in "the emperor of ice cream", for instance - to offset the tragedy that's occurring. front-loaded with the promise of the sugar stuff, it seems like the poem will go somewhere happy, maybe to a coming of ag More...
the way i loved both of these writers hurt. (i'll set eliot aside for another time).
stevens kills me when he uses very innocent symbols - making ice cream, in "the emperor of ice cream", for instance - to offset the tragedy that's occurring. front-loaded with the promise of the sugar stuff, it seems like the poem will go somewhere happy, maybe to a coming of ag More...
2 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jun 26, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
This book of poetry combines an earthy sensibility coupled with a philosophical speculation that appeals to me. My favorite book of poetry.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Dec 17, 2009
Grey853
rated it:
Wallace Steven is probably my favorite modern poet. His imagery, style, subject matter all catch me off guard, and that's something a good poet should do. One poem to share would be "The Snow Man".
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow,
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; a More...
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow,
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; a More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 29, 2011
Jeff
rated it:
I'm marking this book as "read," although I'm not sure I've read every poem. This is certainly not a book which can be read cover-to-cover in a few sittings, at least not by someone of my intellect.
I fell in love with Stevens' famous "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" during my freshman year in college. The images were striking and beautiful, even though I didn't understand what the poem was about. But the mystery was part of the appeal. I "under More...
I fell in love with Stevens' famous "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" during my freshman year in college. The images were striking and beautiful, even though I didn't understand what the poem was about. But the mystery was part of the appeal. I "under More...
May 01, 2011
Joseph
rated it:
Stevens wrote poetry like a jeweler cuts diamonds; his language is musical to the ear and prismatic in the mind's eye. He often writes about the power of art--specifically poetry--to transform Reality.
She sang beyond the genius of the sea . . .
It was her voice that made
The sky acutest at its vanishing.....
She was the single artificer of the world
In which she sang. And when she sang, the sea,
Whatever self it had, be More...
She sang beyond the genius of the sea . . .
It was her voice that made
The sky acutest at its vanishing.....
She was the single artificer of the world
In which she sang. And when she sang, the sea,
Whatever self it had, be More...
Apr 02, 2010
notgettingenough
rated it: 
For Easter. A friend told me this is maybe the best poem in the English language, quoting bits of it as we were driving along. Had to look it up. Here it is.
Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
Sunday Morning
1
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
E More...
Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
Sunday Morning
1
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
E More...
3 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 17, 2009
i have a couple of his poems on my wall in my art studio.
great poet
i mean to buy a good edition of his poetry and have not had a chance to investigate which anthology to get? any suggestions? which is the best to get?
here is a taste: my favorite Wallace poem:
The Idea of Order at Key West
Wallace Stevens
She sang beyond the genius of the sea.
The water never formed to mind or voice,
Like a body wholly body, fluttering
More...
great poet
i mean to buy a good edition of his poetry and have not had a chance to investigate which anthology to get? any suggestions? which is the best to get?
here is a taste: my favorite Wallace poem:
The Idea of Order at Key West
Wallace Stevens
She sang beyond the genius of the sea.
The water never formed to mind or voice,
Like a body wholly body, fluttering
More...
Jun 19, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
The Emperor of Ice Cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And sprea More...
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And sprea More...
Apr 14, 2008
Erik
rated it:
i don't always understand him, but I don't feel a compelling need to. When he feels like it, he writes the most beautiful lines of poetry written in the twentieth century. I'm not sure there's a greater poem than "Sunday Morning," and I'm not sure there's a better poem to read aloud than "The Man on the Dump." He's marvelous. And to think he was an insurance salesman . . .
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Dec 30, 2009
Martin
rated it: 
First, about the volume. at over 500 pages, this feels like it must be a fairly comprehensive overview of Stevens' work. All of the famous poems are here, and, for reasons I don't understand, some minor poems are omitted. So if you are new to Stevens or looking for an introduction to him, this is a good place to start.
That said, there are no notes whatsoever, not even an introduction to give Stevens' work some context. That seems a regrettable oversight.
Now to the poems. More...
That said, there are no notes whatsoever, not even an introduction to give Stevens' work some context. That seems a regrettable oversight.
Now to the poems. More...
Aug 28, 2011
Thomas
rated it:
I don't, in the whole, share his world-view, but I love the way he writes about it.
He had strong chops; his first collection "Harmonium" is packed with concentrated technical tours-de-force, many of which don't necessarily seem to be about anything except short exercises in poetics. Precise, funny, and strongly evocative, but of what? That and poems like "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" and "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" got him a reputation as a k More...
He had strong chops; his first collection "Harmonium" is packed with concentrated technical tours-de-force, many of which don't necessarily seem to be about anything except short exercises in poetics. Precise, funny, and strongly evocative, but of what? That and poems like "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" and "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" got him a reputation as a k More...
Jul 10, 2009
Rhonda
rated it:
Superb poetry from an extremely unlikely source. I think I read this after it was mentioned in Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion.
This book deserves a finer commentary when I have time to consider at the moment, but I was astounded by the impression which he made on my first reading: it was simply like another world had opened up before me... and the one in which I had been living became a mere shell of reality. It was one of those fearful moments when you cannot be sure that yo More...
This book deserves a finer commentary when I have time to consider at the moment, but I was astounded by the impression which he made on my first reading: it was simply like another world had opened up before me... and the one in which I had been living became a mere shell of reality. It was one of those fearful moments when you cannot be sure that yo More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 15, 2009
eliza
rated it:
very fond of the harmonium and ideas of order collections.
some particular favorites:
"another weeping woman"
"from the misery of don joost"
"the worms at heaven's gate"
"anecdote of men by the thousand"
"of the surface of things"
"the place of the solitaires"
"the curtains in the house of the metaphysician"
"six significant landscapes"
"tattoo"
some particular favorites:
"another weeping woman"
"from the misery of don joost"
"the worms at heaven's gate"
"anecdote of men by the thousand"
"of the surface of things"
"the place of the solitaires"
"the curtains in the house of the metaphysician"
"six significant landscapes"
"tattoo"
5 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 10, 2011
RC
rated it:
Stevens is a poet I return to again and again, so I may may never move to this my 'read' shelf.
The dichotomy of the outward life and the soul strikes me again and again - by profession an attorney and insurance executive, by birth a passionate poet - how Stevens managed to balance the quotidian with the inner being still mystifies and amazes me.
Eventually I'll get around to buying the complete collection, but this edition contains many of my favorites.
The dichotomy of the outward life and the soul strikes me again and again - by profession an attorney and insurance executive, by birth a passionate poet - how Stevens managed to balance the quotidian with the inner being still mystifies and amazes me.
Eventually I'll get around to buying the complete collection, but this edition contains many of my favorites.
Jan 22, 2012
Albert
rated it:
I am re-reading this now. It's a bit wordy, but full of an elegant, Godly style.
In the reading, I am among Greeks -- gods and ephebes --, strange flowers, outdated seraphs, the vulgate, Ozymandias, and constantly, the Poet struggling between two states to find a "Supreme Fiction."
Maybe it should be four stars?? No. There's too much in here.
In the reading, I am among Greeks -- gods and ephebes --, strange flowers, outdated seraphs, the vulgate, Ozymandias, and constantly, the Poet struggling between two states to find a "Supreme Fiction."
Maybe it should be four stars?? No. There's too much in here.
Jul 30, 2009
Steve
rated it:
He sails over the line of sarcasm and into this crazy, sardonic, ridiculous vortex of wit and pseudo-realism. Very enjoyable read. Read Keats first, then read him. You will laugh your ass off. Then, you keep reading, and you'll find the answers to how the world should be perceived. The "apotheosis of evocative writing." That's mine - but you can borrow it.
Jan 18, 2008
Christopher
rated it:
Dense but somehow fresh and lacking pretention, the poems of Wallace Stevens somehow surprise me even after reading them so many times.
The Emperor of Ice-cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor More...
The Emperor of Ice-cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor More...
Dec 13, 2011
Summer
rated it:
This is the first book I remember ever buying for myself. My great aunt had read to me The Domination of Black and it opened for me a whole new way of understanding the world...poetry. Twenty years later the color and rhythm of the poems are still captivating.
Apr 11, 2011
Tinytextiles
rated it: 
I think poems should be images of ---nature--experiences--feelings---and fun to explore and to relate with. However---Wallace Stevens's poems are for the most part puzzles of his mind for us to untangle. For me---that is not a poem.
May 18, 2011
Nicola
rated it:
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. If you needed any evidence that Wallace Stevens is a heavyweight in poetry, here it is. Sound, thought, perspective, structure, resonance-it is all here.
Mar 31, 2009
Nikki
rated it:
Read the poems assigned for a modern American lit class and might go back to read more of it sometime. Challenging, like all the modernists, but also fascinating.
Oct 10, 2010
Ashley
rated it: 
A lot of these don't make sense to me; I'm not really a poetry girl. However, I did find my new favorite poem here: "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm".
Sep 28, 2009
I started because of my infinite respect for this man but am having trouble focusing on individual poems and feel as though I need guidance.
Jan 31, 2011
Noah
rated it:
If you love poetry, if you love gigantic ideas beautifully executed, read this man's work. A brilliant mind and an expert technician.
Nov 21, 2010
Jimmy
rated it:
This is one of the greatest books of all time. Five stars does not do it justice. I'll always be trying to understand all of them.
Aug 19, 2010
all night. once. i stayed up all night and read this book cover to cover. looking for a poem i thought i remembered about dancing.
Jun 08, 2010
"To hear only what one hears, one meaning alone,
As if the paradise of meaning ceased
To be paradise, it is this to be destitute."
As if the paradise of meaning ceased
To be paradise, it is this to be destitute."
Sep 08, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
The early 20th century's best American poet. That's right, I said it. Now run crying back to Yeats, Eliot and Frost.
