Of Modern Poetry - A poem by Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens - Of Modern Poetry

The poem of the mind in the act of finding
What will suffice. It has not always had
To find: the scene was set; it repeated what
Was in the script.
Then the theatre was changed
To something else. Its past was a souvenir.

It has to be living, to learn the speech of the place.
It has to face the men of the time and to meet
The women of the time. It has to think about war
And it has to find what will suffice. It has
To construct a new stage. It has to be on that stage,
And, like an insatiable actor, slowly and
With meditation, speak words that in the ear,
In the delicatest ear of the mind, repeat,
Exactly, that which it wants to hear, at the sound
Of which, an invisible audience listens,
Not to the play, but to itself, expressed
In an emotion as of two people, as of two
Emotions becoming one. The actor is
A metaphysician in the dark, twanging
An instrument, twanging a wiry string that gives
Sounds passing through sudden rightnesses, wholly
Containing the mind, below which it cannot descend,
Beyond which it has no will to rise.
It must
Be the finding of a satisfaction, and may
Be of a man skating, a woman dancing, a woman
Combing. The poem of the act of the mind.

Added: on July 16th, 2005 at 7:54 AM | Viewed: 5151 times | Comments and analysis of Of Modern Poetry by Wallace Stevens Comments (4)

Of Modern Poetry - Comments and Information
Poet: Wallace Stevens Poem: Of Modern Poetry Comment 4 of 4, added on February 26th, 2007 at 10:26 AM. I really like that comment tying Whitman to Stevens, as I never really thought of it before. Yes both are creating a stage and embracing the reader in a present-tense poetry, albeit maybe on different stages with different acting methods. Whitman reaches out in Song of Myself, and Stevens reaches out in many poems, including here, but other times more obliquely, as in my favorite, "The Snow Man." Yes the "act of finding" seems more important than "to find" in this poem. The poem must be "wholly / containing the mind," and this itself might be what suffices: that sense of transport, communication, knowledge, and rapture. GFunk from United States Comment 3 of 4, added on October 28th, 2005 at 6:20 AM. "what will suffice..." To me this is one of the profound things of our poetry. However, Johann Sebastian Bach possibly had the same idea in his mind, when he said: "Never use two violins when one will suffice." Jukka Kemppinen from Finland Comment 2 of 4, added on July 16th, 2005 at 7:54 AM. What strikes me in that poem is the idea mentioned by Alan- 'finding what will suffice'.-To me it means that writing poetry is striving towards perfection, one has to try many options before choosing the ultimate one. Therefore I would disagree here with Alan on the epiphany motif. Stevens writes that a poem must be an 'act of the mind' and that it must be heard in the 'ear of the mind'. To me it suggests a careful precision of the form and content, gradual evolving of an idea rather than a sudden feat. Thus I don't suppose it is emotion that Stevens believes to be the major tool, mode of wiriting, but I think that he validates it as a basis, fundament and inspiration, however, contolled by a modern poet's skill. Magda from Poland More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Of Modern Poetry, has received 4 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Wallace Stevens with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Wallace Stevens Poem: Of Modern Poetry Last read: Jul 24 2008, 2:38AM Viewed 5151 times. Added on July 16th, 2005 at 7:54 AM.

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