The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain - A poem by Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens - The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain

There it was, word for word,
The poem that took the place of a mountain.

He breathed its oxygen,
Even when the book lay turned in the dust of his table.

It reminded him how he had needed
A place to go to in his own direction,

How he had recomposed the pines,
Shifted the rocks and picked his way among clouds,

For the outlook that would be right,
Where he would be complete in an unexplained completion:

The exact rock where his inexactness
Would discover, at last, the view toward which they had edged,

Where he could lie and, gazing down at the sea,
Recognize his unique and solitary home.

Added: on February 21st, 2005 at 2:54 PM | Viewed: 3514 times | Comments and analysis of The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain by Wallace Stevens Comments (4)

The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain - Comments and Information
Poet: Wallace Stevens Poem: The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain Comment 4 of 4, added on February 19th, 2008 at 6:04 PM. It's highly likely Stevens was thinking of Cezanne in this poem. It's important to note that Stevens named Cezanne as one of his favorite painters, and a key artistic forebear. It's a late homage (like "To an Old Philosopher in Rome") that expressed his affinity & gratitude to his lifelong teacher & influence. Kevin Brady from United States Comment 3 of 4, added on April 6th, 2005 at 9:16 PM. But Stevens hates subjective thought! He wrote (and his goal in life was ) to see without bias, to be able to see things as they really were. if he was a Romantic writer this would be in character, but being a modernist this does not seem like him. And isn't "solitary" a lonely word with a negative connotation? juniper from United States Comment 2 of 4, added on February 21st, 2005 at 2:54 PM. Clearly this is a poem about writing a poem, what has been called Ars Poetica. The poet is aware of a mountain, seeing it or hearing of it, perhaps, and he forms an image from which he writes a poem in his own way of writing,ie., 'his voice.' Hereafter, the poem shows him not the actual mountain, but the perception in his mind that drove him to write the poem. It replaces the mountain in bringing him this vision. He shifted the vision aound in his mind a bit from his original perception to make it right as a poem, and to make the vision he had perfect. Maybe he even introducing false 'facts' in the process. Now the poem itself exists both in his mind and in a book. He need not see the poem any more, it, like the mountain, points to the same image in his mind. Perhaps the poem he wrote is this poem, we don't know. Having written it, he has found his voice and he is in this sense, complete. Doesn't the poem itself, once analyzed, either like this, or however, seem exactly right and beautiful? James M. Lawther from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain, 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: The Poem That Took The Place Of A Mountain Last read: May 16 2008, 1:42AM Viewed 3514 times. Added on February 21st, 2005 at 2:54 PM.

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