The houses are haunted
By white night-gowns.
None are green,
Or purple with green rings,
Or green with yellow rings,
Or yellow with blue rings.
None of them are strange,
With socks of lace
And beaded ceintures.
People are not going
To dream of baboons and periwinkles.
Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches Tigers
In red weather.
Disillusionment Of Ten O’clock
Analysis, meaning and summary of Wallace Stevens's poem Disillusionment Of Ten O’clock
4 Comments
Leave a Reply
Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Wallace Stevens better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
Why must the poem have meaning?
It is a poem of random nonsense.
I discussed this with my peotry teacher and we both agreed it is just a random poem.
Poems do not always have to have some deep meaning. They can just be for fun. They can be read and written just for fun.
Why must we disect everything?
Okay, here is what I get:
Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock –
What excitment, what dreams we expect of the night may not exist.
The houses are haunted by white night-gowns. Was there a time when no white night gowns were worn?
Not just the speaker’s house, but houses of people in general face a dull, unfulfilled existence lacking excitement, romance and dreams.
We look forward to the evening which is probably ten o’clock for rest from a busy or weary day. Perhaps filled with romance, rest, rejuvenation, excitement..there just isn’t any. Has the mystery of the romance faded to nothing? Not even blue with yellow rings or yellow with green rings?
Not even enhanced by lace and sashes.
Red weather at night promises happiness and joy. But only an occasional binge and a drunkard can catch tigers, which insinuates an excursion or adventure. Yet he sleeps in his boots, there is no rest at all
“In read weather” refers to the sailor.
“red at night
sailor’s delight
red in hte morning
sailor’s warning”
to appreciate the simplest of things, weather/color/peace of mind