Visions & Voices- Wallace Stevens (Voices & Visions)

Poets James Merrill and Mark Strand, critics Harold Bloom and Joan Richardson, coworkers, and neighbors pay reverent homage to the poet best known for selling his soul to the Hartford Insurance Company. Through remembrance, elucidation, and analysis, one of our most secretive writers ("I try to draw a definite line between poetry and business") is brought into clear focus. Merrill provides inspired readings of "Sunday Morning," "The Snowman," "Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour," and other favorites. An excerpt of Stevens's resonant rendition of "The Idea of Order at Key West" is also included. Did the day job impinge on the poetry? Lush cadences and surprising swings of diction provide the answer. Though he wore a gray suit, Stevens saved the full palette for his poems. (Running time: 1 hour, 1 cassette) --Martha Silano