After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun.
If the rejected things, the things denied,
Slid over the western cataract, yet one,
One only, one thing that was firm, even
No greater than a cricket’s horn, no more
Than a thought to be rehearsed all day, a speech
Of the self that must sustain itself on speech,
One thing remaining, infallible, would be
Enough. Ah! douce campagna of that thing!
Ah! douce campagna, honey in the heart,
Green in the body, out of a petty phrase,
Out of a thing believed, a thing affirmed:
The form on the pillow humming while one sleeps,
The aureole above the humming house…
It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.
The Well Dressed Man With A Beard
Analysis, meaning and summary of Wallace Stevens's poem The Well Dressed Man With A Beard
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Greetings: I came across the reference to the Poet Wallace Stevens lines “After the final no, there comes the yes, and on that yes the future world depends”. Political Editor Rajiv Deshpande referred these lines in the Times of India while describing journey of the “Reluctant Ruler” Sonia Gandhi, who had said NO to power at least 3 times. Her “NO” to become PM of India in 2004 election victory, will be remembered for long times in the Indian history. “We consider Barack Obama as a man who defied the odds of his colour and skin, and became the Can-Do president. But right in our midst, there is a woman, Sonia Gandhi, whose race, religion, Country of origin, colour and language are different. And quietly, she has taken on huge odds and beaten the stuffings out of them, without the slightest oratorical flourish.” It is a transformation that has been full of grace.
I liked the poem “The Well Dressed Man with Beared”. Thanks.