The Dao of Wallace Stevens : sea surface full of clouds, by wallace stevens

1
in that november off tehuantepec,
the slopping of the sea grew still one night
and in the morning summer hued the deck

and made one think of rosy chocolate
and gilt umbrellas. paradaisal green
gave suavity to the perplexed machine

of ocean, which like limpid water lay.
who, then, in that ambrosial latitude
out of the light evolved the moving blooms,

who, then, evolved the sea-blooms from the clouds
diffusing balm in that pacific calm?
c'etait mon enfant, mon bijou, mon ame.

the sea-clouds whitened far below the calm
and moved, as blooms move, in the swimming green
and in its watery radiance, while the hue

of heaven in an antique reflection rolled
round those flotillas. and sometimes the sea
poured brilliant iris on the glistening blue.

(from Stevens, Collected Poetry & Prose, 82-83)

* * * * *

I read somewhere in my perusings of words about Stevens, that the morning in question was very likely the morning after Stevens' daughter was conceived. Makes this poem very special, what?

It's very nice to re-read this on a midsummer's night, under the light of Jupiter.

I will not be posting the poem in its entirety, so if you wish to read more, please seek a volume of Stevens' work.

Comments

Gosh...painting ANYTHING seems a feeble effort, when one can paint with words the way he did.

A beautiful selection.

Posted by: Lori Witzel | July 23, 2006 at 07:44 AM

hi lori,

yes, isn't the word-painting wonderful? there are some books written on stevens' appreciation of art, especially painting, and i would certainly love to find the time to read them! in the meantime, i can just enjoy the paintings, er, i mean 'poems' themselves...

Posted by: kasturi | July 26, 2006 at 11:50 AM

Yes it really is a great poem. I was just wondering if you happen to know what the french (I believe its french) text in the 4th verse means:
"c'etait mon enfant, mon bijou, mon ame."

Posted by: Eric | March 03, 2008 at 01:21 PM

The French means: this was my child, my jewel, my soul.

Posted by: Becka | September 20, 2008 at 11:09 AM

Swimming is one of the most demanding sports in which we participate and the most recommended for overall health as best he can do is practice as much as possible in order to feel its effectiveness
thus we have a good physical condition

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Posted by: Jessica | September 15, 2010 at 11:42 AM

Nice poem.

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Posted by: Buy Viagra | April 19, 2011 at 06:31 AM

This poem is a touching poem so I think it had been perfect if the person who did it had added more rhymes to the poem because I think those are the best poems.m10m

Posted by: viagra generic | April 19, 2011 at 01:29 PM

Kinda similar of my child experience. You struck me again wallace. Nice one.

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