154:. But Stevens dismisses metaphysics in his 1948 essay "Imagination as Value", when he approvingly quotes Professor Joad's assertion that "all talk about God, whether pro or anti, is twaddle", and then Stevens adds, "What is true of one metaphysical term is true of all" There are better grounds for classifying it as among the book's sensualist poems. "This group of poems is not meant to be a collection of epigrams or of ideas", Stevens remarks in one of his letters, "but of sensations".
131:'to be' in seven of its thirteen variations on the blackbird. The blackbird is pictured in a different situation and articulated in a different grammatical context in each fragment. The variations give us glimpses of winter landscapes (cantos I, VI, and XIII), but also of a geometrical world turned metaphysical when the blackbird 'mark(s) the edge / Of one of many circles', or of a train ride turned fairy tale in which a 'glass coach' becomes an equipage', among other situations."
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166:"Thus, if we desire to formulate an accurate theory of poetry, we find it necessary to examine the structure of reality, because reality is the central reference for poetry. By way of accomplishing this, suppose we examine one of the significant components of the structure of reality--that is to say, the resemblance between things."
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Additionally, the title "Thirteen Ways of
Looking at a..." has been endlessly paraphrased in articles (e.g. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackout", music album-titles (e.g. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Goldberg"), and anywhere else a particular topic seems to bear examination from a number of
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speaks of the importance the author placed upon linguistic structure in many of his poems. In this instance, Stevens is experimenting with the application of the verb 'to be' in its many forms and conjugations throughout the 13 cantos of the poem. As Maeder states, the poem "uses or even focuses on
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Sight is the dominant perceptual modality. Perception shifts from the general landscape to the particular image of the blackbird, shifting both poetic and perceptual focus so that background & scenery becomes foreground. The concrete object takes both visual and metaphysical precedence. Some
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which derived their name from the poem's eighth stanza which makes references to "noble accents/And lucid, inescapable rhythms", and inspired several specific compositions as well:
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Stevens' term "resemblance" refers to those relations of similarity and contrast, as he goes on to demonstrate in that essay. A more technical word for what he is referring to is "
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245:"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", by Travis M. Ramsey, commissioned by Patricia Norton for the Juneberry Community Chorus at the Upper Valley Music Center.
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The poem has inspired a number of musicians, including the
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wrote a parody of the poem, reversing the perspective as "Thirteen
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The poem consists of thirteen short, separate sections, each of which mentions
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readers see some reason to classify it as among the metaphysical poems in
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are evident. Buttel proposes that the title "alludes humorously to the
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Frogs Eat
Butterflies. Snakes Eat Frogs. Hogs Eat Snakes. Men Eat Hogs
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Others: A Magazine of the New Verse on the
Modernist Journals Project
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Cy Est
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The poem's haiku-like austerity is striking. Affinities to
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Others: An
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The literary scholar Beverly Maeder writing for the
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826:The Curtains in the House of the Metaphysician
222:"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", by
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50:and two months later in the December issue of
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242:, for Flute and Bassoon, Gregory Youtz.; and
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588:The Paltry Nude Starts on a Spring Voyage
226:for Tenor/Soprano, Oboe/Flute, and Piano;
114:Learn how and when to remove this message
505:Wallace Stevens: The Making of Harmonium
434:Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Goldberg
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521:. 1966: University of California Press
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419:Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackout
307:Cambridge Companion to Wallace Stevens
128:Cambridge Companion to Wallace Stevens
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959:The Bird with the Coppery, Keen Claws
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48:Others: An Anthology of the New Verse
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507:. 1967: Princeton University Press.
421:by Bruce Sterling for FEED Magazine
261:titled "Thirteen Ways of Looking".
53:Others: A Magazine of the New Verse
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798:Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
777:On the Manner of Addressing Clouds
38:in some way. Although inspired by
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994:Two Figures in Dense Violet Night
805:A High-Toned Old Christian Woman
512:Wallace Stevens: A Literary Life
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1064:The Surprises of the Superhuman
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455:. New York: Harper Collins.
386:"Louise Talma: Compositions"
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980:Colloquy with a Polish Aunt
812:The Place of the Solitaires
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1071:Sea Surface Full of Clouds
903:Six Significant Landscapes
728:The Worms at Heaven's Gate
595:The Plot Against the Giant
519:Letters of Wallace Stevens
480:. New York: Random House.
351:New York: Knopf, 1951. 71.
27:'s first book of poetry,
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861:Tea at the Palaz of Hoon
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840:Depression Before Spring
791:Of the Surface of Things
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714:O Florida, Venereal Soil
651:Metaphors of a Magnifico
514:. 2000: Macmillan Press.
478:Thirteen Ways of Looking
436:performed by Lara Downes
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250:different perspectives.
637:Le Monocle de Mon Oncle
581:Invective Against Swans
407:, for Flute and Bassoon
16:Poem by Wallace Stevens
1050:The Death of a Soldier
945:Cortège for Rosenbloom
630:The Load Of Sugar-Cane
476:McCann, Colum (2015).
257:and a 2015 novella by
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924:Palace of the Babies
910:Bantam in Pine-Woods
363:Knopf, 1957, xxxviii
349:The Necessary Angel,
328:The Necessary Angel,
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917:Anecdote of the Jar
889:Stars at Tallapoosa
819:The Weeping Burgher
658:Ploughing on Sunday
609:Domination of Black
679:Fabliau of Florida
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188:Cultural influence
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266:R.S.Thomas
240:Blackbirds
202:Lukas Foss
88:improve it
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557:Harmonium
309:, p. 162.
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92:verifying
30:Harmonium
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987:Gubbinal
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60:Analysis
144:Cubists
136:imagism
86:Please
1001:Theory
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40:haiku
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