Wallace+Stevens



Wallace Stevens Background:

Wallace Stevens was a man that kept to himself so he could study and achieve. By doing so he was able to pass down his knowledge to others through his hard work, dedication, and ultimately his poems. “Thought is an infection. In the case of certain thought it becomes an epidemic” (Stevens). Wallace kept to himself and for the most part ignored the literary world, which did not give him much recognition until 1954 when he published his “Collected Poems”. Wallace was not just a poet, but also excelled at being a lawyer. After leaving Harvard, he became a reporter for the New York Tribune. His first collection of verse was “Harmonium”, which is considered as one of the great works of American poetry. “The Emperor of the Ice Cream”, “Le Monocle de Mon Oncle”, “The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad”, and “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” were just some of the poems in “Harmonium”. Wallace took a break from poetry and focused most of his time as a specialist in Investment banking of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. Later in the 1940’s he entered a period of creativity and wrote phenomenal works until his death. Wallace has influenced many people without even trying, simply because he was able to create magnificent pieces while pursuing another career. Wallace inspired others to grow and strive to be better poets than they ever could have thought.

Wallace Stevens could never get enough knowledge or become bored of learning. “It can never be satisfied, the mind, never” (Stevens). Wallace could never be satisfied with enough knowledge, which made him a great poet. At the age of fourteen he enrolled in Harvard University. In this period of his life, he wrote for three magazines, which were Harvand Advocate, Trend, and Harriet Monroe’s magazine Poetry. He wanted to gain as much knowledge as he possible could. He even pursued two full careers, which most people could only do one or the other while still excelling. He enjoyed the low-key life, having high respect from his colleagues was sufficient for him. Stevens did not care for the publicity or fame, but instead the work at hand, which to him was learning. His obsession with studying and achieving made him a very successful and content man.

Wallace Stevens improved as he aged until his death. “Our bloom is gone. We are the fruit thereof” (Stevens). Wallace was very dedicated and strived to learn as much as possible. He attended Harvard while writing for three magazines and after leaving Harvard become a reporter for the New York Tribune. He looked up to his father and even became a lawyer just like his father. Stevens did not just become a lawyer but excelled in it and passed the bar when he was 24, which is a grand achievement. He worked as an attorney for several firms in between being a reporter for New York Tribune and starting with American Bonding Company. He worked with this company for many years, while writing creative poems. Wallace was recognized towards the end of his years and wrote some of his best poetry in this period of time. His poetry was complex and creative, which influenced and inspired others to write poetry.

Stevens was not recognized for his talent in writing poetry until very late in his career. “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself” (Stevens). He was highly respected among his colleagues before he was famous because of the kind of person he was. Towards the end of his career, early 1940’s, he started to explode with creative poetry that many admired. Between this time and his death he became a very famous and loved poet. He gained many awards and honors such as being elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1946, the Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1950, and both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1955. He published many poems in this period of time and an example is his publication of Collected Poems in 1954. He affected many people and poets with his creative poems. Many are inspired and influenced by Wallace Stevens and his eloquent poems.

Stevens' poems