"Of Mere Being" by Wallace Stevens

I'm continually surprised by how true your statement about these weekly blogs has been, Mrs. White. If I don't understand a poem at first and start over-analyzing it, I come back to it in a successive week, and suddenly it reveals some certain meaning to me.

This poem was definitely one of those. I read it last week but didn't see any symbolism within, so I put it off for a week. I am so glad I did.

The basic stanza organization in this poem is four unrhyming tercets with no constant meter. Each tercet reveals a unique aspect to the poem, illustrating a different facet of Stevens' theme.

The first tercet describes a palm tree while the second, a "gold-feathered" and fiery bird. Originally, I had trouble deciphering these symbols until I thought, "What is my first connection when I think of each of these objects?" Then I understood. I think of tropical islands, paradise, when I think of palms, and the bird instantly brought to mind a phoenix, a symbol for rebirth. Therefore, the two first stanzas act to set up a physical representation of heaven, paradise at "the end of the mind, beyond the last thought," and the afterlife, the bird in the tree.

The third stanza then defines the poem's theme. Stevens suggests that the quest for heaven and the afterlife is not really a deciding factor in the happiness of our lives. The concepts are foreign to us, "without human feeling," and as such are incapable of being understood, "without human meaning." I don't think Stevens means this as much a knock on religion as an instruction for people to appreciate the life they have on earth.

Any meaning derived from the fourth stanza, I believe, is personal interpretation. I see the tercet as placing the palm and bird in an idyllic pose, that they are waiting for their time to be experienced.

"Praise in Summer" by Richard Wilbur

I know I've read this some time before; I can't place when, though.

I love this poem. What more can I say? To analyze it takes away from its simple beauty.

The soaring ground beneath our feet. The beauty in the everyday. That stagnates in the view of some. But truly remains ever as beautiful.

Is life not capable of awing us? Must we contrive meaning, purpose to content ourselves?

Can't I watch the sun rise


and have that be enough?

"Heritage" by James Still

The description in the first stanza of the poem is rather unorthodox. Still describes the land in a distinctly action-oriented style, using verbs such as "drown" and "burns" to add a sense of life to the land. I find this interesting because from its description, the land does not seem enticing or enjoyable at all. Without the sense of life in his phrases, it would seem dead and desolate. With it, the land seems more sad, lonely, and forgotten. That living character allows me to connect with the land the way the author obviously does.

The second stanza further works to elaborate on the life of this homeland by shifting focus to its inhabitants. The animals and people occupy this land with perhaps less drear and sadness than the land itself until the line "And one with death rising to bloom again, I cannot go." At this point, the author's somewhat melancholy theme solidifies itself—people hold a deep connection, an attachment, to their homelands that never leaves their spirits. The line concerning death means, to me, that even as the animals and people the author has known die and disappear from his homeland, that it is still his home. It is a vital part of his being and can never leave him.

"The Day Millicent Found the World" by William Stafford

The mood of this poem evokes in me a strong attachment to the lines. The words are soft and tranquil—"leisurely," "embrace," "tapering faintly"—and develop an enveloping air of peace and contentedness. The journey of the poem is not frightening or exciting, but calming. I experience life in this way (rather, I've chosen to), where life is a slowly unfolding revelation of beauty. The poem reaches that part of me.

The poem's message is a clear suggestion to the reader to experience the untested tides of their lives instead of remaining in the shallows. The poem states that these journeys profoundly affect our persons, providing wellsprings of new experiences. The excursion need not be permanent either, which Stafford demonstrates by the guiding call of Aunt Dolbee in the final stanza.

This is a poem that exists in the beauty of its reading, developing a mood to be absorbed as well as a snippet of life advice.