Without further ado, here is the genius of my husband, Wallace Stevens, and spring:
Not Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself
by Wallace Stevens
At the earliest ending of winter,
In March, a scrawny cry from outside
Seemed like a sound in his mind.
He knew that he heard it,
A bird’s cry, at daylight or before,
In the early March wind.
(Read the whole thing here, at The Poetry Foundation.)
~~~~~
The wonderful Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has the round up today at The Poem Farm.
11 comments:
WS was an unlikeable guy, but I loved Paul Mariani's biography of him.
https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Harmonium-Life-Wallace-Stevens/dp/1451624387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490965038&sr=8-1&keywords=mariani+stevens
This is a great share, Karen. To focus on the "thing" rather than the ideas can be hard sometimes, but the work is profoundly necessary.
Thank you for this one! I love the title and am going to think about it some more. Happy Happy Poetry Friday! xx
I haven't heard this one before, Karen! Thank you for posting it. It definitely bear some thinking about.
This poem by Stevens is new to me, too, but I'm glad your husband suggested it, Karen, and you posted it! =)
Atticus is a wise man! Stevens' poem reminds me of Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" ("This is not a pipe").
Thank you for sharing this poem, Karen. I was struck by its title and immediately applied to the here and now for me. I'm doing some PD tomorrow and the teachers explicitly said they don't want to talk about the research or rationale or even the content. They want me to show them what the instruction looks like, feels like, in the classroom. They want how to think about the instruction to plan their routines and lessons. They don't want the "Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself."
So happy to hear this is either new or timely for you all!
Mike, that's on my tbr list. Looking forward to it.
Such wise advice...and so hard to do sometimes!
Very thoughtful, as Stevens' poems are, Karen - thanks for sharing. He always paid close attention to what poetry was and how it affected readers, and this provides a lot to consider! Thanks for reminding me about him; I recall reading once that he had to take a break from writing for several years while helping raise his daughter, which is good for someone like me (who has less and less time to write) to keep in mind!
That chorister might have been me...heh...
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