Another Weeping Woman
Encyclopedia
"Another Weeping Woman" is a poem in Wallace Stevens
's first book of poetry, Harmonium
.
This poem tells of a woman who is grieving for someone who has died.
The triumvirate of imagination, world, and reality is at work.
Reality then has its special Stevensian meaning as the world's
"being", its vivification and articulation by the
imagination. Grieving's "black blooms" occlude her imagination,
leaving her in a similar state to the deceased "for whom no phantasy
moves". Thus is she poisoned. The poem may be compared to
"The Snow Man
" and "The Emperor of Ice Cream
".
The poem can be read as an expression of romantic
idealism
, but among those who concern themselves with the philosophical implications of Stevens's poetry, Simon Critchley resists this interpretation.
Wallace Stevens
Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...
's first book of poetry, Harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
.
| Another Weeping Woman
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This poem tells of a woman who is grieving for someone who has died.
The triumvirate of imagination, world, and reality is at work.
Reality then has its special Stevensian meaning as the world's
"being", its vivification and articulation by the
imagination. Grieving's "black blooms" occlude her imagination,
leaving her in a similar state to the deceased "for whom no phantasy
moves". Thus is she poisoned. The poem may be compared to
"The Snow Man
The Snow Man
"The Snow Man" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium. "The Snow Man" was first published in 1921 in the journal Poetry, volume 19, October 1921 and is in the public domain.-Overview:...
" and "The Emperor of Ice Cream
The Emperor of Ice Cream
"The Emperor of Ice-Cream" is a celebrated poem from Wallace Stevens' first collection of poetry, Harmonium. It was first published in 1922, so it is in the public domain...
".
The poem can be read as an expression of romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
, but among those who concern themselves with the philosophical implications of Stevens's poetry, Simon Critchley resists this interpretation.