Depression Before Spring
Encyclopedia
Depression Before Spring is a poem from Wallace Stevens
's first book of poetry, Harmonium
(1923). It was first published in 1918 and is therefore in the public domain.
Buttel remarks, "One would not expect such lyrical delicacy from the Imagist use of the spittle of cows." Its finding beauty in seemingly ordinary or earthy physical details puts him in mind of Whitman's
"Song of Myself" and the line from its thirty-first canto, "And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue,". Stevens's concern about the sound of the poem is evident here, as in The Comedian as the Letter C
, where, among other things, he was exploring the different effects of the letter "c" in English. Here he invokes nonsense lines, suggesting the call-and-response
of mating birds, to achieve the desired effect.
One reason why Stevens might flout Victorian poetic conventions about treatment of spring is suggested by Bates, one of whose themes is the importance of appreciating Stevens the American burgher. He relates an anecdote about Stevens writing to William Carlos Williams
, quoting Stevens about the pleasures of a season in Nashville, where he was then staying.
See also Indian River for another downbeat take on spring mixed with strikingly beautiful images.
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 (poetry collection)
Harmonium is a book of poetry by U.S. poet Wallace Stevens. His first book, it was published in 1923 by Knopf in an edition of 1500 copies. He was in middle age at that time, forty-four years old. The collection comprises 85 poems, ranging in length from just a few lines to several hundred...
(1923). It was first published in 1918 and is therefore in the public domain.
| Depression Before Spring
|
Buttel remarks, "One would not expect such lyrical delicacy from the Imagist use of the spittle of cows." Its finding beauty in seemingly ordinary or earthy physical details puts him in mind of Whitman's
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
"Song of Myself" and the line from its thirty-first canto, "And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue,". Stevens's concern about the sound of the poem is evident here, as in The Comedian as the Letter C
The Comedian as the Letter C
"The Comedian as the letter C" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's firstbook of poetry, Harmonium . It was one of the few poems firstpublished in that collection and the last written for it...
, where, among other things, he was exploring the different effects of the letter "c" in English. Here he invokes nonsense lines, suggesting the call-and-response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
of mating birds, to achieve the desired effect.
One reason why Stevens might flout Victorian poetic conventions about treatment of spring is suggested by Bates, one of whose themes is the importance of appreciating Stevens the American burgher. He relates an anecdote about Stevens writing to William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
, quoting Stevens about the pleasures of a season in Nashville, where he was then staying.
I spare you the whole-souled burblings in the park, the leaves, lilacs, tulips, and so on. Such things are unmanly and non-Prussian and, of course, a fellow must pooh-pooh something, even if it happens to be something he rather fancies, you know.
See also Indian River for another downbeat take on spring mixed with strikingly beautiful images.