Life Is Motion
Encyclopedia
"Life is Motion" is a poem from Wallace Stevens
's first book of poetry, Harmonium
. It was first published in 1919, so it is in the public
domain.
This playful poem is notable for its introducing exclamatory sounds,
and for evoking the American frontier and the simple joy of
calico-clad Bonnie and Josie. Stevens returns to Oklahoma, the
venue for the first poem in Harmonium, "Earthy Anecdote
", which
charged a local scene with an aura of mystery. "Life in Motion" by
contrast reduces locale to basics, suggesting in its own way that the
poet must move beyond it as Crispin did in "The Comedian as the Letter
C
", even as this marriage of flesh and air is celebrated.
A symbolist reading would understand the flesh as reality, the air as imagination. The poem celebrates Stevens's task, to engage his imagination with reality.
A philosophically ambitious reading would view it as a poetic expression of a process philosophy like that of Alfred North Whitehead
.
One critic wrote: "Of the modern poets, Wallace Stevens seem to me the most successful creator of artistic experiences which hum with the energy and motion of life." See also "Metaphors of a Magnifico
", where the debt to Cubist
studies of motion is particularly evident.
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...
. It was first published in 1919, so it is in the public
domain.
| Life is Motion
|
This playful poem is notable for its introducing exclamatory sounds,
and for evoking the American frontier and the simple joy of
calico-clad Bonnie and Josie. Stevens returns to Oklahoma, the
venue for the first poem in Harmonium, "Earthy Anecdote
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...
", which
charged a local scene with an aura of mystery. "Life in Motion" by
contrast reduces locale to basics, suggesting in its own way that the
poet must move beyond it as Crispin did 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...
", even as this marriage of flesh and air is celebrated.
A symbolist reading would understand the flesh as reality, the air as imagination. The poem celebrates Stevens's task, to engage his imagination with reality.
A philosophically ambitious reading would view it as a poetic expression of a process philosophy like that of Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead, OM FRS was an English mathematician who became a philosopher. He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, philosophy of science, physics, metaphysics, and education...
.
One critic wrote: "Of the modern poets, Wallace Stevens seem to me the most successful creator of artistic experiences which hum with the energy and motion of life." See also "Metaphors of a Magnifico
Metaphors of a Magnifico
"Metaphors of a Magnifico" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium . It was first published in 1918, so it is in the public domain...
", where the debt to Cubist
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
studies of motion is particularly evident.