Ploughing on Sunday
Encyclopedia
Ploughing on Sunday is a poem from Wallace Stevens
's first book of poetry, Harmonium
(1923). It was first published in 1919 and is therefore in the public domain.
Interpretations of this poem have been both strictly metaphorical and philosophical. At one extreme is the
suggestion http://knitandcontemplation.typepad.com/dao_wallace_stevens/2004/10/index.html
that the poem is about sexual intercourse. The Oxford English
Dictionary recognizes a sense in which "to plough" means
"7. trans. Now slang. Usually of a man: to have sexual intercourse
with (a person, esp. a woman)". Its most recent citation for this use
is "P. CAREY Jack Maggs (1998) xlvi. 167 Edward Constable had
been..reamed, rogered, ploughed by Henry Phipps so [that] he could
barely walk straight to the table."
A different interpretation by Helen Vendler suggests that Stevens writes about the experience of being a poet, "There, while his docile neighbors troop off to church, the poet, violating the Sabbath,
blasphemously harnesses his team to plough and takes to the fields,
full of indiscriminate joy in the sun and wind alike..."
At a more philosophically driven extreme is the thought that the poem is
about artists in North America imaginatively cultivating the reality of the New World with
exuberant disregard for old European strictures. (Compare
"The Paltry Nude Starts on
a Spring Voyage
", which Vendler interprets as
being about "new American art".) The latter readings acknowledge the symbolism of the sun as representing reality, the moon imagination.
Stevens described the poem as a "fanfaronnade" and
was accustomed to listening to
Dvořák
, This is consistent with reading
"Ploughing on Sunday" as a poetic fanfaronnade, a parallel
to Dvořák's Symphony Number 9
("From the New World
"). This
fits well with the more philosophically-driven reading, which also easily makes sense of
the references to North America and Remus
(as an allusion to the founding
of Rome), whereas the other readings struggle on these
points. Environmentalists might agree that North America has been
"rogered" by immigration and industrial development, but it's unlikely
Stevens had that in mind. And if the poem were simply about the poet's
joyfully exulting in his powers, why does North America (and a North
American gamebird
) provide the context for that, rather than any other
geographical setting, such as Hartford, Connecticut
or the Western Hemisphere
?
The Stevenses observed the old custom of refraining from physical labor on Sundays, not even cooking. This will be disturbing for those who analyze poetry by reference to biography; it would pose a problem for Vendler's interpretation.
Buttel detects the influence of Walt Whitman in the poem's expansive wit, exaggeration, and its slap at the blue laws. He also sees in the poem Stevens's awareness of rural and frontier America, and, "in Remus, to the Negroes and other reminders of the native folk tradition."
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 1919 and is therefore in the public domain.
| Ploughing on Sunday
|
Interpretations of this poem have been both strictly metaphorical and philosophical. At one extreme is the
suggestion http://knitandcontemplation.typepad.com/dao_wallace_stevens/2004/10/index.html
that the poem is about sexual intercourse. The Oxford English
Dictionary recognizes a sense in which "to plough" means
"7. trans. Now slang. Usually of a man: to have sexual intercourse
with (a person, esp. a woman)". Its most recent citation for this use
is "P. CAREY Jack Maggs (1998) xlvi. 167 Edward Constable had
been..reamed, rogered, ploughed by Henry Phipps so [that] he could
barely walk straight to the table."
A different interpretation by Helen Vendler suggests that Stevens writes about the experience of being a poet, "There, while his docile neighbors troop off to church, the poet, violating the Sabbath,
blasphemously harnesses his team to plough and takes to the fields,
full of indiscriminate joy in the sun and wind alike..."
At a more philosophically driven extreme is the thought that the poem is
about artists in North America imaginatively cultivating the reality of the New World with
exuberant disregard for old European strictures. (Compare
"The Paltry Nude Starts on
a Spring Voyage
The Paltry Nude Starts on a Spring Voyage
"The Paltry Nude Starts on a Spring Voyage" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium. It was first published in the 1919, so it is in the public domain...
", which Vendler interprets as
being about "new American art".) The latter readings acknowledge the symbolism of the sun as representing reality, the moon imagination.
Stevens described the poem as a "fanfaronnade" and
was accustomed to listening to
Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, This is consistent with reading
"Ploughing on Sunday" as a poetic fanfaronnade, a parallel
to Dvořák's Symphony Number 9
("From the New World
Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...
"). This
fits well with the more philosophically-driven reading, which also easily makes sense of
the references to North America and Remus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
(as an allusion to the founding
of Rome), whereas the other readings struggle on these
points. Environmentalists might agree that North America has been
"rogered" by immigration and industrial development, but it's unlikely
Stevens had that in mind. And if the poem were simply about the poet's
joyfully exulting in his powers, why does North America (and a North
American gamebird
Turkey (bird)
A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...
) provide the context for that, rather than any other
geographical setting, such as Hartford, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
or the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
?
The Stevenses observed the old custom of refraining from physical labor on Sundays, not even cooking. This will be disturbing for those who analyze poetry by reference to biography; it would pose a problem for Vendler's interpretation.
Buttel detects the influence of Walt Whitman in the poem's expansive wit, exaggeration, and its slap at the blue laws. He also sees in the poem Stevens's awareness of rural and frontier America, and, "in Remus, to the Negroes and other reminders of the native folk tradition."