Explanation (poem)
"Explanation" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium (1923). It was first published in 1917, so it is in the public domain.[1]
Explanation
Ach, Mutter,
This old, black dress,
I have been embroidering
French flowers on it.
Not by way of romance,
Here is nothing of the ideal,
Nein,
Nein.
It would have been different,
Liebchen,
If I had imagined myself,
In an orange gown,
Drifting through space,
Like a figure on the church-wall.
Interpretation
Robert Buttel has indicated this poem may be an explanation of the difference between conventional decoration and artistic imagination, the latter represented, as Buttel proposes, by an allusion to Chagall and the otherworldly charm (a figure drifting through space) of his paintings.[2]
Notes
- Buttel, p. 162. See also Librivox Archived 2010-10-13 at the Wayback Machine and the Poetry web site."Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Buttel, p. 162
gollark: The transistor switches the inductor between being connected to the voltage source's other end and being connected to it only through the diode and capacitor and resistor and such. The inductor "wants" to keep the current through it constant. When it's connected to the other end of the voltage source, it's "charging", and when it is disconnected there is a voltage across it slightly bigger than the voltage source's voltage, which causes a current through the left side of the circuit.
gollark: I could also use pronouns, but then I would have to mention HTech™ at least once to make it clear.
gollark: This is generally how language works.
gollark: I was talking about HTech™, so I said HTech™.
gollark: No.
References
- Buttel, Robert. Wallace Stevens: The Making of Harmonium. 1967: Princeton University Press.
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