March 07, 2005

The Snowman

by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruce rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Posted by Julia at March 7, 2005 07:14 AM
In main
Copyright Julia Trice, 2004-2006.
All rights reserved.

Comments

What a coincidence! Today I taught this:
"Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock"
The houses are haunted
By white night-gowns.
None are green,
Or purple with green rings,
Or green with yellow rings,
Or yellow with blue rings.
None of them are strange,
With socks of lace
And beaded ceintures.
People are not going
To dream of baboons and periwinkles.
Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches tigers
In red weather.


So I guess the next thing on your list should be to make a white night-gown named "Stevens." Of course, my blog is based on a nursery rhyme, a good deal less erudite than a Wallace Stevens poem, but just reading other people's blogs is satisfaction enough. Sometimes a nursery rhyme is all I'm capable of dealing with at the moment. Love your hat!

Posted by: Rachel at March 11, 2005 11:38 AM

Happy Blogiversary! I love the poem and I'd always wondered where your blog name originated.

Posted by: Janet at March 8, 2005 10:36 AM

Happy blogiversary to you!

Personally, I'm feeling sort of uncool to have a blog with no connection to Wallace Stevens.

Four more years! 4 more years!

xoxox Kay

Posted by: Kay at March 7, 2005 08:05 PM

Mary - why yes, it was. Good sleuthing. ;)

Posted by: Julia at March 7, 2005 01:52 PM

I thought the poem was also a clever reference to the hat you made last week.

Posted by: mary at March 7, 2005 01:42 PM

Thanks for a little poetry break. I like the poem even more now that I am stranded in this no-winter state of California. I miss snow!
And thanks for one year, may there be many happy returns of the day, Julia.

Posted by: Emily at March 7, 2005 01:31 PM

Happy blogoversary! I've really enjoyed reading all year long!

Posted by: Christina at March 7, 2005 10:58 AM

Happy blogiversary. As the author of another Wallace Stevens-titled knitting blog, I must say, you have excellent taste.

Posted by: Sydney at March 7, 2005 09:40 AM

happy blogiversary...happy blogiversary...happy blogiversary....yippee!!!!

Posted by: Jen. at March 7, 2005 09:19 AM

Happy blogiversary! I always wondered where the title of your blog originated. I love the poem. It reminds me of being up very early or very late after a snowstorm, when things are quiet and the new snowfall has not yet been disturbed.

Posted by: Susan at March 7, 2005 08:00 AM

Of course, if I could spell "emperor" it would be more effective . . .

Posted by: Wendy at March 7, 2005 07:57 AM

Happy Blog-i-versary! I've always been a huge fan of Wallace Stevens' poetry.

"Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emporer of ice cream."

Posted by: Wendy at March 7, 2005 07:56 AM

For anyone who's wondering, it's my one year blog anniversary. I thought I'd share the name.

Posted by: Julia at March 7, 2005 07:23 AM