1. Wallace Stevens (1879~1955) “Poetry is the supreme fiction.” Instructor: Prof. Cecilia Liu Presented by Tom and Christina May 1, 2006

2. Outline I.About Wallace Stevens II.Stevens’ philosophical thoughts and writing style II. Denotations & connotations of “The Emperor of Ice- Cream” III. Denotations & connotations of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” IV. References

3. About Wallace Stevens (1879~1955) 1.The devotion to the making of money and poetry as a businessman, a lawyer, and a poet: money→sensuous experience→the basic element of his poetry 2. Stay-at-home type: not through traveling but through art, literature, and philosophy to acquire the essence of the European culture 3. Influenced by French symbolist poets: the philosophical thoughts are instilled in his poetry

4. Family Album

5. Stevens’ Philosophical Thoughts and Writing Style 1.Main topic: the relationship between reality and poetry, nature and imagination 2.2 kinds of reality: a. The objective reality: the perceptions by the five senses b. The subjective reality: mental world dominated by imagination (to arrange the chaotic information from the sensual perception)

6. 3. Hedonism: the significance on the enjoyment of sensual emotions 4. Poetry of statement: an act of faith in the sense of “nothingness” in reality 5. Simple lines: an emphasis on vocabulary and imagery rather than prosody 6. The faith in poetry: when no one believes in God, it is necessary to believe in something else, such as poetry, a thing created by imagination

7. The Emperor of Ice-Cream Call the roller of big cigars, The muscular one, and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. -------------------------------------------------------- concupiscent: a strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust. curds: a coagulated liquid

8. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress As they are used to wear, and let the boys 5 Bring flowers in last month's newspapers. -------------------------------------------------------- wenches:a young woman or girl, especially a peasant girl; a wanton woman dawdle: to waste time by idling

9. Let be be finale of seem. The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream. -------------------------------------------------------- be: what is finale: the concluding part seem: what appears

10. Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet 10 On which she embroidered fantails once And spread it so as to cover her face. --------------------------------------------- deal:plain, unfinished wood. fantails: any of a breed of domestic pigeons having a rounded, fan-shaped tail

11. If her horny feet protrude, they come To show how cold she is, and dumb. Let the lamp affix its beam. 15 The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream. -------------------------------------------------------- horny: tough and calloused; (vulgar slang: sexually aroused) protrude: to push outward affix: secure, append

12. References Biography. Signature. Photos.