1. THE EMPEROR OF ICE-CREAM

2. WALLACE STEVENS  Stevens poems revolves on meditative and philosophical ideas  Explains the true essence of life using imagery  His literary writing studies were based on Modernism

3.  Stevens was born in 1879 in Reading, Pennslyvania  He died in 1955, in Hartford, Connecticut  He became interested in verse-writing at Harvard, submitting material to the Harvard Advocate, but he was 36 before his first work was published in 1915  “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” was published in 1923  He wrote his original poem “Harmonium” which is about a father and a son who have a bad relationship, and the poem links the harmonium to the father’s coffin  His style of writing poetry was an amalgamation of imagism, abstractions, and striking vocabulary

4. Definitions  Embroidered: decorate (cloth) by sewing pattern on it with a thread.  Wench: a young female prostitute  Dawdle: waste time; be slow  Concupiscent: filled with sexual desire; lustful  Curds: a soft white substance formed when milk sours used as the bases of cheese  Horny: resemblence of a horn; feeling sexual excitement  Protrude: extend beyond or above a surface  Affix: stick, attach or fasten to something else  Beam: a ray or shaft of light  Deal: inexpensive wood

5. Interpretation Call the roller of big cigars The muscular one,  “big cigars” here, rolled up in their papers, are meant to suggest the image of shrouded corpses (wrap of dress or body) and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress  The image of a muscular cigar roller whipping concupiscent curds is highly  The sense is that ice cream is sinfully indulgent, orgasmically delicious, etc. suggestive of masturbation, the word “wenches” meant “whores” in Shakespeare’s day

6. As they are used to wear, and let the boys Bring flowers in last month’s newspaper.  This is not a grand event, just an ordinary funeral  The boys are dressed casual and bringing flowers to the woman’s funeral to show a sign of respect Let be be finale of seem The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.  Whatever potential there was for the woman, or the funeral, might “seem” to be is gone  Refrence from “Hamlet” to enjoy the sweet and bitter things in life for they do not last forever Interpretation

7. Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the thress glass knobs,  This poem features two rooms, one lustful and full of motion and of life, the other cold, place of stillness and of death.  This pine dresser is reminiscent of a poor person’s coffin. The missing knobs represent a general state of poverty and disrepair in the house. that sheet On which she embroidered fantails once, And spread it so as to cover her face  Cover her dead body with a sheet she embroidered while she was alive.  The fact that the woman did her own embroidery indicates her low economic status; people of any means at all did not do their own needlework

8. Interpretation If her horny feet protrude,  The old woman’s feet were being exposed so it was described as disgusting feet they come To show how cold she is, and dumb.  Lets the audience know people arrive at the scene of the woman’s dead body because he identifies it to be “cold” Let the lamp affix its beam. The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.  Means its lighting a blub on our heads like warning us that everything has an end to it and nothing lasts forever, such as orgasms dissapear, beauty fades, and the young turn old and everything all dies.

9. Analysis  Elegy: a peom of larnet, meditating on the death of an individual  End Rhyme: rhyme occuring at the ends of verse lines Ex) Let be be finale of seem The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream. Let the lamp affix its beam The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.  Trochaic tetremeter: a trochee is a long syllable, or stressed syllable, followed by a short, or unstressed, one. Ex) Call the roller of big cigars  Tone: the author’s attitude toward his/her audience and subject - Modernism of life and death

10.  Diction: the choice and use of words and phrases Ex) concupiscent curds, meaning masturbation and the after math of it all or the feeling of joy, relief, and happiness  Theme: the author’s major idea or meaning -Enjoy the sweet things while it lasts because life is to short to live on  Imagery: the use of words to represent things, actions, or ideas by sensory description Ex) Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet - missing furniture or represents the three Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) Let the lamp affix its beam. - possible addressing to let god take this poor old woman to heaven

11.  Alliteration: the repetiton of two or more vowel sounds within a line Ex) In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. her horny feet dresser of deal  Enjambement: a run-on, continuing into the next without a grammatical break Ex) Take from the dresser of deal, Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet On which she embroiderd fantails once And spread it so as to cover her face.  Symbolism: the use of one object to suggest another, hidden object or idea -Ice-cream is the sensual feeling of pleasure that pervades life. “Ice” is reflected as death and “Cream” is reflected as life.