Top 100 or so Poems -- POEM OF THE DAY "Anecdote of the Jar" by Wallace Stevens

12/1/2011

An obvious choice as one of the classic (and most analyzed) poems of all time, this Wallace Stevens poem is thought to be one of the most influential pieces with regards to the comparison of the human -- to nature.

Using confusing metaphor and word play and a unique form which creates tension (without resolution), I urge you to read the poem as an attempt to understand the human condition and result -- to the steadfastness of Mother Nature. See what you come up with!

There are a million other analyzations and twists and turns -- all resulting from these 3 apparently simple stanzas.

Wow.

Anecdote of the Jar

By Wallace Stevens

I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.

It took dominion every where.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.

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