"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.
Explanation
Ach, Mutter, Not by way of romance, It would have been different, |
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 of his paintings.
Famous quotes containing the words stevens and/or explanation:
“One sparrow is worth a thousand gulls,
When it sings. The gull sits on chimney-tops.
He mocks the guinea, challenges
The crow, inciting various modes.
The sparrow requites one, without intent.”
—Wallace Stevens (18791955)
“Young children constantly invent new explanations to account for complex processes. And since their inventions change from week to week, furnishing the correct explanation is not quite so important as conveying a willingness to discuss the subject. Become an askable parent.”
—Ruth Formanek (20th century)