triple shot friday – wallace stevens poetry and pics

Happy Friday Everyone! For triple shot Friday – I have some poems to share – but first – I dedicate this song to a fellow blogger who is going through a rough patch – and so this song is for you amigo:

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And for some reason, the poetry of Wallace Stevens keeps coming up this week – my son had to write about the Anecdote of the Jar, someone I admire said that Of Mere Being was one of their top five poems, and then when I read the Death of a Soldier (more here) it was just obvious of what I had to share – so I also picked 3 pictures form my digital library to go with each one.

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

Do you see these jars of tomato sauce?  Well they are filled with “red gold” from my sister’s husband’s family who live in Niagara Falls, Canada.  They LOVE to share!

~~~#2

Of Mere Being by Wallace Stevens

The palm at the end of the mind, Beyond the last thought, rises In the bronze decor, A gold-feathered bird Sings in the palm, without human meaning, Without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason That makes us happy or unhappy. The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The palm stands on the edge of space. The wind moves slowly in the branches. The bird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

Some palms from Cocoa Beach, FL – Feb. 2014

~~~ #3

The Death of a Soldier by Wallace Stevens

Life contracts and death is expected, As in a season of autumn. The soldier falls. He does not become a three-days personage. Imposing his separation, Calling for pomp. Death is absolute and without memorial, As in a season of autumn, When the wind stops, When the wind stops and, over the heavens, The clouds go, nevertheless, In their direction.

This is an old picture of one of my brothers – – I love you and thanks for your service my friend, thanks!

The solider poem is what led to this post – partly because the words match the feel of the week – with the autumn air blowing in and then Stevens’ human perspective on time – it just got me thinking about the brevity of life (again) and then I was filled with gratefulness to fallen soldiers, to active soldiers now, and to all the Vets that have served!

credit: G’s Pacific Paratrooper’s blog:

Wallace Stevens

photo credit -Russell Boyle

“Though he did not receive widespread recognition until late in his life, Wallace Stevens—whose work is known for its imagination, whimsy, and relation to both the English Romantics and French symbolists—Stevens is now considered one of the major American poets of the century.” Thanks to Russell Boyle for the poems.  Thanks for reading and Have a great Friday!