The Contemplated Spouse: The Letters Of Wallace Stevens To Elsie

by J. Donald Blount (editor), University of South Carolina Press (Manufactured by)

The Contemplated Spouse gathers in a single volume the 272 extant letters written by Wallace Stevens to the woman with whom he shared his life, Elsie Viola Kachel. Written over the span of twenty-five years, the correspondence reflects Elsie's evolving relationship with Stevens, initially as his dear friend, then as his fiancee, and later as his wife. Taken collectively, these personal letters from one of America's most important poets reveal aspects of Stevens's personality that his poetry discloses more obliquely. Most significant, they demonstrate Stevens's devotion to his wife through years of an uneven and often distant partnership.

430 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Allison Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meaningful and fresh insight into the honing of an artist, as a man, a husband, a father, and a poet.

[Kate]

"I wish I could give all my time to the thing, instead of a few hours each evening when I am often physically and mentally dull. It takes me so long to get the day out of my mind and to focus myself on what I am eager to do. It takes a great deal of thought to come to the points that concern me." (340)

Great insight into the mind of a idiosyncratic poet (idiosyncratic for several reasons, the one that most interests me being the fact that he had a demanding full-time job). Wanted to know how his relationship with his wife sustained him (or didn't). Probably should've read a biography first. Without her responses to his letters (she burned them), Elsie comes off as a rather inscrutable presence. But the narrative helpfully supplies that Stevens first idealized her, then gradually drifted towards other influences (at which point his letters taper off into--kind of fascinating--banalities about movers and the purchase of a grand piano). Lots of detail about New York City as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Hard to imagine so much nature! Also being able to walk from Van Cortlandt Park to Connecticut...