Wallace Stevens

by Frank Kermode

This study, first published in 1960, aims to show how to read Stevens. There have since been many critical accounts of Stevens, which are listed in the bibliography. Kermode also wrote an introduction for this new edition of his essay in which he recalls how insecure Stevens' reputation was in the 1950s. Frank Kermode edited the "Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot" and he is the author of "History and Value". He is a regular contributor to "Partisan Review", "New Statesman" and "The London Review of Books", as well as co-editor of "Encounter" magazine.

Genres: Poetry

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1979

About the author

Sir John Frank Kermode was a highly regarded British literary critic best known for his seminal critical work The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction, published in 1967 (revised 2003).

Reviews

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wallace Stevens' poetry is intriguing and often very beautiful, but also mysterious and beyond me, to an extent. I often don't "understand" it, if that's even the point, but I enjoy it in the same way that I enjoy Stockhausen's music, even though both artists' creations baffle me at times.

Frank Kermode's study of Stevens' work is also somewhat beyond me - which is not to say that I didn't get a lot out of it. It's a complex book about complex poetry, but certain themes emerge. Kermode makes it clear that despite changes of style and emphasis over the years, Stevens' writing is all of a piece; that "one poem proves another and the whole," as Stevens himself said. His sometimes baffling work revolves around the interaction of imagination and reality; it displays, as Louis Martz said, "attentive thinking about concrete things with the aim of developing an affectionate understanding of how good it is to be alive."

Reading Kermode's book at least brought me closer to grasping Stevens' poetry. And it gave me a sense of equanimity and acceptance over the fact that I will probably never understand much of it because, again, perhaps that's not the point.

[Mattia Ravasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Frank Kermode tells you "these two lines (in Sunday Morning) are among the most beautiful Stevens wrote, and I have no idea what they mean," well, that's kinda reassuring, at least you're not alone.

An excellent, effective and reassuringly short guide into the world of Wallace Stevens, definitely a poet you'll need some assistance with. Not the easiest of poetry guides, sure, but with someone as complex as Stevens the guides too are bound to get tricky every now and then (/most of the time).

[Dave H · Rating 4 out of 5]

IT MUST GIVE PLEASURE

Kermode nicely rushes through the opaque mundo of Stevens

...an affectionate understanding of how good it is to be alive...