Etienne ’s Reviews > Modernist Women Poets: An Anthology > Status Update

Settling into some Gertrude Stein, excerpts from “Tender Buttons”, poems dealing with objects. I admit I was lost at first, but after reading an essay about Stein’s influences and style, I’m kind of liking them now. Highly experimental, daring. Kinda cool.

Sounds great! Are the objects symbolic of something in particular? Do you have a favorite? 😊

I don’t believe they are symbolic. Not are they being described in any literal sense. The lines seem to be stream of consciousness thoughts, reactions, and feelings evoked by the object that are personal to Miss Stein. It seems virtually impossible to make sense of the words taken line by line. It’s more like a mosaic of thoughts and feelings that produce a whole “image”. You just have to take them all in see if it evokes what she’s going for, I guess. I know that sounds weird! Désolée 😂

For example in the poem “A Plate”
there is the sentence;
“ If the party is small, a clever song is in order”
Perhaps she was thinking about a dinner party in which she would be using the plates?

Ah, that makes sense, merci, mon ami! That's a creative way for Stein to describe her world, piecing together a mosaic! 💕 Some people have a similar approach to writing haiku, but without the stream-of-consciousness (due to the format) -- directly evoking the image, and using suggestion/tone -- opens up for the poem to be very meditative, even if the poems aren't specifically symbolic. Though I imagine Stein's style is very different -- it sounds like a fascinating read! 🥰

Yes, I get your haiku comparison , how the haiku could produce images, give the reader something to contemplate. The style is very rigid, traditional, if I understand it correctly, whereas Stein’s style seems to break with the traditional in so many ways. I don’t know if I’ll end up really liking it , but I admire the fearlessness she had in publishing .

You're pretty fearless in giving a go, Etienne! It sounds impressive, even if it's not to your personal taste. 😊