Next

The poetry of Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) showcases a rare collection of literary talents: a wide-ranging vocabulary, a penchant for precise phrasing, and a gift for indelible imagery. Stevens also had a remarkable capacity for abstraction, which enabled him to become a keen thinker of the aesthetics and philosophy of poetry. As a young man, Stevens was an exemplary student of literature, and he pursued an advanced literary education at Harvard University until a lack of funds forced him to withdraw. After a brief career as a journalist, Stevens completed a law degree and entered the field of insurance law. Parallel to his professional practice, Stevens continued his literary pursuits. He published individual poems in literary journals, but it wasn’t until 1923 that his debut volume appeared. The critical response to Harmonium was less than enthusiastic, with critics charging Stevens with unnecessary abstraction and obscurity. Such complaints led Stevens to write poetry that explicated his own poetics. This work culminated in the 1942 publication of the long poem, Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction. Though the challenges posed by Stevens’s poetry have not diminished, today’s critics hail his work as among the most important and influential of the twentieth century.

Next section Historical & Literary Context

Take a Study Break