Poet study

The Ordinary Woman

By Wallace Stevens

 

Then from their poverty they rose,

From dry catarrhs, and to guitars

They flitted

Through the palace walls.

 

They flung monotony behind,

Turned from their want, and, nonchalant,

They crowded

The nocturnal halls.

 

The lacquered loges huddled there

Mumbled zay-zay and a-zay, a-zay.

The moonlight

Fubbed the girandoles.

 

And the cold dresses that they wore,

In the vapid haze of the window-bays,

Were tranquil

As they leaned and looked

 

From the window-sills at the alphabets,

At beta b and gamma g,

To study

The canting curlicues

 

Of heaven and of the heavenly script.

And there they read of marriage-bed.

Ti-lill-o!

And they read right long.

 

The gaunt guitarists on the strings

Rumbled a-day and a-day, a-day.

The moonlight

Rose on the beachy floors.

 

How explicit the coiffures became,

The diamond point, the sapphire point,

 

The sequins

Of the civil fans!

 

Insinuations of desire,

Puissant speech, alike in each,

Cried quittance

To the wickless halls.

 

Then from their poverty they rose,

From dry guitars, and to catarrhs

They flitted

Through the palace walls.

 

Introduction

The poems I selected to analyze and compare are written by Wallace Stevens. The secondary poems I selected to compare are “Infant Marina” and “Last looks at the Lilacs” . The poem I decided to be my main focus was “The Ordinary woman”.  I chose this poem to be my focus because I found it interesting how a male author was writing about a woman’s life. I am also really interested in poems regarding a woman’s life written by a female poet because I can personally relate to that the best. The entire topic of women standing up for themselves is inspiring to me. I have honestly never heard of this poet before but the more I researched and got to know about him the more interesting he became to me. Steven is a really important poet and I can understand how he became one of America’s most respected poets. I think he has a nice way of writing the poems in a flow although the topics are not alway positive. He addressed a lot of different topics through all of his poems, although he has his main focus was on different interactions with women.

 

AP style analysis

In the poem The Ordinary Woman, Stevens is exploring the feeling of change through the role of a woman.  Just by looking at the title – The Ordinary Woman – the poem seems to be about the life of a normal woman; someone who most of us can relate to. It is nothing special or dramatic, but more a casual everyday topic. However, the poem is really about how the role of an ordinary women is changing – of what an ordinary women used to represent and what it represents now.  It is about how women are getting seen more and getting more important, going from being traditional, uneducated housewives who are tied to their marriage beds to getting to educate themselves and learn to read. The speaker of the poem is the poet describing what he is seeing and analyzing that. This poem uses very sophisticated diction that suggest to the reader that these women are making a breakaway from their past lives.  It is a harsh kind of passive-aggressive tone. He is stating a lot of facts about change in a descriptive but still harsh way. The speaker is not picking sides but also does not seems to be extremely happy about the facts he is stating.

The diction that is used allows the reader to believe that these women are not happy with their current life and previous experiences are finally making an effort to change it.In the quote “They flung monotony behind” the word “flung”, this word represents how they have more effort into changing something, the poet could have chosen other words for this situation but they would not have had the same effect. This is showing that they are making an effort to change unvaried life. This is shown by the word “monotony” that stands for a lack of variety. The poets usage of the words “from” and “to” and “flung…behind” show the transfer from past to present. Stevens uses the words “from poverty they rose” twice once at the beginning and at the end to symbolize the rise of the woman. When the author is saying the women “flung monotony behind” he is symbolizing the abandonment of past traditions and routines which is a big step for women who stuck to their roles for so many times. In the quote “Then from their poverty they rose” the word  “rose” it is really a powerful word that describes how the women are standing up for themselves and building their new role. Before “rose” the author used in the same line the word “poverty” to symbolize the happiness and unfair circumstance women lived in. The usage of the words “learned and looked” are an important word choice in the quote “As they leaned and looked” because is a symbolization for the fast progress the women make because they are dedicated to what they want to do and want to learn.  The author uses “study” and “read right long” to symbolize the new routine they are having that does not just include cooking and cleaning like the old standards but education in their life like reading and writing. With the words “cold dresses” he is representing that the women were not happy in their old routines. Through the world cold he is representing the bigger idea of not having a voice and being unemotional. He is using this to show that women now have the right for an opinion. It is a harsh kind of passive-aggressive tone. He is stating a lot of facts about change in a descriptive but still harsh way. The speaker is not picking sides but also does not seems to be extremely happy about the facts he is stating. He is using the technique of repetition by repeating the first verse at the beginning and the end. It is the opening and beginning and is summarizing the statement that the author is giving. It is talking about the change of the women and by repeating that verse he is making it pop out. The title is connecting to the poem in what the role of an ordinary women is changing and has changed. It is connecting to the term “ordinary” in a way that that is how it is supposed to be and is set but the poem itself is talking about change. The title does not represent what happens in the poem it is connected to it but is more beeing a opposite of the actual message of the poem. The greater message is that change can be good. There is a lot changing and during the times this poem was written the different “typical” roles changed. The women changing seem to be more happy in there new “ordinary” roles. I think this poem was really prescient for its time and is showing that there is no negative consequence for women to educate themselves and live  more purposeful lives.

 

Biography

Wallace Stevens was born on October 2, 1879 in Reading, Pennsylvania. He is one of the most respected poets in America. Stevens was not just a poet he was also a philosopher of aesthetics. This name was given to him because he explored the notion of poetry by using his imagination and creativity. He was considered a willfully difficult poet, because of his extreme thematic and complicated work. Stevens went to parochial schools because his family belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. He got supported by his parents in getting a good education and learning to read and write. He went to a public school and was known there already for over average grades and dedication on his works. He completed studies and reading and Harvard saw his talent and he got in. His father had a big impact on Stevens from the early age and that is why he dedicated himself to literature. After Harvard he was working at the New York Herald Times in New York. He wanted to move to Paris to improve and expand his writing but he got so stuck to New York that he stayed and started studying law. He worked at the U.S. Bar until 19165. Although he was a great lawyer he loved his writing and send under a pseudonym a few of his work to Henry Monroe for a competition in Poetry Magazine . In 1916 he moved to Connecticut and went from the law picture more into the writing picture. There he started writing Harmonium, Steven’s first collection of poems that got published in 1923. In 1933 he published his second collection of poems it was called Ideas of Order. He mostly became successful with his work one year before his death. Wallace Stevens died in Hartford, Connecticut on August 2, 1955 at the age of seventy-six.

 

Connection

Wallace Steve is happening in an imaginary fantasy word because it is not realistic. His poetry explores the fusion of the creative imagination and objective reality. He uses for example a seaside princess that is showing something that. He is writing a lot of his poems about women, but in different aspects of it. For example that in the first poem he is talking about women changing and in the second one about the way they interact with men. The first poem I am comparing is Infant Marina another poem he wrote. In this poem, he describes the women as really gracious and impressive. It is really a short poem about him encountering a seaside princess. Sevens is really talking from the perspective of the women as if he would be one of them by saying it from their point of view, for example “of her thought”. Next to The Ordinary Women, the Infant Marina  is structured different because the lines and length are different. My main poem is a long 4 line poem while Infant Marina is a poem that switches from 4 lines to 2 lines and is way shorter. It is a typical work of the poet, because it has his typical theme and length of Inlines.The poem is more like a short story it is really flowy but it does not rhyme. It is really clear that is takes place in the sea and that it is about meeting a women. It uses a lot of description of the picture by using descriptions like “terrace was the sand” that describes a beautiful picture. The entire poem is really soft and nice and gives calming emotions. Stevens rarely uses punctuation in this poem which makes it even shorter. It reminds me of these little good night stories that get told before bed to comfortably sleep in. The feeling of a goodnight story makes you remember old memories which might have been what the poet was trying to do but to me, I felt like I was back in second grade in a little picture book on the beach. Being on the beach is usually associated with fun or romance, I think that the poet was trying to use a very cliche setting to show that he really loved this setting and this situation. He really wanted to show you in every way possible that this was meaningful to him and the setting was just one way.

Another of his works Last looks at the Lilacs. It is also one of his typical works

All of these poems are from Stevens first book of poetry, Harmonium. The structure is a bit different because you can see that the poet is using 5 lines and not 4 lines like the majority of his poems. He also uses open questions in the poem that gives the feeling of confusion he seems to have. This poem seems to show a different side of the poet. Next to always knowing everything about the women he seems to be confused and not really sure how to approach and deal with this kind of woman. The poem Last looks at the Lilacs is both an insurance and a warning. Connecting to the other poems Stevens doesn’t seem to know what the woman thinks in this poem. While he was so confident about the emotion of women is the other poems he seems to be more uncertain about his women here. He is also bringing in another person is this poem and it is not just about him and the women. There is another character introduced named Don John who is involved with the women. This character “who will embrace her before summer comes” seems to be a concurrence of the poet. This also has an open ending ending on this quote letting the reader imagine what will happen.  I think a big difference is that the other poems are more ordinary and this one seems to be more mysterious and interesting because it is not an easy love story. The poet seems to be interested in a women that he cannot get as easily as the other women and there also seems to be concurrence. I think he even gives up at the end for chasing the women because it ends on the inference that he is embracing her. Embracing is a strong word used only in tight relationships that is close to showing off meaning that it is exclusive. This is still really cliche about the poet giving up because of competition and this connects it to the other poems although the other poems have a happy ending.

Poems

Rose

 

I live in the desert

I live in the sand

Surrounded by sun

As dry as the land

 

I planted a seed

For something to grow

To give me hope

In this dark hole

 

With all that I have

I work on it every day

That in the future

A rose can grow

 

And with all it’s beauty

It will give me light

At the end of the tunnel

It will shine bright

 

Hope will rise

And set me free

In my dessert cage

The prison I call life

 

I should give up

It will never grow

It is too hot and sandy

For something to grow

 

But  don’t give up

I fight every day

For a miracle to happen

That will set me free

 

So I sit at the place

Where the rose should grow

Aging in years

But growing of hope

 

Years have passed

And I still sit here

Not willing to give up

So close to the goal

 

But slowly I fade away

My time is running out

I can see the sunset

The last light of the horizon

 

I am losing myself

So close to the goal

This is not me

But I can’t let go

 

This is the end

I am taking my last breath

With the rose in my hand

I die in my cage

The puppet show

 

So here we are

again

the same circle

everyday.

 

The show

it keeps going on

all my life

puppetshow.

 

I am the princess

and you my prince

the script says we should

love.

 

It should be:

deep affection.

Even throughout fights

unbreakable

 

But is this reality ?

No.

 

and then it goes over

and over

 

Honeymoon

Fight

Solution

 

You just should be my lover

the show is not entertaining anymore.

The show is getting shorter.

You break my heart

inside

 

I made my decision.

I am done.

I cut the ropes.

I let go of the chains.

I let myself go.

I am not a puppet anymore.

 

I am finally free.

 

The girl

 

They did not call me by my name

They called me by the girl

I was not a teammate

I was only the girl

 

They did not help me up

They let me fall

I was not coached

I was by myself

 

I still try

I still fight

To learn from my mistakes

To get experienced

To grow stronger

I felt like I had no chance

I felt weak

 

They did not sit with me at lunch

They never waited for me

I was feeling beaten up

I was alone

 

I wonder if I disappeared

Would they even see

That I was gone

 

I seem to not exist

I am worth nothing

Why do I even try

 

Who I am

 

Look at me when I talk to you

Stop looking through me

Like you know me

Like you care about me

 

You say you like me

You say you care

You lie to my face

You want to take me down from the back

 

I hate these liars

I hate people telling me what to do

Trying to rule me like a puppet

But when I don’t move

 

They try to destroy me

 

From deep of my heart

I want to stop

I want to shut it down

I want to stop feeling

 

All this everyday

Daily Routines

All these fake people

Like they think I am stupid

 

But I still play the game

I play the fool

To fool the fool

They really don’t get that I am not stupid

 

They tell me it’s my fault I don’t fit in

But I can’t control my feelings

I would shut them down if I could

But I can’t

 

I was born with everything

Everything everyone has

It’s not what you have

It’s what you make out of it

 

I live the repeating lifeless life

Everyday

I live in these walls of lies

Every second

 

Resist to take down the walls

Because the tell me I should not be different

I should calm down

They say there is something wrong with me

 

They are scared

Of change

To break the circle

To do something new

 

Take a look at me

 

Deep into my eyes

You would see my pain

You would see me

This is me

 

Not some puppet

I am not like everyone else

I don’t want to follow the routine

I want to be myself

 

Society gives us chains

They should prevent us to fly

The ones who could break the chains

They abuse them

 

They will give up

They will give up on their life

They will give up on their future

They will give up themselves

 

We try to find ourselves

Looking into the mirror everyday

But do we really see

Ourselves

 

Blue eyes

Long hair

Red Lips

A smile

 

But are we happy?

Do we smile from our hearts?

Is this what we want?

Do I want my life like this?

 

As you get older

You fall into your routine

You let yourself be told who you are

Who you are socially supposed to be

 

Who am I ?

 

The pure strong hearts

Get broken

The easy weak hearts

Get raised

 

Like a mechanism of a clock

If you are different

You get exchanged

But at least you tried to change time

 

I don’t say you will win

But don’t think you need other people

The strongest fighters

Are the ones who fight by themselves for themselves

 

I want to fight about what I believe in

 

I want more than this

I want to raise up

If you find what you want

You will find a part of yourself

 

Finding yourself is not a goal

It is a path

I can’t tell you if you will find your destination

If you will find yourself at the end

 

But if you are yourself

You will be happy

Because at the end of the day

The only one who will always be there

Is yourself

 

I will never give up on who I am

 

If I ever raise my head

I lower my head

 

Trying to hide

Not to be seen

 

I try to be with the crowd

Not to see everything

Not to see you

 

I am scared

I do care

I am weak

Although you see me as so strong

 

It is not true

I am just imagining

What we could be

But we are

Something

 

I am trying to stop

Stop my heart

But the walls I build

Are never strong enough

Something is growing

Inside me

 

Like a beautiful flower

That is never meant to see the light

The beauty and the pain

That is inside me

Every step I take

I think about you

Dream about us

 

How you walk

How you hold my hand

The way you look at me

In the dark

Where no one sees

You tell me you care about me

That you would want to show me off

But that you just can’t

 

I understand your reasons

Although it hurts

There is too much danger

You are trying to protect me

That there is no chance

It just does not fit

I just have to understand

There is nothing to do

Then to be glad about what we have

About every moment I spend with you

 

When the curtains close

And we are alone

You hold my hand

You hold my heart in your hands

You smile at me

Looking deep into my  eyes

I feel my heartbeat raising

I feel your body next to mine

You make me feel strong

You make me smile

You make me happy

 

But outside

I have to live with you looking at me

From distance

I see you looking at me but

Its nothing more

Not having me next to you

Seeing me with other people

Never to be catched

Not be found out

To not ever but me in danger

You want to keep me safe

 

I wonder what you feel

You look so strong

Fighting everyone

Breaking everything

You never lose

You are never scared

You are known to be strong

But you let me see a different side of you

You open up to me

You show me more of yourself

 

No feelings

No heart

That was the deal

But I can’t control it

It was a risk

We both were willing to take

You break the rules everyday

You don’t care about the consequences

It always works out for you

 

Maybe you broke the deal

You did not follow the rules

You never do

But you are not aware of the consequences

Giving up everything

For a possible future

Would you be with me

For everyone to see

 

You make it look so easy

Pretending not to care

Not to see me

Passing me everywhere

How can you be so strong

Never going to me

Not to thinking about me

 

All I wish

Is laying in your arms

In the light

With open curtains

Your heartbeat next to mine

Never having to hide again

 

Did you just pretend

Go over the limit

Just to try it

Or is it just the truth

That you are afraid to show

 

But that will never happen

That’s why I don’t tell

What I really feel

The risk is too high

 

Scared to lose what we have

Scared to lose you

Scared to break my heart

 

So I always lower my head

I live in the dark

 

I try to hide my heart

 

Perfect

 

Tik tok

I can’t stop

I tried

I failed

 

I do so much

But still you won’t see

What I do

For you

 

I try to be perfect

The picture perfect

The model perfect

But that’s not me

 

I am different

I am not you

I am not her

I am myself

 

Sorry to not be perfect

Sorry to not be worth it

But I try my best

To be the best I can

 

To maybe someday

Be loved

Not fake

But from heart

 

I am a girl

I am a daughter

I am the girl on the mirror

Trying to be perfect

 

But I am not

I make mistakes

I am a failure

Not the first one to take

 

You have me lying

Always near

But never to reach

But i am there

 

Not to be seen

Not to be there

I lay in the gas

Away from the crowd

 

I am better alone

Better in the shaddow

To be imperfect

Ho hide in the dark

 

I never look perfect

But I try my best

To fit in

in this furious world

 

I am sorry I failed

Maybe you can forgive me one day

In love your daughter

That still loves you the same