1
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
2
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
3
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.
4
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<x-tad-smaller>I'd like to start my comments here. (I wish I could adjust my lettering to set it off from the poem. But I'm a real klutz with computers) I find this stanza to be a good place to understand the meaning of the blackbird in the poem. The poet wants to see man and woman as one, but finds that he needs the magic of the blackbird to make it fit. The blackbird is that which makes us human in the full sense of that word where man and woman can blend together. If we then go back to stanza one, the blackbird is that which gives life to the picture, the flitting eye of the blackbird, to be precise. In stanza two, the blackbird seems to symbolize our multiplicity of perspectives.
In stanza three, the whirl of the bird in the wind seems to spell out the meaning of existence in a very fleeting sort of way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</x-tad-smaller>
5
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The uncertainty principle in all it many guises? The guessing game.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the principle of the unknown? The unknowable. The question left unanswered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7
O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Again the blackbird seems to define our relationships to each other, but only if we don't turn it into a golden bird, a dead and precious possession.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The poet's language skills are insufficient if not energized by the life of the bird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
10
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This, for me is the key stanza. The bawds of euphony I see as symbolizing the false in general: hypocrisy,
degeneracy, treachery, exploitation; but also the deceit of high society with its phony speech; and, not least the poet, the inventor of nice sounds. The blackbirds flying in green light I see as an emergency warning to startle us out of our cultural complacencies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The smug rich man is his glass coach is pierced by the mistaken shadow of himself which he took for a blackbird, a warning of death I presume.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The prime mover?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merry Christmas. (Corny comforts?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On 28-Dec-05, at 11:42 AM, Robert Steele wrote:
<x-tad-smaller>From: </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>Hermann Janzen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>CC: </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>[email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Robert Steele" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Subject: </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>Re: TS Elliot from Burnt Norton</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Date: </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>Tue, 27 Dec 2005 17:22:38 -0500</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>Do you have the text of Wallace Stevens' Thirteen ways of looking </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>at a blackbird?</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>I've done some thinking about that that might be of interest.</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>-</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>>>>email 'unsubscribe listening-l' or 'subscribe listening-l' or </x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>>>>'info listening-l'</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>>>>>to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> in the body of the message</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>></x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>Bob-It isn't in my anthology but I went online and found it,</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller> </x-tad-smaller><x-tad-smaller>http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Stevens_W/Thirteen.htm</x-tad-smaller>
<x-tad-smaller>A nice find, so much different from the ones like "Sunday Morning" which I have read by him. Some of the verses are haiku in flavor, like 12: The river is moving/The blackbird must be flying"</x-tad-smaller>
Quite right, I think
<x-tad-smaller>Do you see the blackbird as a symbol of the soul (to use an oldfashioned term} or connection to the inner world? I'd like to hear your thoughts on it</x-tad-smaller>
