Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections, Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling, Or just after.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a deep appreciation for the beauty found in language and nature.
Wallace Stevens reflects on the nuanced beauty that can be found in both the subtleties of language and the sounds of nature. He contrasts the beautiful variations in speech and poetic expression, represented by 'inflections' and 'innuendoes', with the simple yet profound beauty of a blackbird's song, capturing the duality of appreciation for both aesthetic language and natural beauty.
Themes
BeautyLanguageNaturePoetryExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire artists during a gallery opening to discuss the interplay of language and nature.
More from Wallace Stevens
All quotes βMost modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
Wallace StevensRead
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
Wallace StevensRead
Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Wallace StevensRead
LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead
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Then I played the song that hides in the center of me. That wordless music that moves through the secret places in my heart. I played it carefully, strumming it slow and low into the dark stillness of the night. I would like to say it is a happy song, that it is sweet and bright, but it is not.
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The moment a man begins to talk about technique that's proof that he is fresh out of ideas.
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