Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Sea Surface Full of Clouds (excerpt) by Wallace Stevens

I
In that November off Tehuantepec,
The slopping of the sea grew still one night
And in the morning summer hued the deck

And made one think of rosy chocolate
And gilt umbrellas. Paradisal green
Gave suavity to the perplexed machine

Of ocean, which like limpid water lay.
Who, then, in that ambrosial latitude
Out of the light evolved the morning blooms,

Who, then, evolved the sea-blooms from the clouds
Diffusing balm in that Pacific calm?
C’était mon enfant, mon bijou, mon âme.

The sea-clouds whitened far below the calm
And moved, as blooms move, in the swimming green
And in its watery radiance, while the hue

Of heaven in an antique reflection rolled
Round those flotillas. And sometimes the sea
Poured brilliant iris on the glistening blue.

2 comments:

  1. That's beautiful--I love Stevens, but I don't know this poem. Where did you come across it?

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  2. I know! There's so much nice imagery in it. And of course I came across it in Euro-Am; Doc showed us a bunch of Stevens poems.

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