Stevensian Dao, or the Possibilities of Change

The metaphysical lure of Wallace Stevens's poetry has tantalized readers for decades yet refuses to be pinned down, evading categories like idealism, realism, and anti-realism. Throughout his entire career from Harmonium (1923) to The Rock (1954), Stevens was haunted by the one and the possibilities of change. Does change contradict oneness? Can change only occur within oneness? What is to be ultimately transformed through poetry? This essay cuts into the mystical dimensions of Stevens's work by reading his great image that has no shape-his presentation of the cosmological spirit-principle that exceeds the Western philosophical and religious traditions. Stevens's mystical-ontological insight is frequently accompanied by decisive transformations of conception into perception and, further, a supersensible feeling that reconfigures the self-world continuum. Stevens's exploration of the senses of order during times of war opens up new modes of mind-reality and self-world correlations that could, in modern democratic countries, precondition the conditions of political and social change.

Automated summary

The metaphysical allure of Wallace Stevens's poetry lies in its exploration of the connection between change and unity, and in its presentation of a cosmic, shapeless spirit-principle that transcends Western philosophical and religious traditions. Stevens's mystical and ontological insights prompt a transformation from conception to perception, and evoke a transcendent feeling that reshapes the relationship between self and world. His exploration of the senses of order during times of war offers new perspectives on political and social change in modern democratic countries.