Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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With most poets, if I don’t get the poem, I assume it’s the poet’s fault. With Stevens, it’s clearly my fault. Always.
IV
Beauty is momentary in the mind—
The fitful tracing of a portal;
But in the flesh it is immortal.
The body dies; the body’s beauty lives.
So evenings die, in their green going,
A wave, interminably flowing.
So gardens die, their meek breath scenting
The cowl of winter, done repenting.
So maidens die, to the auroral
Celebration of a maiden’s choral.
Susanna’s music touched the bawdy strings
Of those white elders; but, escaping,
Left only Death’s ironic scraping.
Now, in its immortality, it plays
On the clear viol of her memory,
And makes a constant sacrament of praise.
You have a poet’s soul.
@de stijl: A kind thing to say, which I very much appreciate.
Do you know the biography of Wallace Stevens?
Lawyer at an insurance company.
Also, insanely gifted poet.
@de stijl:
Seriously.
With most poets, if I don’t get the poem, I assume it’s the poet’s fault. With Stevens, it’s clearly my fault. Always.
So evenings die in their green going
Fave.
@DrDaveT:
13 ways of looking at a black bird
The emporer of ice cream
Genius. Heartbreaking.
Such people should be revered.
Dude was a lawyer. Working for some dumb ass company.
I can’t even imagine what it was like to be him.
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The black bird sat
In the cedar limbs.
Snowing now right here. Light, probably a dusting. Maybe an inch or two. Barely enough to shovel except to be neighborly.
Tomorrow to decide anyway.
Lovely. Not only is it a striking visual, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Trump. Nice to have a weekly respite.
@gVOR08: I almost went with this one, which was more thematic for the last couple of days. but thought a respite was needed.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I hate taggers. “I was here!” So lame.
But artists demand respect. Even if it’s just the form of the letters. A conscious choice. You don’t have to like it- disliking is perfectly valid.
But there is thought, practice, skill, consideration, control. It is art and craft.