Analysis of "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"
"Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird" by Wallace Stevens is a poem
about what it means to really know something. In this poem, Stevens shows this
connection by writing a first person poem about a poet's observation and
contemplation's when viewing a blackbird. He does this by making each stanza an
explanation of a new way he has perceived this blackbird. First, he writes about
his physical perception of the blackbird as an observer. Then, he writes about
the his mental processes during this time. These are as the thoughts and
perceptions of the blackbird itself, as what it must be like to be that bird. By
the end, he has concluded that by seeing this blackbird, a connection has been
made and he now knows the blackbird has becomes a part of him.
In the first stanza, he focuses on the eye of the blackbird as an
outside observer. This symbolizes the thoughts and the consciousness of the
blackbird. It is also a transition from the observer's perception to the
blackbird's perception. In the second stanza, Stevens goes on to say that he
was of "three minds, Like a tree, In which there are three blackbirds." This was
the first time he makes the connection between seeing the blackbird and him
himself metaphorically being the blackbird. He makes this connection even more
clear in the fourth stanza when he says that "A man and a woman Are one. A man
and a woman and a blackbird are one." In the sixth stanza he goes back to being
the poet observer as he watches the blackbird fly by his icy window. Again in
the next stanza he goes back to the point of view of the blackbird wondering why
the men of Haddam only imagine golden birds instead of realizing the value of
the common blackbird. At this time, he makes the connection that in seeing and
knowing the blackbird it becomes a part of himself. When he says in the eighth
stanza "I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too,
That the blackbird is... [continues]
"Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird" by Wallace Stevens is a poem
about what it means to really know something. In this poem, Stevens shows this
connection by writing a first person poem about a poet's observation and
contemplation's when viewing a blackbird. He does this by making each stanza an
explanation of a new way he has perceived this blackbird. First, he writes about
his physical perception of the blackbird as an observer. Then, he writes about
the his mental processes during this time. These are as the thoughts and
perceptions of the blackbird itself, as what it must be like to be that bird. By
the end, he has concluded that by seeing this blackbird, a connection has been
made and he now knows the blackbird has becomes a part of him.
In the first stanza, he focuses on the eye of the blackbird as an
outside observer. This symbolizes the thoughts and the consciousness of the
blackbird. It is also a transition from the observer's perception to the
blackbird's perception. In the second stanza, Stevens goes on to say that he
was of "three minds, Like a tree, In which there are three blackbirds." This was
the first time he makes the connection between seeing the blackbird and him
himself metaphorically being the blackbird. He makes this connection even more
clear in the fourth stanza when he says that "A man and a woman Are one. A man
and a woman and a blackbird are one." In the sixth stanza he goes back to being
the poet observer as he watches the blackbird fly by his icy window. Again in
the next stanza he goes back to the point of view of the blackbird wondering why
the men of Haddam only imagine golden birds instead of realizing the value of
the common blackbird. At this time, he makes the connection that in seeing and
knowing the blackbird it becomes a part of himself. When he says in the eighth
stanza "I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too,
That the blackbird is... [continues]
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