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Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens Quotes

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Famous Wallace Stevens Quotes

“She says, "But in contentment I still feel The need for imperishable bliss." Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her, Alone, shall come fulfillment to our dreams And our desires. Is there no change of death in paradise? Does ripe fruit never fall? or do the boughs Hang always heavy in that perfect sky, Unchanging, yet so like our perishing earth, With rivers like our own that seek for seas They never find, the same receding shores That never touch with inarticulate pang?”

NeedsFeelsDoeStillsDreamEarthDeathMotherDesireFallPerfectSeaSkyRiversFruitHeavyFulfillmentBlissParadiseContentmentShoreOur DreamsRipeUnchangingInarticulatePerishingRipe Fruit
Author:Wallace Stevens
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“It is easy to suppose that few people realize on that occasion, which comes to all of us, when we look at the blue sky for the first time, that is to say: not merely see it, but look at it and experience it and for the first time have a sense that we live in the center of a physical poetry, a geography that would be intolerable except for the non-geography that exists there - few people realize that they are looking at the world of their own thoughts and the world of their own feelings.”

PeopleWorldFirstsLooksFeelingsWould BeEasyRealizingVisionSeeingSkyFirst TimeBlueOccasionsAweGeographyBlue Sky
Book:The Necessary Angel: Essays on Reality and the Imagination
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“There is not any haunt of prophecy, Nor any old chimera of the grave, Neither the golden underground, nor isle Melodious, where spirits gat them home, Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm Remote on heaven's hill, that has endured As April's green endures; or will endure Like her remembrance of awakened birds, Or her desire for June and evening, tipped By the consummation of the swallow's wings.”

HomeSpiritDesireHeavenSpringBirdGreenWingsSouthEndureGravesGoldenEveningHillsProphecyRemembrancePalmsJuneAprilAwakenedVisionariesLike HerCloudyIsleChimera
Book:The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play
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“In the same way, you were happy in spring, With the half colors of quarter-things, The slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds, The single bird, the obscure moon- The obscure moon lighting an obscure world Of thing that would never be quite expressed, Where you yourself were never quite yourself And did not want nor have to be.”

WorldWayWantHalfSkyColorMoonSpringBirdCloudsQuartersObscureNever QuitBrighterLightingMelting
Book:The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
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“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.”

YearsHeartLightPainPeaceHurtDarkHonestyTearsSweetMy HeartPromiseBattleBeatsMy FriendsSevenCancerFighterDamnCandleIt HurtsSeven Years
Author:Wallace Stevens
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“Like the Sweetness of Gardenias Mother, you died 15 years ago. pain, a rapier, cut until, finally, there was just peace like the sweetness of gardenias in the crystal vase on your yellow kitchen table. so fragrant. your voice lingers in my ear reminding, scolding, guiding a pleasant mantra of tenderness, magic words that move my palms, your palms. together we are molding, helping, creating. in the mirror I see your eyes, your beautiful brown circles looking back, so radiant. "don't forget me," you whispered the day you died. I won't.”

YearsHelpingEyePainTogetherBeautifulMovingMotherPeaceVoiceForgetCuttingMagicCreatingYears AgoEarsDiedMirrorsTablesMotherhoodCirclesKitchenPleasantBrownYellowTendernessLooking BackSweetnessPalmsCrystalsMantrasRemindingRadiantVasesKitchen TableForget MeYour BeautifulMoldingMagic WordsScoldingDon't Forget Me
Author:Wallace Stevens
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“The consolations of space are nameless things. It was after the neurosis of winter. It was In the genius of summer that they blew up The statue of Jove among the boomy clouds. It took all day to quieten the sky And then to refill its emptiness again.”

SpaceSkyGeniusSummerWinterCloudsEmptinessConsolationStatuesJulyNeurosisNamelessRefills
Book:The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play
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“I can't make head or tail of Life. Love is a fine thing, Art is a fine thing, Nature is a fine thing; but the average human mind and spirit are confusing beyond measure. Sometimes I think that all our learning is the little learning of the maxim. To laugh at a Roman awe-stricken in a sacred grove is to laugh at something today.”

ThinkingLoveMindHumansLittlesArtI CanSometimesTodaySpiritLove IsLaughingFineArt IsSacredAverageAweLove LifeHuman MindTailsConfusingMaximsGroveFine ThingsHeads Or Tails
Book:Letters of Wallace Stevens
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