Wallace Stevens - Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird.

II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds.

III The blackbird whistling Or just after.

IV I can’t tell you how much I want to be heard. I can’t tell you How much I want to die.

V Between the figure of speech And the reality of nature, We found our true purposes.

VI The blackbird with its voice Escaping the act, Whispering through branches.

VII A shadow of thought falling Between the creature’s song And stones at my feet.

VIII I was under the trees And I heard the blackbirds. Now they are already gone.

IX The blackbird singing Until the light Has emptied itself of memory.

X And all the trees are silent, Why do I hear The absence echoing in me?

XI If you listen to beauty, you may hear Nature around you, raucous yet serene, And maybe feel your childhood stretched.

XII Therefore, with open heart, Trust a blackbird For all these nights to come.

XIII A blackbird sings above The landscape where An old worry lies down to sleep.