The Man with the Blue Guitar

I The man bent over his guitar, A shearsman of sorts. The day was green. No one had thought about the land And the sight of his blue guitar Seemed to be nothing but the call of a tune.

II In the recent world What season does value upon the guitar gravitate? The wind and the tree seem to implore Him to leave at once. They shake their heads.

III The people say That he should not be standing there Not among leaves and boughs To play his music in the cold air Of the autumn hue.

• Wallace Stevens