Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

E. M. Schorb’s “Wallace Stevens Contemplates Sunday Service in Haddam” is a reflective and evocative meditation on the persona of Wallace Stevens, situating him in a moment of deliberate isolation and contemplation. The poem explores Stevens’ characteristic preoccupation with perception, imagination, and the interplay between the self and the natural world, while Schorb crafts a narrative imbued with Stevensian imagery and philosophical resonance.

The opening lines set the stage for a tension between communal obligation—symbolized by “Sunday service”—and individual autonomy. The “nooning toward its bells” evokes both the passage of time and the imminent pull of tradition, but the phrase “and yet he lingered there” signals Stevens’ detachment from the expected ritual. His deliberate choice to remain outside the collective act of worship positions him as an observer and thinker, more attuned to the “summer and gold-nugget bees” than the tolling of church bells. This detachment aligns with Stevens’ recurring interest in the secular sublime, where the immediacy of the natural world often supplants conventional spirituality.

The bees, “divorced from gravity,” become a metaphor for Stevens’ imaginative ascent, untethered from the constraints of ordinary existence. This moment of transcendence reflects Stevens’ poetic philosophy: the world is not merely perceived but actively reimagined by the mind. In this state, he feels “master of his mind,” an assertion of agency that echoes Stevens’ belief in the transformative power of imagination, as seen in his works like “The Idea of Order at Key West.”

Schorb deepens the reflection with the notion that Stevens has crafted “a satisfying picture / Of the world and of the world’s world.” The doubling of “world” points to the layered reality Stevens often sought to capture—the empirical world and the world shaped by the human imagination. This “inclusive all” becomes a site of perfect harmony, where Stevens perceives himself as both a participant in and a creator of this universal order. The use of “particles” invokes a Stevensian precision, suggesting the granular, intricate construction of reality that poetry can reveal.

The poem’s sensory imagery, especially the tactile and gustatory description of air as “ice cream” or “a clean fresh strawberry,” is particularly striking. These comparisons render the abstract tangible, mirroring Stevens’ ability to make the ineffable accessible through vivid metaphor. The “glittered” and “melted” air evokes a fleeting but profound sensory experience, encapsulating the ephemerality of summer and the immediacy of the poet’s perception. The deliberate act of “scooping” air symbolizes an active engagement with the world, transforming the mundane into something extraordinary, much like Stevens’ poetic craft.

In the final lines, Schorb emphasizes Stevens’ choice to remain apart, even as “the others left him there.” This isolation underscores the poet’s role as an outsider, one who prioritizes individual reflection over collective conformity. The “summer on a Sunday” becomes a private liturgy, a sacred moment of communion with nature and self, divorced from the institutional framework of religion.

Schorb’s poem is a fitting homage to Stevens, capturing his complex interplay of intellect, imagination, and sensory experience. By anchoring Stevens in the specific locale of Haddam—recalling the Stevensian landscapes of “Sunday Morning” or “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”—Schorb situates his subject in a context both ordinary and profound. The result is a layered and resonant exploration of the poet’s philosophical preoccupations, seamlessly woven into a narrative of quiet rebellion and aesthetic fulfillment.

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