Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Wallace Stevens? "And Daughters With Curls," the final section of The Comedian as the Letter C, brings Crispin?s journey to a contemplative close. It synthesizes the themes of domesticity, generational continuity, and the tension between the imagined and the real, offering a meditative resolution to Crispin’s odyssey. This section examines how Crispin?s aesthetic ambitions are both tempered and fulfilled through the lives of his daughters and the doctrine he derives from observing them.

The poem opens with a musical metaphor that frames Crispin’s "last deduction" as a harmonious culmination. The "syllable to blessed syllable affined" and "bubbling felicity in cantilene" suggest that Crispin’s understanding has matured into a form of poetic and philosophical unity. The lyrical quality of this passage contrasts with the earlier, more tumultuous sections, signaling that Crispin has reached a kind of equilibrium, albeit one still steeped in complexity.

Stevens introduces Crispin?s daughters as extensions of his domestic life and his intellectual journey. They embody a multiplicity of characteristics, each representing a facet of Crispin?s experience and imagination. The daughters are described as "instruments" and "voices several," each contributing uniquely to the "rout" of life. Their individuality is emphasized through vivid, idiosyncratic imagery: one is a "goldenest demoiselle," another "most sisterly," a third "pearly poetess," and the fourth "all din and gobble, blasphemously pink." These descriptions weave a tapestry of life’s richness, complexity, and unpredictability.

Through the daughters, Stevens explores the generative power of domesticity. The cabin, initially a symbol of retreat and isolation, transforms into a "lordlier" space filled with life and possibility. The daughters "spread chromatics in hilarious dark," a metaphor that celebrates their vitality and the unpredictable interplay of their identities. They become a microcosm of the larger world, reflecting the intricate dynamics of growth, interaction, and diversity.

Crispin?s reflection on his daughters leads to a broader meditation on the nature of existence and the role of doctrine. Stevens presents Crispin as a "stiffest realist" who, through his progeny, re-engages with the world in a tangible and deeply personal way. The image of the world as a "turnip" that is "sacked up and carried overseas" encapsulates Crispin’s earlier attempts to distill and transplant reality. However, the world, now seen through the lens of his family, remains "the same insoluble lump," resisting neat categorization. This realization highlights the limits of human understanding and the persistence of mystery in life.

The poem’s tone shifts as Stevens questions Crispin’s philosophical coherence. Is Crispin a "profitless philosopher," prone to "green brag" and "faded" conclusions? Stevens acknowledges Crispin’s imperfections—his "fickle and fumbling" nature, his tendency to "distort" reality—but ultimately dismisses these critiques as inconsequential. What matters, Stevens suggests, is the "relation" itself, the lived experience and its culmination in a reflective, albeit imperfect, understanding. The narrative arc of Crispin?s life, from ambitious voyager to settled patriarch, illustrates the human tendency to seek meaning in the interplay of imagination and reality, even if such meaning remains elusive.

The final lines of the poem provide a contemplative closure. The "relation" of Crispin’s life, like the lives of all men, is "clipped," suggesting the finite nature of existence. Yet within this finitude, Stevens finds a sense of resolution. The "benign" end of Crispin’s journey mirrors the broader human condition: the search for understanding, the reconciliation of ideals with reality, and the acceptance of life?s inevitable conclusion.

"And Daughters With Curls" encapsulates the thematic core of The Comedian as the Letter C: the interplay between imagination and reality, the transformative power of domesticity, and the search for meaning in a complex and resistant world. Crispin?s journey, which began as a quest for a new aesthetic and philosophical order, concludes in the intimate and immediate realities of family life. Through this evolution, Stevens affirms the richness of human experience, with all its imperfections and contradictions, as a source of beauty and insight.

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