Man Carrying Thing, Wallace Stevens

The poem must resist the intelligence
Almost successfully. Illustration:

A brune figure in winter evening resists
Identity. The thing he carries resists

The most necessitous sense. Accept them, then,
As secondary (parts not quite perceived

Of the obvious whole, uncertain particles
Of the certain solid, the primary free from doubt,

Things floating like the first hundred flakes of snow
Out of a storm we must endure all night,

Out of a storm of secondary things),
A horror of thoughts that suddenly are real.

We must endure our thoughts all night, until
The bright obvious stands motionless in cold.

by Wallace Stevens

:man in the hole

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A man was walking along and fell into such a deep hole that he could not get out. So he began to shout very loudly for help.

A learned professor came along and found him. He looked down into a hole and lectured the unfortunate man : “ Why were you so foolish as to fall down there in the first place? You should be more careful. If you ever get out again, watch your step.”
And with that he took off.

Then a holy monk came along. He looked down into the hole and told the man, I’ll try to reach down as far as I can, and you reach up as far as you can. If I can grab you your hand, I’ll put you out.”
So they tried but it did not work. The hole was too deep. So the monk said he was sorry and left the man to his fate.

Now Christ comes along. He sees the man’s problem and with- out asking him any question, he just jumps down into hole. Then he lets the man climb onto his shoulders and even onto his outstretched arms… and gets the man out.

This is known as personal involvement.



- Quote
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