Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Sunday Morning is a Modernist meditative poem that was first published in 1915 and then republished in Stevens's poetic collection Harmonium in 1923. The poem talks about the modernist critical approach to the Abrahamic religion (Christianity). Wallace Stevens mentioned that the poem is "simply an expression of paganism." The poem challenges the Biblical notion of the afterlife and heaven and suggests that no heaven can be more beautiful than the current life while death is the certainty of change, the mother of all possible beauty. Thus, the poem is abstract, and existentialist and can be related to The Emperor of Icecream.
Structure of Sunday Morning:
The poem is divided into eight stanzas of 15 lines each. All the lines are written in Blank verse and thus, there is no rhyming scheme, nor any end-rhyming though all lines follow iambic pentameter. Wallace Stevens used alliteration, assonance, enjambment, imagery, symbolism, and simile in the poem. Nature symbolizes both, death and paradise. The poet suggests that nature is independent and unconcerned with human affairs.
Themes of Sunday Morning:
The poem discusses the evolution of religion or belief systems. The poet raises doubts about Christianity and then compares it with Roman myths. He suggests that first, human and divinity were separated but then Christ came as a human, and thus, human God became human, the next evolutionary step would be for each human being to become divine and synchronizes with the divinity of nature.
The poem describes a discussion between a woman and the poet. The woman is perplexed about the issue of religion and wonders if there is any need for it. She is uncertain and questioning. The speaker is rather confident and reassuring and the poet encourages the woman to accept the change.
The major themes of Sunday Morning are Supernaturalism versus Realism, death, immortality, beauty, and carpe diem.
Summary of Sunday Morning:
Stanza 1 (Lines 1-15)
The poem begins as the poet describes a lazy Sunday morning of a woman. Sunday is the day of the sabbath and like a good Christian, the woman is expected to go to Church and pray. However, the woman is a bit too late and lazy. She is yet wearing a laced silky nightgown (peignoir) which suggests that she has just left the bed. She is taking her breakfast (Coffee and Oranges) while sitting on a rest chair while enjoying the sunlight. There is a green parrot (cockatoo) sitting near her legs, it is a free bird. The image suggests that the woman is enjoying the natural world. As she sees the free bird, she realizes how peaceful and content the bird is and she is mesmerized by it. She forgets the ‘ancient sacrifice’ which is an allegorical reference to the crucifixion of Christ. The poet suggests that the woman is in no mood to visit Church and pray on this Sunday. The woman is yet not fully awake and she dozes off for a moment and then she dreams. In her dream, she sees a threatening darkness (an old catastrophe) engulfing her. Old catastrophe is again a reference to the crucifixion of Christ. Her calm attitude turns a bit pensive. The woman then sees a reservoir of still water as if it is a ‘procession of the dead.” She sees the same orange and green color on the water. The woman dreams that she is passing over the water toward Palestine where Christ was crucified and where his tomb (sepulcher) is situated. The orange (oranges) and green (parrot) color in the water signifies that all beautiful and tasty things will meet death.
Stanza 2 (Lines 16-30)
While the woman is still in her dream, observing the ‘procession of dead,’ she faces a dilemma and questions herself why should she sacrifice her bounty (her life, earthly comforts, and pleasures). While on the one hand, the image of Christ is pushing her to fulfill the religious duties that she has neglected on this Sunday, she shows a little resistance as she is not completely convinced of Christianity. She is not willing to give up her pleasure of the warmth of the sun and the taste and feel of “pungent fruit and bright, green wings” and go to the Church to pray. She thinks that rather than going to Church to find divinity, she would prefer to find the divinity within herself. Her doubt in Christianity further grows as she thinks that though she sees the image of Christ in her dream, he vanishes before answering her question as soon as she opens her eyes. She can feel the divinity in herself as in her moods and passions, her desires, griefs, and elation, her sensual pleasure, and pain, all that encompasses her natural divinity, the divinity is her soul, her own psyche. The poet thus defined the soul in this stanza as the collective emotional nature of who we are as humans. The woman feels that her soul is everywhere, she could feel the rain and her moods, “falling snow.” She feels elation “when the forests bloom” and great emotions on “autumn nights.” Thus, she feels a strong connection with nature.
Stanza 3 (Lines 31-45)
In the third Stanza, the poet brings upon the discussion of paganism by mentioning the Roman god Jove to offer a comparison with Christianity. The woman thinks of Jove who, unlike Christ, is “inhuman”. Jove represents Zeus, the Roman god of Thunder and Skies. He had no mother, he didn’t take birth like humans, like Christ, nor he had a ‘sweet land’ or paradise as his home. The woman describes Jove as a giant with a mighty ‘mythy mind’, thus suggesting all the Roman and Greek myths regarding Jove. Yet, Jove moved and spent time with humans in human form. Jove remained with humans till their blood was pure virginal and when humans' blood failed, he became a star. The woman thus questions the veracity of this myth and wonders if there is any paradise other than this beautiful and colorful earth that “we shall know.” The poet then suggests that in the future, there will be a time when human beings while looking up the sky, won’t think of God or paradise, but would rather think of nature and feel a certain oneness with nature and then “this dividing and indifferent blue” sky won’t be a separation between humans and divinity.
Stanza 4 (Lines 46-60)
In these lines, the poet again describes the thoughts of the woman and says that “she says” that she is ‘content’ when she looks at beautiful birds as if heaven is here on the earth itself. But when the birds will search the ‘misty fields’ to find their paths, and fly away never to return, will it remain the same paradise then? The woman saw the stagnant still water in her dream and now wishes for the same stagnation and stillness but knows that no matter how beautiful reality and nature are, they will change as it flows and is ephemeral. She questions if there is an afterlife. Will the same comfort and peace she is feeling now while feeling the green cockatoo, will return again in the future. The poet says that there is no truth in the myths of the ‘golden underground,’ ‘visionary south’ and ‘melodious isle’ where the spirits live. While these myths may or may not be true, the reality still exists and nature is real, just like the memory of the green cockatoo the woman has. April will bring new green again.
Stanza 5 (Lines 61-75)
The poet again offers the argument of the woman. She says that though she agrees that nature is continuously changing and it will continue to bring beautiful things again and again she longs for eternal “imperishable bliss”. She says that she needs to feel truly happy and that happiness must remain forever and never change. The poet argues that beauty is impossible without end or death because death is the “mother” of everything beautiful. He says that death causes the end of things that one loves and people feel as if they have lost something as death “strews the leaves / Of sure obliteration.” But this feeling of loss tempts humans to search for new, other beautiful things and change their path. Thus, though death brings loss, it still offers new ways to beauty. The poet says that death brings change and change brings the most loved aspects of nature. He then gives an example of an old plate that was once very beautiful and valuable but now has been ‘disregarded.’ He says that boys seek beautiful maidens and to impress them and treat them, they collect “plums and pears,” on that disregarded plate and when they serve the plums and pears to the maidens, they feel extremely elated. Thus, the broken disregarded plate gains a new purpose.
Stanza 6 (Lines 76-90)
In this stanza, the poet questions the existence of Paradise and if there is no death in Paradise, which is really beautiful? The poet says that in a paradise where death does not exist, there cannot be any ripe fruit nor the flowing rivers eager to reach the ocean. He says that a paradise sans death would be still, motionless, and thus harmless. The poet asserts that change is necessary for beautiful things to occur and without death, beauty cannot exist. He says that in paradise, there won’t be any need to collect plums and pears as there will not be any ripe fruit, nor the maidens will come, nor there will be any happiness. He says we cherish so many colors in our mortal world, but in paradise, nobody would recognize any color as all will be white, colorless, and all will be good. Thus, paradise will have nothing that we humans consider beautiful. He says that humans are not able to understand how paradise would be but one thing is clear if there is no change, no death in paradise, then all the pleasure of the ‘perfect world’ will soon become boredom.
Stana 7 (Lines 91-105)
In the previous stanza, he described how the Christian paradise might be and in the seventh stanza, he offers a contrast by describing a pagan ‘orgy’. He describes how some savage-looking human beings gather in a circle as they worship Sun, praying and offering their thanks to the sun. They worship the sun not as an almighty god, but as their benefactor who offers them much-needed warmth. The poet says that in such worship, the reward is clear and it is not dependent on worship. Even if you won’t worship, the sun will ultimately offer warmth. The poet suggests the importance of human imagination. Without imagination and worship by humans, the sun would merely be a star burning in its core. He says that he would prefer such natural gods as they are more meaningful. He then brings other natural forces like the “Windy lake,” “trees like Seraphin (angels), and “echoing hills”. The poet says that as the pagans worship through their orgy, they come closer to nature itself. They realize that they have a deep connection with nature which is so strong that they feel that the dew on their feet holds their future. The poet suggests that nature holds the essence of humanity, from birth to beauty, to death.
Stanza 8 (Lines 106-120)
In this stanza, the poet returns to the woman and describes her thoughts. She again dozes off and sees the dream in which she saw the still water. The water speaks to her and says that in Palestine, there is no place where spirits live, and the tomb of Christ is just a grave where he was laid. The poet then offers his own perspective and says that in a pagan world, where humans worship the beneficial nature, the world consists of day and night and chaos. But this chaos offers them a sense of freedom as they are not bound to any one god. He describes nature as the progress of life where there are deers in the mountains while berries grow, ripen, and die in the wilderness. He says that the seed is beautiful but it dies, and when it dies, it gives birth to a sapling that turns into a tree again. He describes beautiful pigeons flying in the open sky irrespective of what human thinks and these pigeons fade away as the sky goes dark, signifying the power of death.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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