Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Snowman is a philosophical poem written by Wallace Stevens that was first published in Poetry magazine in 1921 and then incorporated into his influential poetry collection Harmonium published in 1923. It is a short poem consisting of 15 lines composed in five tercets or stanzas of three lines. The poem is written in free verse. Most of the lines are written in iambic though the meter varies. The poem has internal rhymes and slant rhymes to maintain the flow. The poem uses imagery, metaphor, metonymy, anaphora, repetition, enjambment, alliteration, and epigram.
Themes of The Snowman:
It is a philosophical poem that challenges the very concept of reality versus perspectivism; objectivity and subjectivism. The poet explains the necessity of objectively observing a cold winter landscape or anything in the world. He stresses that to observe reality, one must be free of all biases, perspectives, and prior conceptions. But once a person is free of all these biases, he will find nothingness. Then the poet questions if it is possible to get rid of all perspectives? He suggests that everything is subjective – there can be no objective experience of the world. Thus, we can adjust our own perception to have a better illusion or subjective reality of the circumstances. Another important theme of the poem is natural unity, or oneness, or non-duality. If a person can get rid of all possible perspectives, he will observe nothingness and that nothingness lies in oneness with nature, there won’t be anything, any difference if one can perceive things just like nature. Yet again, it will be a perception.
Summary of The Snowman:
Stanza 1
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;
The poem begins with ‘One’ as a substitute for ‘I’ or ‘He’ which suggests that it is not about an individual’s experience rather, it talks about everyone. And that everyone is the snowman. The poet is talking about hypothetical winter and a hypothetical snowman to explain deeper meanings of reality. ‘One must’, makes it imperative, necessary condition for a person to ‘have a mind of winter’ to actually understand the reality of frost and the boughs of the pine trees laden with snow. ‘Mind of winter’ is a metaphor that suggests the serenity and detachment of an impartial calm mind. To understand reality, one must one’s mind must be immune to the dramas, emotions, and chaos of the world. To have the mind of winter, one must not be affected or frightened by it.
Stanza 2
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
The poet continues to explain the snowman and says that not only the mind must be serene and calm before one may understand reality, one must be in this calm state for a long time with no disturbing memories of chaos. The poet uses cold as a metonym for serenity, and peacefulness. One must be cold or serene for long to be like junipers, the shrub whose leaves always remain green irrespective of how cold it is. Just like Junipers remain unaffected by winter, one must have the ‘mind of winter’ for a long to face the reality.
Stanza 3
Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,
In the third stanza, the poet further explains the meaning of having a ‘mind of winter’ or being cold. The poet has used enjambment in the first line. A calm and peaceful mind remains unaffected by the warmth of the sun and the harshness of the cold wind alike. Neither excitement nor a sorrowful shock can affect a serene mind. Only if one is in such a balanced state of mind then only they can one cherish the cold, sunny, January day, and not think of “any misery” in the sounds made by the wind or that of a few leaves. If a mind is not peaceful, then the warm memories of the past may make them feel difficult, or, they will be disturbed by the harsh wind flowing and making harrowing sounds. One must be unaffected by pleasure and pain alike. One's mind must be empty of their own human perceptions if they have to experience the reality of nature. If one doesn’t have the mind of winter, they won’t be able to avoid ‘any misery’ in the wind or in their own life in general to affect their perception of reality.
Stanza 4
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
In this stanza, the poet further explains the ‘sound of the wind’ that must not be personified. It is the sound of land, it cannot be miser or harsh. The poet suggests that personification should be avoided. Instead of giving false human emotions of the natural world, one must get rid of their own human perceptions and be like nature with the ‘mind of winter’ to avoid any mistake in observation. One must not project human misery onto the sounds of the world, but must observe it for what it is, that of “the sound of the land.” The ‘One’ is the snowman who can be anyone.
Stanza 5
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
In the last stanza, the poet clarifies what it takes to be a snowman, a snowman can be anyone, who can realize reality as it is, without any falsehood or artificiality. One must have a detached mind, free from the influences of society, and emotional and mental trauma, to observe the world and see the nothingness in the landscape around them for what it is, nothing.
As it is clear, the poem isn’t about the winter season or the snowman, rather it is about the reality of what one observes. The poet raises questions about how we perceive the world and if, what we perceive, is actually true. The poet suggests that to understand the truth of the world, one must be free of personal experiences, perceptions, and societal influences.
Such a person will be able to listen to the sound of the land for what it is. They will listen to the sound of the cold wind with the ‘mind of winter’ without maligning it with emotional language to color those sounds and then they will be able to realize what it is, it is nothing that can affect them. The observer beholds "nothing" in the final stanza because that is what remains without the human perceptions that we bring to the world. Thus, whatever we feel, we see, is the creation of our own human mind. Once we get rid of this habit of personification, then only will we be able to see the reality and that is nothingness. However, there is the paradox because how devoid of personal experiences one can be? The possibility of perceiving reality free from our individual subjectivity is impossible and even if one perceives reality sans any prior experience, any influence, it will again be a mere perception.
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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