One of the key moods or feelings of the Modernism time period was a loss of faith in Christian beliefs. As the world shifted, many of its people fell astray along the path. This feeling of loss or questioning of Christianity is portrayed very well in Wallace Stevens’s poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman" This poem is directed toward a widow, with no better way to describe her as The High-Toned Old Christian Woman. Stevens incorporates some of his own beliefs (to coin to the term loosely), a plethora of religious words, and his usual abstract or theoretical tones in his Modernism poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman".
“Throughout Wallace Stevens’s poetry we meet three agents: the real world, the imagination, and poetry. A real world exists, in splendor and sordidness, but it exists only because it is experienced in the imagination” (Baym 1144). Keeping this quote in mind while reading "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", one can identify all three of these aspects of Wallace’s Modernist poetry.
For example, the real world can be found immediately, just in the title of this poem. The High-Toned Old Christian Woman is a persona almost all readers can imagine, whether do to experience with this type of character, or just an understanding of the title. In the times of Modernism, many people were losing faith in Christianity. Although several may have strayed from faith, there were of course those who clung even tighter to it, making Christianity their escape from the tumultuous world and new, radical inhabitants. The real world can also be found in the last line of Stevens’s poem, as he says, “Wink when they will. Wink when most widows wince” (Stevens 1447). Wallace is speaking to the old Christian widow throughout this poem, and the reader can imagine her reaction to his words worsening with time. This last line is a challenge to the widow, saying, either wink with us and defy the label the world has given you, or fulfill it completely and huff away, disgusted with my poetry.
The second aspect of Wallace Stevens’s poetry, imagination, can be found throughout this poem. Perhaps Stevens’s imagination can be credited for the extensive vocabulary found in "A High-Toned Christian Woman" which may send most readers scanning the footnotes. Words like “nave”, “citherns”, “peristyle”, “masque”, flagellants”, and “muzzy” appear within the twenty-two lines of this poem (Stevens 1147). All are used in a religious context, contradicting Christianity and themselves when jumbled together at once. The placement of these terms and perhaps Stevens’s personal interpretation of these words supports Baym’s claim on page 1145 which states, “Stevens clearly shared a modernist ideology; his idea . . .that with the fading of religious belief poetry might become the forger of new faiths.” Occasionally, critics compare Wallace to Transcendentalists poets. This is due to Stevens’s tendency to place an individual at the center of a poem and make that individual the perceiver of an action, not the doer of the action itself (Baym 1146). “The difference is that the Transcendentalists confidently assumed that their perceptions were guaranteed by God. Stevens was not sure of this” (Baym 1146).
The third aspect of Stevens’s poetry, poetry itself, is a common theme and a complex meaning in Stevens’s verses. Wallace Stevens believed “that poetry existed to illuminate the world’s surfaces as well as its depths” (Baym 1145). For example, in the first line of "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", Stevens states, “Poetry is the supreme fiction, madame” (Stevens 1147). This belief of Wallace’s led to some conceptual and ideological poetry, which was so short and simplified of “dazzling effects” that it became “plainer” and “increasingly abstract” (Baym 1146). This poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", most certainly became increasingly more difficult to understand. Most of this is due to Stevens’s perplexing language and contradicting religious terms. Phrases like “squiggling like saxophones”, “muzzy bellies in parade”, and “tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk” are distracting and confusing to the reader. It seems as if this poem literally represents how people of the Modernist time period were confused about religion.
Perhaps Stevens’s relationship with the three main concepts of his poetry (real world, imagination, and poetry) can be traced back to his educational and vocational history. For instance, Stevens wanted to pursue a literary career, but never wanted to “’make a petty struggle for existence’”, so he searched for a high-paying job (Gaym 1145). Here, one can observe that Stevens lived and worked in the corporate world (his outer life), but exercised his poet’s imagination while publishing and writing poetry (his inner life) (Gaym 1145).
Throughout Wallace Stevens’s life, many collections of his poetry were published, the most famous of these being Harmonium and Collected Poems (Baym 1146). As Wallace developed as a poet, his poems took on a very abstract air and proved to be much more difficult for readers and critics to understand.
To some readers the absence of the earlier specificity and sparkle also makes the later work less rewarding . . .all agree that Stevens’ss complete Collected Poems is one of the most important books of poetry written in the twentieth century (Baym 1146). This kind of recognition from readers, poets, and critics proves that Wallace Stevens is and was a Modernism literary era writer.
Wallace Stevens's poem "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman" is a prime example of the Modernistic views of Christianity and religion. Wallace Stevens uses his three aspects of poetry in this poem, the real world, the imagination, and poetry itself (Baym 1144). Stevens viewed poetry as “supreme fiction” (Wallace 1147), as he was very “concerned about what active role poetry might play in the world” (Baym 1146). Wallace was devoted to giving his readers works of poems that reflected the change in their world, lives, and beliefs.
Baym, Nina. "Wallace Stevens." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 1144-146. Print.
Stevens, Wallace. "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman." 1979. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Fourth ed. Vol. 2. New York,: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1444-447. Print.
One of the key moods or feelings of the Modernism time period was a loss of faith in Christian beliefs. As the world shifted, many of its people fell astray along the path. This feeling of loss or questioning of Christianity is portrayed very well in Wallace Stevens’s poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman" This poem is directed toward a widow, with no better way to describe her as The High-Toned Old Christian Woman. Stevens incorporates some of his own beliefs (to coin to the term loosely), a plethora of religious words, and his usual abstract or theoretical tones in his Modernism poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman".
“Throughout Wallace Stevens’s poetry we meet three agents: the real world, the imagination, and poetry. A real world exists, in splendor and sordidness, but it exists only because it is experienced in the imagination” (Baym 1144). Keeping this quote in mind while reading "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", one can identify all three of these aspects of Wallace’s Modernist poetry.
For example, the real world can be found immediately, just in the title of this poem. The High-Toned Old Christian Woman is a persona almost all readers can imagine, whether do to experience with this type of character, or just an understanding of the title. In the times of Modernism, many people were losing faith in Christianity. Although several may have strayed from faith, there were of course those who clung even tighter to it, making Christianity their escape from the tumultuous world and new, radical inhabitants. The real world can also be found in the last line of Stevens’s poem, as he says, “Wink when they will. Wink when most widows wince” (Stevens 1447). Wallace is speaking to the old Christian widow throughout this poem, and the reader can imagine her reaction to his words worsening with time. This last line is a challenge to the widow, saying, either wink with us and defy the label the world has given you, or fulfill it completely and huff away, disgusted with my poetry.
The second aspect of Wallace Stevens’s poetry, imagination, can be found throughout this poem. Perhaps Stevens’s imagination can be credited for the extensive vocabulary found in "A High-Toned Christian Woman" which may send most readers scanning the footnotes. Words like “nave”, “citherns”, “peristyle”, “masque”, flagellants”, and “muzzy” appear within the twenty-two lines of this poem (Stevens 1147). All are used in a religious context, contradicting Christianity and themselves when jumbled together at once. The placement of these terms and perhaps Stevens’s personal interpretation of these words supports Baym’s claim on page 1145 which states, “Stevens clearly shared a modernist ideology; his idea . . .that with the fading of religious belief poetry might become the forger of new faiths.” Occasionally, critics compare Wallace to Transcendentalists poets. This is due to Stevens’s tendency to place an individual at the center of a poem and make that individual the perceiver of an action, not the doer of the action itself (Baym 1146). “The difference is that the Transcendentalists confidently assumed that their perceptions were guaranteed by God. Stevens was not sure of this” (Baym 1146).
The third aspect of Stevens’s poetry, poetry itself, is a common theme and a complex meaning in Stevens’s verses. Wallace Stevens believed “that poetry existed to illuminate the world’s surfaces as well as its depths” (Baym 1145). For example, in the first line of "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", Stevens states, “Poetry is the supreme fiction, madame” (Stevens 1147). This belief of Wallace’s led to some conceptual and ideological poetry, which was so short and simplified of “dazzling effects” that it became “plainer” and “increasingly abstract” (Baym 1146). This poem, "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman", most certainly became increasingly more difficult to understand. Most of this is due to Stevens’s perplexing language and contradicting religious terms. Phrases like “squiggling like saxophones”, “muzzy bellies in parade”, and “tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk” are distracting and confusing to the reader. It seems as if this poem literally represents how people of the Modernist time period were confused about religion.
Perhaps Stevens’s relationship with the three main concepts of his poetry (real world, imagination, and poetry) can be traced back to his educational and vocational history. For instance, Stevens wanted to pursue a literary career, but never wanted to “’make a petty struggle for existence’”, so he searched for a high-paying job (Gaym 1145). Here, one can observe that Stevens lived and worked in the corporate world (his outer life), but exercised his poet’s imagination while publishing and writing poetry (his inner life) (Gaym 1145).
Throughout Wallace Stevens’s life, many collections of his poetry were published, the most famous of these being Harmonium and Collected Poems (Baym 1146). As Wallace developed as a poet, his poems took on a very abstract air and proved to be much more difficult for readers and critics to understand.
To some readers the absence of the earlier specificity and sparkle also makes the later work less rewarding . . .all agree that Stevens’ss complete Collected Poems is one of the most important books of poetry written in the twentieth century (Baym 1146). This kind of recognition from readers, poets, and critics proves that Wallace Stevens is and was a Modernism literary era writer.
Wallace Stevens's poem "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman" is a prime example of the Modernistic views of Christianity and religion. Wallace Stevens uses his three aspects of poetry in this poem, the real world, the imagination, and poetry itself (Baym 1144). Stevens viewed poetry as “supreme fiction” (Wallace 1147), as he was very “concerned about what active role poetry might play in the world” (Baym 1146). Wallace was devoted to giving his readers works of poems that reflected the change in their world, lives, and beliefs.
Baym, Nina. "Wallace Stevens." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. 1144-146. Print.
Stevens, Wallace. "The High-Toned Old Christian Woman." 1979. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Fourth ed. Vol. 2. New York,: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1444-447. Print.