theory

"I am what is around me.

Women understand this.
One is not duchess
A hundred yards from a carriage.

These, then are portraits:
A black vestibule;
A high bed sheltered by curtains.

These are merely instances."

(Wallace Stevens, Theory)

This poem has such a wonderful thought in the first stanza. The image of a woman, of noble birth, moving away from the public spotlight, and losing her nobility. It also has that Wallyesque sound of proverb.

But also, to my ear at least, "carriage" has other echoes -- baby carriages, funeral carriages. Other places where "one is not a duchess," where the vain trappings of material life are useless.

Then, in the second verse, he takes that idea, and turns it around. If objects determine people, rather than the other way around, then we can speak of a tableau as a portrait.

To my ear, the "subjects" of the two portraits (plural) seem masculine (dark, solid) and feminine (light, hidden).

Yet, the first line still haunts me, "I am what is around me." Not "you" or "they." Part of me wants to think it is a single portrait, defined by two separate moments, or perspectives. There is, to me, the germ of a narrative in those two lines, but I cannot yet trace the connection between them.

paradise lost

In the airport I picked up a copy of this:



Paradise Lost by Milton. (The print is by Gustav Dore.)

It's pretty intense stuff. I have been reading it on the subway, but I can only read a column or two before I have to close my eyes and rest.

you're still here?

Good. Sunday is a day of chores, but I hope to get back to you tonight.

In the meantime here is something to look at:

"Ice flowers" -- a photograph by my friend Laura

born

"I found between moon-rising and moon-setting
The world was round. But not from my begetting."
(Wallace Stevens, New England verses, 2)

Beginnings are so tenuous. But you've got to start somewhere. I turned to the help of my old friend Wallace Stevens. He gave me a good name for this blog, and so I thought I would let him open as well.

So this is my new brain space, it will probably take me some time to get moved in. We'll see.