Anecdote of the Jar is an imagist poem in which Stevens explores superiority between art and nature. The PPT can provide a brief outline of the poem.

1. Anecdote of the Jar
S. Mohan Raj
rajmohan251@gmail.com
9151660760

2. Anecdote of the Jar
- Wallace Stevens

3. Wallace Stevens
(Oct 2, 1879, U.S. - Aug 2, 1955, Hartford)
American poet explores reality.
Stevens attended Harvard for three years.
Worked briefly for the New York Herald
Tribune.
Won a degree (1904) at the New York Law
School and practiced law in the City.
His first poem appeared in 1914 in Poetry.
In 1916 he joined an insurance firm in
Hartford, rising in 1934 to vice president,
a position he held until his death.
Harmonium (1923), his first book, sold
fewer than 100 copies but received some
favourable critical notices; it was reissued
in 1931 and in 1947. In it, he introduced
the imagination–reality theme.

4. He displayed his most dazzling verbal brilliance in
Harmonium poems like Le Monocle de Mon
Oncle, Sunday Morning, Peter Quince at the
Clavier, Domination of Black and The Emperor
of Ice-Cream.
Sea Surface Full of Clouds described unlikely
equivalents as umbrellas, French phrases, and
varieties of chocolate.
The Comedian as the Letter C, examines the
relation of poet, or man of imagination, to society.
Transport to Summer (1947) incorporated two long
sequences in which he argues that beauty is
inextricably linked with evil.
The Auroras of Autumn (1950) was followed by
his Collected Poems (1954), which earned him
the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Critical essays, The Necessary Angel, appeared in
1951.
After Stevens’ death, Samuel French Morse
edited Opus Posthumous (1957), including
poems, plays, and prose omitted from the earlier
collection.
Wallace Stevens

7. Puzzle resolved
• Anecdote of the Jar by
Wallace Stevens has been
a puzzle for readers.
• It’s a short, lyrical
imagist poem, consisting
of three 4-line stanzas
(quatrains).
• The word ‘Anecdote’,
suggests that it is an
incidental report of a
minor event.
• The speaker is
presumably the author,
appears only in the first
line as I, he detaches
himself as merely an
observer.
Familiarity, simplicity, and detachment serve
energy on contemplating the deeper meaning,
or content, of the poem.

8. Meter and Sounds
 Anecdote of the Jar is written mostly in iambic
tetrameter i.e. lines of four beats with each beat
consisting of an unstressed syllable, followed by a
stressed syllable.
 Most of the lines sound like da-DUM, da-
DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM note line 7.
 Stevens deviates from this meter in a few of the
lines, such as line 3, perhaps the poet wants to pay
special attention to the lines that do not follow the
predominant meter.

9. Meter and Sounds…
 Anecdote of the Jar doesn’t rhyme in the traditional
sense, it plays with the sounds.
 Many words are smooth and soft sounding, such
as round, surround, and ground, while others have breezy
quality, like air, everywhere, and bare.
 The poet uses repetition of ‘il’ in the words,
as hill, wilderness, and wild create a stark with harsher
sounds, such as jar, tall, and port.
 In the final stanza alliteration (bare, bird, and bush),
urges the reader to contemplate those lines.
 Stevens also plays with syllables in his poem, most of
the words are short, simple, and monosyllabic.

10. Summary
Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens
poem through the story of “a jar” and “a hill,”
expresses the progressive overtaking of the industry
over nature. In the final stanza, that overtaking is
revealed to be a sad and absurd prospect.
The poet through comparisons makes it
clear that nature is far more remarkable than the
industry. There are plenty other explanations can be
applied to this poem, the plot is a reflection of this
absurdity.
The three-stanzas combined as a lament
for the forsaking of nature for technical and
technological betterment.

11. Analysis: First Stanza
The narrator begins the poem with a simple proclamation that he “placed a
jar in Tennessee.” It was “round.” This “jar” turned into massive importance since
“[i]t made the slovenly wilderness [s]urround that hill.”
What impact “a jar” could have on “wilderness?”
The reader must look to metaphor and symbolism for an answer. Stevens is
relaying a situation where perfection demands attention and admiration. The “jar”
was “placed” “upon a hill” so the “wilderness” has to grow to reach its superior
position, and in the notion that “wilderness” itself has been labeled as “slovenly”.
This is a general representation of the transition of the world from natural
to man-made structures. “Jar” represent the industrial era and fall of “wilderness.”
Why Stevens has selected a “jar” to represent industry?
Maybe the progress of industry started much simpler, it could take the
reader back to the early history of the industry. Stevens shows that even the simplest
of man-made items have the ability to lure people from more natural elements.

12. Analysis: Second Stanza

13. Analysis: Third Stanza
The third stanza begins with a blunt declaration that the jar “took
dominion everywhere.” The sway grew to every place, it gives the theme of
the poem, universality. Ironically, Stevens criticizes “[t]he jar” by saying that
it “was gray and bare” and “did not give of bird or bush.”
Stevens mocks that how unimpressive this “jar” was when
compared to the things around it.
It was almost boring by appearance, and it lacked the natural beauty
and possibility. The “bird[s]” and “bush[es]” could have been striving to be
like.
In fact, if such were the case, “[t]he jar” would have had reason to
envy the “bird or bush,” or anything “else in Tennessee.”
The “gray and bare” industry that overcame nature. This is a
statement that industry itself is “gray and bare” as compared to the “giv[ing]”
nature of “wilderness,” thus this poem is a mocking tale of industry’s rise.

14.  Wallace Stevens’ poem “Anecdote of the Jar”
explores the struggle between humans and
nature. Nature left alone, it grows continuously and
existing harmoniously.
 Every creature, plant, and organisms in nature
plays a role in supporting the rest of the
environment.
 Humans, on the other hand, tend to take over,
destroying everything, and as a result, disrupting the
delicate balance.
 Humans introduce artificiality into the world,
converting nature from its original state of vitality
and freedom to one of repression and control.

15.  In the poem, the jar, a manmade object used for
containment, is the ultimate representation of this
repression.
 Stevens uses style, symbolism, juxtaposition,
personification, and the relationship between the
narrator and the jar to effectively illustrate the
containment imposed on nature by humans.
 A jar is an object, made by man, of unnatural
materials, with an artificial shape.
 A jar also serves as a barrier between what is
inside and what is outside. The lid completely shuts
out the rest of the world.

16.  The jar is personified, it takes on human
characteristics, such as the ability to interact with and
affect the world around it. It represents humanity and
civilization.
 The jar “[taking] dominion everywhere” reveals the
true power of jar over the wilderness.
 The wilderness was suppressed, the jar is capable of
exerting such a force over nature.
 The power behind the jar’s influence over and
interaction with the environment is the narrator, a human
being. Humans do not always directly impact the natural
world, their influence can be felt through the by
products.
 The jar is a symbol for all of humanity, contains the
wilderness, reflecting humanity’s repression of nature.

17.  Stevens contrasts the jar with the environment.
 Firstly, the jar is an inanimate object, manmade,
not a part of the nature surrounding it. The wilderness
is made up of living creatures, plants, and organisms.
 Secondly, the jar is immobile. The wilderness
“rose up” and “sprawled around,” proving it is
capable of movement.
 Lastly, the jar is described as “gray and bare.” It is
dull, plain, and ordinary.
 Wilderness is filled with colour and texture. By
employing these contrasts, Stevens sets up two
opposing forces, the struggle between the jar,
representing humanity, and the wilderness, which
represents the natural world.

18. 1. Containment is an important theme in the poem.
2. The fact that Stevens places the jar in “Tennessee” not only provides a
real-world setting but also emphasizes the theme of containment.
3. Tennessee is an arbitrary boundary created by humans, with the
purpose of taming under the control of man. Their creation is a way for
man to establish his dominion over the unruliness of nature.
4. Furthermore, the poem reflects the theme of containment.
5. The style of writing is succinct, with no unnecessary words.
6. The three stanzas are uniform, each consisting of four lines.
7. Each line is generally the same length, with eight words.
8. The poem is not written in free verse and is free from restrictions.
9. The poet’s conciseness of language and manner of writing echo the
restrictiveness of the jar on the natural world around it.
10. Stevens’ choice of a jar as the subject of the poem successfully
expresses the battle between humanity and the natural world.
11. Nature may still exist but in a different more limited form, such as
potted plant, garden, or park. Rarely it is left to flourish.

19. References:
1. https://www.shmoop.com/anecdote-of-the-jar
2. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/14575/anecdote-of-the-jar
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdote_of_the_Jar
4. Sharma, K.N. "Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens: Summary and Critical
Analysis." Bachelor and Master, 24 Nov. 2013, bachelorandmaster.com/british and
american poetry/anecdote-of-the-jar.html.
5. https://poemanalysis.com/anecdote-of-the-jar-by-wallace-stevens-poem-analysis/