1. Emperor of Ice cream
Call the rollerof big cigars,
The muscular one,and bid him whip
In kitchencups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenchesdawdle insuch dress
As they are usedto wear, and letthe boys
Bring flowersin last month'snewspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The onlyemperor isthe emperorof ice-cream.
Cigarsand ice cream beingprepared.Women("wenches") are hangingoutandboysare
bringingflowers.
Is ita festive occasion?Lookstobe a partyscene but like typical Stevenspoemithasa twist,this
isan occasion of a funeral.
Who isthe narrator? Not clear.
Stevens’backgroundof Cubafamousforcigars.Special occasion,reference of cigartomasculine
physique.
The muscularman is askedtowhip‘concupiscent’(women),occasionisice creamservedin
cups.
Wenches can dawdle indressesastheyare comfortable withwithoutworryingaboutsociety
and boyscan bringflowersinoldnewspapers.
‘be’(being) be the finale (end) of seem(appearance)
Ice creamlooks solidbutcan soonmeltlike life.
Take from the dresserof deal.
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroideredfantailsonce
And spread it so as to coverher face.
If her horny feetprotrude,they come
To show how cold she is,and dumb.
Let the lamp affixits beam.
The onlyemperor isthe emperorof ice-cream.
2. Woman whoisdeadmighthave beenrichbut wouldhave beenmiserbecausebuttonsare
missingfromherdress.
Fantailsrefertopeacockwhoappearsbeautiful butcanbe of no use forhuman beings.‘All that
glittersisnotgold.’
The narrator commandssomeone tocoverthe face of a deadwomanwitha designof fantails.
Againappearance Vs.realityinuse.
Lamp affixedinthe beamhastoillumine the face of adeadwoman.Thus,realityinlight,once
understoodcanonlyleadtoknowledge.
3. The Snow Man
One must have a mind ofwinter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-treescrustedwithsnow;
And have beencolda long time
To beholdthe junipersshaggedwith ice,
The sprucesrough in the distant glitter
Thingof beautyisa joyforeversaidKeats.Inorderto see the beautyof winteror be inspiredby
it,one must have a mindof winterto regard(notnecessarilywithreality)andbeholdjunipersin
ice.
Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery inthe sound of the wind,
In the soundof a fewleaves,
One mustnot pay attentiontonegativeslike roughwinterormiseryina soundof wind.If one
has a rightframe of mind,one can findbeautyeveninoddthings.
Whichis the soundof the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowinginthe same bare place
The same wind,the same tree looknegativeif the personhas‘summeronmind’.Thus,
Shakespeare’sperspective,‘nothingisgoodor badin the worldbutthe thinkingmakesitso.’
For the listener,wholistensinthe snow,
And, nothinghimself,beholds
Nothingthat is not there and the nothing that is.
Person, whoisnothing,cansee nothing. Thus,withoutperspective ‘nothingexists’.
4. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Bird
Among twenty snowymountains,
The onlymoving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
Againstthe huge backgroundof white snowymountainswhichare still andstagnant,the poet
findsa blackbirdandfindsthatitseyesare moving.It’sa coloron paper!
I was ofthree minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.
Beinginthree mindsisexaggerationof havingindecisions.
The blackbird whirledinthe autumn winds.
It was a small part ofthe pantomime.
From the reference towinter,the poetnow movestoautumnandfeelsthe birdflew like a
performance of pantomime where motionandactionare the key.
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.
Man anda womaninlove lookone butwhenthe blackbirdhoversaroundthemitlookslike
three become one.
I do not know whichto prefer,
The beauty ofinflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
5. The blackbird whistling
Or just after.
The poetwho isin twomindsisnot able todecide whichone isbetter,the soundof the birdor
the impliedmeaningof the soundwhichcanbe understoodwhensilence isthere.
Iciclesfilledthe longwindow
Withbarbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossedit, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.
The poetseesthe birdflyingfromthisside tothat side throughthe ice like aglasswindow. The
poetalsodoesnot knowthe reasonwhythe birdkeepsonflyingandtraces its shadow onthe
ice.
O thin men ofHaddam,
Whydo you imagine goldenbirds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walksaround the feet
Of the womenabout you?
The poetasks questionstothe people of the townasto whytheykeeponlookingforthe golden
birdwhentheyhave the blackbirdflyinginfrontof themevery day.The poetalsoreminds
people thatthe birdkeepsonflyingnearthe womenof the townsothe people can’taffordto
ignore them.
I know noble accents
And lucid,inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
6. That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.
The poetknowsthe elevatedartformsbutat the same time,appreciatesthe commonaround
himalso.
Whenthe blackbird flewout of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.
Our eyesdecide horizonsonlyasfaras our gaze ends.The horizon isnothingbutour perception.
At the sight of blackbirds
Flyingin a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Wouldcry out sharply.
Thiscomplex stanzausespicture foreffect.‘Bawd’ –isa womanof pleasure.
He rode overConnecticut
In a glasscoach.
Once,a fear piercedhim,
In that he mistook
The shadow of hisequipage
For blackbirds.
The traveleristravelingisacoach of glasswindow andhe is afraidof the shadow of the coach
and considers itasblack bird.Remember–blackbirdcan also be a source of fearas in stories.
The river ismoving.
The blackbird must be flying.
The stanza showsmotioninlife.Itcanmeanaction inlife thatmusthappenall the time or it
may declare springwhich ismigratingtime forthe blackbird.
It was eveningall afternoon.
It was snowing
7. And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.
In contrastto the earlierstanzainpresenttense,thisisinpastandtakesus to winterwhere the
birddidnot flyand justsat inthe tree.
