Wallace Stevens

Witty, ironic, and thought-provoking, the experimental style of Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) forever changed the landscape of modern verse. This collection includes 82 works by the 1955 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, including such oft-studied compositions as "Sunday Morning," "Peter Quince at the Clavier," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," and the title piece.

An executive with a Connecticut-based insurance company, Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) wrote poetry in the evenings and during his daily commute. Harmonium, his first collection of verse, was published when he was 44 years old. Although largely overlooked upon its 1923 debut, the compilation is recognized today as an important contribution to Modernism, offering a diverse range of satirical and philosophical lyrical works that explore the nature of...

"The Collected Poems" is the one volume that Stevens intented to contain all the poems he wished to preserve, presented in the way he wanted. An essential collection for all readers of poetry, it is an enduring monument to his dazzling achievement. Originally published in 1954 to honor Stevens's seventy-fifth birthday, the book was rushed into print for the occasion and contained scores of errors. These have now been corrected in one place for the...

When Opus Posthumous first appeared in 1957, it was an appropriate capstone to the career of one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. It included many poems missing from Stevens's Collected Poems, along with Stevens's characteristically inventive prose and pieces for the theater. Now Milton J. Bates, the author of the acclaimed Wallace Stevens: A Mythology of Self, has edited and revised Opus Posthumous to correct the previous edition's...

Poetry.

What country makes the best chocolate? Most people would answer "Switzerland" or, if they're discerning, "Belgium" or "France." But, how many cocoa trees grow in Zurich? Lyon? Antwerp? Shouldn't the country known for growing the best cocoa beans be the one that makes the best chocolate? So, captivated by theories of international trade bit with precious little knowledge of cocoa or chocolate, Steven Wallace set out to build the Omanhene Cocoa Bean...

An account of Stevens' early life, incorporating his journal and other writings.