Or maybe a developement of thought.
The blackbird in Stevens' "Thirteen Ways to Look at a Blackbird" is a creature Stevens associates with superstition in order to undermine it some. Each Way is like a Japanese print, simple, elegant precise. There are 13 ways, which is not an unlucky number in non-western cultures. And, in all the stanzas with first person, the blackbird is associated with mind and knowledge, and always has more smarts than the speaker . . . the blackbird is the speakers muse and inspiration.
The song that plays 'til I'm dead.
2 comments:
I thought it very interesting the way you described 13 Way of Looking at a Blackbird in our essay discussions the other day. I hadn't remembered all that much about this piece and I must admit I put it out of my mind somewhat. I like the line that talked about a man and a woman fit best together when a blackbird is in between (or something to that effect. I thought of many interpretations of this line yet yours was not one of them. I love gaining new insights.
Thanks for enlightening me on what exactly happened during this poem. I liked how you ties superstition into the piece. That really opened up the concept of the poem to me. Thanks again.
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