Nuances of a Theme by Williams
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"Nuances of a Theme by Williams" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium.
| Nuances of a Theme by Williams
It's a strange courage Shine alone, shine nakedly, shine like bronze Lend no part to any humanity that suffuses |
The italicized first lines make up a poem, "El Hombre", by Stevens' modernist contemporary William Carlos Williams. Stevens' own work, parts I and II, can be read as an ironic commentary, mocking the grandiose detachment implied by Williams's precious connection to the remote and infertile star. He compares that star unfavorably with our "half-man, half-star" sun, which nurtures the earth, even in a widow's bird or an old horse, and engages the imagination of humanity — not only the "heroic" poet who would stand apart. The irony here bears comparison to the treatment of the soul's aspiration to high flight in "Invective against Swans". Stevens' preference for a poetry that reflects "my face" and "my inner being" can also be detected in "Metaphors of a Magnifico".
