The Relationship between Art and Nature in Wallace Stevens’ Poetry

李京霖

【Abstract】Wallace Stevens is one of the most important modernist poets in the twentieth century of America. He is always considered as the poets poet or the critics poet. One of the most important characteristics of his poems is the use of image. The abundance of image makes his poems form a steady system of symbolism. The images that Stevens frequently uses are the wilderness and the jar， ocean and song， blackbird and the way of imagination and so on. If observed carefully， one will find that these images are antithetic. Wilderness， ocean， blackbird are the creations of nature. While the jar， the song are the creations of human being. These antithetic images form a very important theme in Stevens poetry， that is， the relationship between art and nature. And this theme appears in many poems of Stevens. The thesis tries to analyze Stevens famous poetry Anecdote of the Jar in order to explore the relationship between art and nature under Stevens writing.

【Key words】image； art； nature； jar

【摘要】華萊士·斯蒂文斯是美國(guó)二十世紀(jì)最重要的現(xiàn)代派詩(shī)人之一。他常常被稱為“詩(shī)人的詩(shī)人”或“批評(píng)家的詩(shī)人”。他的詩(shī)最重要的一個(gè)特點(diǎn)就是對(duì)意象的使用。意象的豐富使他的詩(shī)形成了一個(gè)相對(duì)穩(wěn)定的象征體系。斯蒂文斯慣用的意象有如荒野和壇子，海洋和歌，烏鶇和想象的方式等。仔細(xì)觀察，這些意象都是對(duì)立的。荒野，海洋，烏鶇這些都是屬于大自然的，是自然的創(chuàng)造。而壇子，歌這些都是屬于人為的，是人類藝術(shù)的創(chuàng)造。這些對(duì)立的意象構(gòu)成了斯蒂文斯詩(shī)歌很重要的一個(gè)主題，即藝術(shù)和自然的關(guān)系。這一主題在斯蒂文斯很多的詩(shī)中都有體現(xiàn)。本文試圖分析斯蒂文斯的著名詩(shī)篇《罐子軼事》來探討他筆下藝術(shù)和自然的關(guān)系。

【關(guān)鍵詞】意象 藝術(shù) 自然 罐子

1. Introduction

Wallace Stevens is a very unusual poet in modern American literary history. His first volume of poetry Harmonium， when published， receives a bad sale as there is the rush for Waste Land at that time. The volume of Harmonium is not considered as the masterpiece of American modernist poetry until 1940s. He produces a lot of excellent poetry like Anecdote of the Jar， Sunday Morning， The Man with the Blue Guitar and so on. In the beginning of 1950s， Stevens receives several awards like National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize， which makes him become as important as Robert Frost and Ezra Pound in the history of American poetry.

Stevens does not belong to any genre， and he never wants to imitate anyone or any genre. In the use of images， he dares to use the image which people dare not to use. Like in Anecdote of the Jar， the wilderness of Tennessee and the jar form a pair of images. In the Idea of Order at Key West， the ocean and the song make up a pair of image. These pairs of images are antithetic. The wilderness of Tennessee and the ocean belongs to the creation of nature； while the jar and the song belong to the category of art creations of human being. These antithetic images in Stevens poetry compose one of most important themes in his poetry， that is， the relationship between art and nature， or in another way， the relationship between imagination and reality.

Wallace Stevens was absolutely committed to the notion that a poet lives in two worlds—the world of reality and the world of imagination—and builds bridges between them. （Chang Yaoxin 185） For Stevens， the duty of the artist is to build a bridge between the world of nature and the world of art， or the world of imagination and the world of reality. Wallace Stevens is one of the favorite poets of the literary critic Harold Bloom. Bloom has a book for Stevens. In the book Blooms Poet： Wallace Stevens， after analyzing several poetries by Stevens， Bloom points out that the important characteristic of Stevens poetry is the abundance of images and that he bravely uses the image that people dares not to use. （Bloom 126） In the preface of the Chinese translation of Stevens volume of poetry， the translator says that the greatness of Stevens poetry is not only his holding on the tradition of imagination from the Romantic period， but also his holding on the greatness of reality in the modern world. （Chen Dongdong 5）

2. The Relationship between Art and Nature in Anecdote of the Jar

2.1 The Images in Anecdote of the Jar

Anecdote of the Jar is a poem from Wallace Stevens first volume of poetry Harmonium， and it is published in 1919. Let us first see the text of Anecdote of the Jar：

I placed a jar in Tennessee，

And round it was， upon a hill.

It made the slovenly wildness

Surround that hill.

The wilderness rose up to it，

And sprawled around， no longer wild.

The Jar was round upon the ground

And tall and of a port in air.

It took dominion everywhere.

The jar was gray and bare.

It did not give of bird or bush，

Like nothing else in Tennessee. （Ronald， 1154-1155）

In this poem， Stevens fearlessly uses the image of Tennessee， the disordered wilderness. Then we see the jar， a man-made thing， which in Stevens opinion， is the symbol of artistic imagination. Here appear two images and also these two images are antithetic. Tennessee is a symbol of nature， while the jar is the creation of human art. These two images make a clear contrast， which is the common thing in Stevens poetry.

2.2 The Relationship between Art and Nature in Anecdote of the Jar

In the poem Anecdote of the Jar， first we see the wilderness of Tennessee. The wilderness of Tennessee is a symbol of nature as we say in the previous chapter. Tennessees wilderness suggests that it is out of order. We can compare the wilderness of Tennessee to be the symbol of modern society， just as T.S.Eliot considers the modern society as the waste land. Then the jar appears. The jar， the handicraft production， can be compared to the symbol of art. However， the jar is not just only a simple or lifeless handicraft production. Conversely， the jar means the creation with abundant imagination. Of course， the jar which symbolizes the artistic imagination can not give bird or bush as it says in the poem， but it can make the wilderness no longer out of order， in other words， the power of art or imagination gives the order of the wilderness.

The poem seems to be talking about the relationship between art and nature. The world of nature， shapeless and slovenly， takes shape and order from the presence of the jar. The world of art and imagination gives form and meaning to that of nature and reality， thus suggesting， as Stevens may be doing， that any society without art is one without order and that man makes the order he perceives， and the world he inhabits is one he half creates. （Chang Yaoxin 186）. Buttel suggests that the speaker would arrange the wild landscape into the order of a still life， and though his success is qualified， art and imagination do at least impose an idea of order on the sprawling reality.

Here we can see the relationship between art and nature. They are interdependent， correlative and interactional. On one hand， art gives order to the nature or reality. On the other hand， the world of nature exists to determine the limits of art， and imagination can only construct only on the basis of the world of nature. Nature is the basis and origin of the artists creation. For example， without the soil of the wilderness of Tennessee， there will be no materials for the making of the jar. And then the charming of the jar will never show out.

In Wallace Stevens work Anecdote of the Jar， there will be always two worlds： the world of art and the world of nature， or the world of imagination and the world of reality. （Brooks 127）Stevens always manages to keep a balance between art and nature in his works.

3. Conclusion

In this poem， Wallace Stevens presents us the abundant images： the wilderness of Tennessee and the jar. From the antithetic images in these images， we can see one of the important themes of Wallace Stevens poetry； that is， the relationship between art and nature or the relationship between imagination and reality. In this poem， we can see that the wilderness of Tennessee is a deserted place， with no vitality. This condition lasts for a long time until the appearance of the jar which symbolize the world of art. From here， we can see that Stevens emphasizes the importance of art. Without art， this world is a “Waste Land”， depressed， gloomy， with no vitality. Such kind of place will only drive people crazy. While emphasizing the importance of art， Stevens also points out the importance of nature， as nature is the original resource of the creation of all art， like the wilderness of Tennessee provides the soil for the creation of the jar. So the world of art is closely related with the world of nature. In Wallace Stevens opinion， the world of art and the world of nature are interactional and interdependent.

As for this relationship between art and nature， it is just as Henry. W. Wells in his book Introduction to Wallace Stevens says： “if we compare the creation of Stevens to a tree， then we can consider one of his poetrys theme—the relationship between art and nature as the main branch of the tree. And the beauty of the tree is shown in the poetic leaf， the beautiful flower and the plentiful fruitage that multiplies from the main branch， but not in the main branch.” （Wells 4）. Certainly， in the main branch of the relationship between art and nature， Wallace Stevens produces a lot of poetic works. And this theme forms one of the shining characteristics of Wallace Stevens poetry.

References：

[1]Bloom，Harold.Blooms Major Poets：Wallace Stevens.Philadelphia：Chelsea House publishers，2003.

[2]Brooks，Cleanth.Understanding Poetry.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2004.

[3]Stevens，Wallace.The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens.London：Vintage，1990.

[4]Yaoxin，Chang.A survey of American Literature.Tianjin：Nankai University Press，2003.

[5]華萊士·史蒂文斯.陳東東，張棗.最高虛構(gòu)筆記：史蒂文斯詩(shī)文集[M].上海：華東師范大學(xué)出版社，2009.

[6]孫冬.論華萊士·史蒂文斯詩(shī)歌中的意象[J].學(xué)術(shù)交流，2005 （6）：165-167.