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Wallace Stevens
“A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman.” Said Wallace Stevens.
Only he would know the true meaning behind this quote, so it seems that he had deep love for his
wife Elise Kachel. He got married to his wife in the year 1909 till death took him. Fifteen years
within their marriage Elise gave birth to their daughter. One of his first major inspirations to
write was a year long vacation to California, his daughter, and his awards.
In 1923 Stevens wrote his first book Harmonium. This book had a variation of eighty-
five poems, and wrote about his life up until he was forty-four. Stevens and his wife went on an
extended trip to California. On this trip he recorded things like nature and landscape in a journal
he kept throughout his trip. The journal he kept was later made into his poem Sea Surface Full of
Clouds that was published in 1924. Although Harmonium has many different poems, Sunday
Morning is the most popular within the book. Although he had published his first two books, did
In 1924 Stevens and Elise had their daughter Holly Stevens. Due to their daughter being
born, Stevens wrote very little and did not publish for nearly 10 years. Wallace was such an
impact in her life, that she became a writer herself just like her father. She wrote her book
Souvenirs and Prophecies: The Young Wallace Stevens. Not only did she write a book about her
father, but edited many of Wallace’s poems. Unfortunately, her father died from stomach
cancer, and she died from lung cancer. Her best memory as a child was seeing her father receive
many awards.
Ramirez |2
Wallace’s first award was received in 1950 for a literary on an American poet
recognizing the best book of new verses, which was a lifetime achievement announced at Yale
University. Among many awards Wallace had the privilege to win two awards of the National
Book Award for Poetry in 1951 and 1955, and has been the only person to win two. Wallace was
so talented that he also received awards from the Nation in 1936 and the Harriet Monroe Award
in 1946. Over his 76 years of life, Wallace achieved to win many awards through out his years
and it is something that he was able to look at and see his success. His greatest success of all
Wallace had much success and inspired many, all his awards show exactly that.
Regardless of what his father wanted for him, he became who he wanted to be, a writer and not a
lawyer. His work continues to travel around the world and inspire many to become the writer
that they yearn to be. There is no greater example of a writer than Wallace Stevens.
Ramirez |3
Work Cited
Healey, Christina. "Wallace Stevens." Wallace Stevens (9781429815031), 8/1/2017, p. 1.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b6h&AN=15323767&site=brc-
live.
Woodland, Malcolm. Wallace Stevens and the Apocalyptic Mode. University Of Iowa
Press, 2005. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e092sww&AN=180367&site=prc-live.
Cook, Eleanor. A Reader's Guide to Wallace Stevens. Princeton University Press, 2009.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=329724&site=ehost-
live.