Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird

“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens is a poem that differentiates between what it means to know something at face value and what it means to understand something on a deeper level. Stevens writes a first-person poem about each readers distinct observation of viewing a blackbird. After reading through the poem for a third time and analyzing each stanza, I realized that Stevens wrote each stanza to find new ways of looking at a blackbird. As an observer first, Stevens writes about the physical perception of a blackbird. In other words, he begins the poem with describing the face value of something, like the outer appearances of a blackbird, as well as, building up the setting for the readers. Then Stevens transitions

By the end of the poem, Wallace Stevens has concluded that just by observing this blackbird, a connection so deep has been made, and now the blackbird has become a part of him. For example, the first stanza focuses on the eye of the blackbird, which symbolizes the consciousness of the blackbird. As the poem continues, he writes, “three minds, Like a tree, In which there are three blackbirds.” This is where the connection between observing the blackbird and himself metaphorically being the blackbird is made. Just like a blackbird, Stevens was also to himself and didn’t really stand out much. Stevens lived in a run-of-the-mill Connecticut suburb, where he spent most of his days working for several insurance companies. “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” was first published in a literary journal in 1917, but soon became one of the signature works of Steven’s first poetry collection, Harmonium. However, at the late age of 44, Stevens did not publish Harmonium until 1923. Regardless of having a late start, Stevens went on to have a colorful literary career, winning the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Poems of Wallace