Metaphors Of A Magnifico
Twenty men crossing a bridge,
Into a village,
Are twenty men crossing twenty bridges,
Into twenty villages,
Or one man
Crossing a single bridge into a village.
This is old song
That will not declare itself . . .
Twenty men crossing a bridge,
Into a village,
Are
Twenty men crossing a bridge
Into a village.
That will not declare itself
Yet is certain as meaning . . .
The boots of the men clump
On the boards of the bridge.
The first white wall of the village
Rises through fruit-trees.
Of what was it I was thinking?
So the meaning escapes.
The first white wall of the village . . .
The fruit-trees. . . .
Thoughts while you’re walking? marching? with a destination?
See Also: Wednesday Poem: Wallace Stevens-Anecdote of The Jar
This is one of my favourite Wallace Stevens poems. The other is ‘Disillusionment at 10 o’clock’. Thanks for posting 🙂
Thank you for commenting! Always good to find another Stevens admirer roaming the landscape.
I once memorized ‘The Idea Of Order At Key West,’ and it’s still floating around in there, somewhere in keener sounds.