Wallace Stevens: His Life and Work

This video lecture presents an introduction to the life and work of Wallace Stevens, one of America's greatest and oddest poets-- in equal parts philosopher, visionary, and comedian. A high Modernist poet who spent his days working as an insurance lawyer, Stevens was a private man obsessed with understanding the nature of reality. This video lecture is written and narrated by poet Dana Gioia.

Wallace Stevens, the businessman-poet, is one of century's most interesting poets. Wallace Stevens' first book of poetry, "Harmonium" is one of the two best debut collection sin American (you can guess the other). For readers new to Wallace Stevens, start the same way Stevens did-- with "Harmonium".

0:00 - Introduction
2:40 - Stevens attitude on fame, his work, & split life
4:45 - Personal Life
6:20 - Early Life & Harvard
8:00 - Marriage to Elsie Kachel
11:00 - Stevens in New York and failed law caeer
11:45 - Insurance at Hartford Accident and Indemnity
14:36 - Balancing two careers, the businessman poet
16:10 - Harmonium, Steven’s first book
20:29 - Stevens’ personal poetics
23:10 - “The Emperor of Ice Cream” (poem close reading)
27:30 - Stevens’ mature style
27:50 - “Sunday Morning”
29:01 - Stevens’ expansion of imagism into lyricism
30:04 - “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” (poem close reading)
31:45 - The Poet’s Poet
32:44 - Stevens’ long, complicated poems
35:16 - Stevens gets philosophical
37:01 - Deathbed conversion to Catholicism
39:20 - “Peter Quince at the Clavier” (poem close reading)

Twitter: @danagioiapoet
Website: https://danagioia.com