But to impose is not To discover. To discover an order as of A season, to discover summer and know it, To discover winter and know it well, to find Not to impose, not to have reasoned at all, Out of nothing to have come on major weather, It is possible, possible, possible. It must Be possible. It must be that in time The real will from its crude compoundings come, Seeming at first, a beast disgorged, unlike, Warmed by a desperate milk. To find the real, To be stripped of every fiction except one, The fiction of an absolute - Angel, Be silent in your luminous cloud and hear The luminous melody of proper sound.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The poet argues that imposing order is not discovery; true discovery comes from observing natural cycles and stripping away falsehoods to find the real, even if it feels like a beast emerging from milk.
- In plain terms
- Discovery means observing natural order without imposing, shedding falsehoods to find reality.
- What can you take from it?
- Seek truth by observing natural patterns and letting go of imposed structures.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does 'not imposing' look like in your work?
- How do you differentiate between true discovery and forced order?
Another view
The language is highly metaphorical, making practical guidance vague.
More from Wallace Stevens
He imposes orders as he thinks of them, As the fox and snake do. It is a brave affair.
Permalink to quote #162 What am I to believe? If the angel in his cloud, Serenely gazing at the violent abyss, Plucks on his strings to pluck abysmal glory, Leaps downward through eve…
Permalink to quote #164 Straight to the utmost crown of night he flew. The nothingness was a nakedness, a point Beyond which thought could not progress as thought. He had to choose. B…
Permalink to quote #161
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