A substitute for all the gods: This self, not that gold self aloft, Alone, one's shadow magnified, Lord of the body, looking down, As now and called most high, The shadow of Chocorua In an immenser heaven, aloft, Alone, lord of the land and lord Of the men that live in the land, high lord. One's self and the mountains of one's land, Without shadows, without magnificence, The flesh, the bone, the dirt, the stone.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The poem suggests that human selfhood replaces traditional deities, grounding divinity in the physical world and individual identity rather than abstract heavens.
- In plain terms
- We are our own gods, defined by our bodies and land instead of distant divine figures.
- What can you take from it?
- Embrace your physical existence and autonomy as the source of meaning.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you define your own divinity?
- What does it mean to be lord of your land?
Another view
It may overlook the psychological comfort some find in traditional spiritual beliefs.
More from Wallace Stevens
What is there in life except one's ideas. Good air, good friend, what is there in life? Is it ideas that I believe?
Permalink to quote #81 Poetry is the subject of the poem, From this the poem issues and To this returns. Between the two, Between issue and return, there is An absence in reality, Th…
Permalink to quote #83 That I may reduce the monster to Myself, and then may be myself In face of the monster, be more than part Of it, more than the monstrous player of One of its m…
Permalink to quote #80
Related quotes
I am nature.
Jackson PollockJackson Pollock quote #2 I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God a…
Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #3 I saw my Lord with the eye of the heart. I asked: Who art Thou? He answered: Thou.
Al HallajAl Hallaj quote #4