The Plot Against the Giant

Wallace Stevens 1879 (Reading) – 1955 (Hartford)



First Girl
When this yokel comes maundering,
Whetting his hacker,
I shall run before him,
Diffusing the civilest odors
Out of geraniums and unsmelled flowers.
It will check him.

Second Girl
I shall run before him,
Arching cloths besprinkled with colors
As small as fish-eggs.
The threads
Will abash him.

Third Girl
Oh, la...le pauvre!
I shall run before him,
With a curious puffing.
He will bend his ear then.
I shall whisper
Heavenly labials in a world of gutturals.
It will undo him.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 17, 2023

26 sec read
410

Quick analysis:

Scheme abcDeed aDexxd acDbxced
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 475
Words 87
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 6, 8

Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens was an American Modernist poet. more…

All Wallace Stevens poems | Wallace Stevens Books

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