Wednesday, February 02, 2005
I have so many thoughts regarding Josh's notes toward "Notes Toward . . ." But I think I'll just say my own shorthand take on where I think Stevens was going for now, and not sort out the vocabularies yet:
It Must Change (roughly translates to) It must constantly be what it is (that is, anything that truly exists, exists in a changing state);
It Must be Abstract (roughly translates to) It must not be what it is (sort of a Godelian self-transcendent set);
It Must Give Pleasure (roughly translates to) It must be what it is not.
I think all these categories are fulfilled by a cat, sitting in a room (well, actually, by a cat sitting anywhere. Cats are so good at being cats). This is sort of how I think of the qualities Stevens was suggesting the supreme fiction manifest.
It Must Change (roughly translates to) It must constantly be what it is (that is, anything that truly exists, exists in a changing state);
It Must be Abstract (roughly translates to) It must not be what it is (sort of a Godelian self-transcendent set);
It Must Give Pleasure (roughly translates to) It must be what it is not.
I think all these categories are fulfilled by a cat, sitting in a room (well, actually, by a cat sitting anywhere. Cats are so good at being cats). This is sort of how I think of the qualities Stevens was suggesting the supreme fiction manifest.
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I like this a lot, Stuart. Considerably more economical than my own post, too.
But I must admit to being a dog person, in life and probably in poetry too.
But I must admit to being a dog person, in life and probably in poetry too.
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
At first I had a hard time wrapping my mind around your post, so I thought about it, then set it aside, then this kind of came up, and I think I get where your coming from a little better now.
That's funny what you say about being a dog person! After I posted, I began thinking, "what about a dog? No, a dog is definitely what it is, but is also definitely not what it is not." Faithful, lacking that majesterial enigmatic quality, I suppose I meant. Then I thought of Stevens line about poetry being a lion in the heart, maybe that's where the cat image comes from.
I've always been a dog person, too, at least in life (and desired to be so in poetry, to less success). Painfully so.
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At first I had a hard time wrapping my mind around your post, so I thought about it, then set it aside, then this kind of came up, and I think I get where your coming from a little better now.
That's funny what you say about being a dog person! After I posted, I began thinking, "what about a dog? No, a dog is definitely what it is, but is also definitely not what it is not." Faithful, lacking that majesterial enigmatic quality, I suppose I meant. Then I thought of Stevens line about poetry being a lion in the heart, maybe that's where the cat image comes from.
I've always been a dog person, too, at least in life (and desired to be so in poetry, to less success). Painfully so.
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