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by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

The Planet on the Table
Language: English 
Ariel was glad he had written his poems.
They were of a remembered time
Or of something seen that he liked.

Other makings of the sun
Were waste and welter
And the ripe shrub writhed.

His self and the sun were one
And his poems, although makings of his self,
Were no less makings of the sun.

It was not important that they survive.
What mattered was that they should bear
Some lineament or character,

Some affluence, if only half-perceived,
In the poverty of their words,
Of the planet of which they were part

Text Authorship:

  • by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), "The Planet on the Table", appears in The Palm at the End of the Mind [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "The Planet on the Table", 1972, first performed 1972 [ soprano, cello, and piano ], from Last Poems of Wallace Stevens, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 94

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