by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)
Of mere being
Language: English
The palm at the end of the mind, Beyond the last thought, rises In the bronze distance. A gold-feathered bird Sings in the palm, without human meaning, Without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason That makes us happy or unhappy. The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The palm stands on the edge of space. The wind moves slowly in the branches. The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.
Authorship:
- by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), "Of mere being", 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), "Of mere being", 1972, first performed 1972 [ soprano, cello, and piano ], from Last Poems of Wallace Stevens, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 75