Analyzing The Poem 'Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird'

Restoring Faith in Life through Nature Looking beyond the surface and finding meaning in life is important in all aspects of our lifestyle. The poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”, written by Wallace Stevens, digs deep into colder weather and shows the beauty that is found during winter time and how it relates to everyday human life. In each stanza a different perspective and action is reported from one of the thirteen black birds. Like a traditional haiku, Steven’s relates to seasons and nature in order to compare nature with everyday human life and to reveal the beauty found in the colder seasons.
The poem consist of thirteen stanzas that are much like a sequence of thirteen shorter poems. All of the stanzas belong together to an extent, they do work individually. Each stanza delivers similarities to the haiku. A traditional haiku is made up in three lines that have five syllables, seven syllables, and then five syllables. Stevens does not mirror the exact form …show more content…
He wants the reader to look beyond the surface of the poem and find the actual meaning that is important in nature as well as in every human’s lifestyle. The poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”, written by Wallace Stevens, incorporates seasons and different aspects of nature to shows the beauty that is found during winter time that is somewhat over looked. Stevens also carefully relates this to one’s life from their mental consciousness to one physically growing older and aging. Through the form of the poem, each stanza is given by a different perspective and action that is reported from one of the thirteen black birds. Like a traditional haiku, Steven’s creates an atmosphere in his poem that refers to seasons and nature in order to compare with everyday human life and the beauty found in the colder