Six Significant Landscapes
An old man sitsIn the shadow of a pine treeIn China.He sees larkspur,Blue and white,At the edge of the shadow,Move in the wind.His beard moves in the wind.The pine tree moves in the wind.Thus water flowsOver weeds.
The night is of the colorOf a woman’s arm:Night, the female,Obscure,Fragrant and supple,Conceals herself.A pool shines,Like a braceletShaken in a dance.
I measure myselfAgainst a tall tree.I find that I am much taller,For I reach right up to the sun,With my eye;And I reach to the shore of the seaWith my ear.Nevertheless, I dislikeThe way the ants crawlIn and out of my shadow.
When my dream was near the moon,The white folds of its gownFilled with yellow light.The soles of its feetGrew red.Its hair filledWith certain blue crystallizationsFrom stars,Not far off.
Not all the knives of the lamp-posts,Nor the chisels of the long streets,Nor the mallets of the domesAnd high towers,Can carveWhat one star can carve,Shining through the grape-leaves.
Rationalists, wearing square hats,Think, in square rooms,Looking at the floor,Looking at the ceiling.They confine themselvesTo right-angled triangles.If they tried rhomboids,Cones, waving lines, ellipses--As for example, the ellipse of the half-moon--Rationalists would wear sombreros.
Words in this poem
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Six Significant Landscapes is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harmonium, Project Gutenberg ebook #78743; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Wallace Stevens, Six Significant Landscapes, in Harmonium (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #78743, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stevens-harmonium/six-significant-landscapes.html, id L01056.
Form and metre
Six Significant Landscapes is 56 lines in 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ------AAA-- sits · tree · china · larkspur · white · shadow · windA · windA · windA · flows · weeds
- 2 --A-A---- color · arm · femaleA · obscure · suppleA · herself · shines · bracelet · dance
- 3 -A--AA---- myself · treeA · taller · sun · eyeA · seaA · ear · dislike · crawl · shadow
- 5 ----AA- posts · streets · domes · towers · carveA · carveA · leaves
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An old man sits | 4 | ···· |
| In the shadow of a pine tree | 8 | ··/····· |
| In China. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| He sees larkspur, | 4 | ··/· |
| Blue and white, | 3 | ··· |
| At the edge of the shadow, | 7 | ·····/· |
| Move in the wind. | 4 | ···· |
| His beard moves in the wind. | 6 | ······ |
| The pine tree moves in the wind. | 7 | ······· |
| Thus water flows | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Over weeds. | 3 | ··· |
| The night is of the color | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of a woman’s arm: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Night, the female, | 4 | ··/· |
| Obscure, | 2 | ˘/ |
| Fragrant and supple, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Conceals herself. | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| A pool shines, | 3 | ··· |
| Like a bracelet | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Shaken in a dance. | 5 | /˘··· |
| I measure myself | 5 | ·/˘·/ |
| Against a tall tree. | 5 | ····· |
| I find that I am much taller, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For I reach right up to the sun, | 8 | ········ |
| With my eye; | 3 | ··· |
| And I reach to the shore of the sea | 9 | ········· |
| With my ear. | 3 | ··· |
| Nevertheless, I dislike | 7 | ·˘˘/·˘/ |
| The way the ants crawl | 5 | ····· |
| In and out of my shadow. | 7 | ·····/· |
| When my dream was near the moon, | 7 | ······· |
| The white folds of its gown | 6 | ······ |
| Filled with yellow light. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The soles of its feet | 5 | ····· |
| Grew red. | 2 | ·· |
| Its hair filled | 3 | ··· |
| With certain blue crystallizations | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| From stars, | 2 | ·· |
| Not far off. | 3 | ··· |
| Not all the knives of the lamp-posts, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor the chisels of the long streets, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Nor the mallets of the domes | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And high towers, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Can carve | 2 | ·· |
| What one star can carve, | 5 | ····· |
| Shining through the grape-leaves. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Rationalists, wearing square hats, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Think, in square rooms, | 4 | ···· |
| Looking at the floor, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Looking at the ceiling. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| They confine themselves | 5 | ·˘/˘/ |
| To right-angled triangles. | 7 | ··/˘/·˘ |
| If they tried rhomboids, | 5 | ····· |
| Cones, waving lines, ellipses-- | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| As for example, the ellipse of the half-moon-- | 12 | ··˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Rationalists would wear sombreros. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.