The Emperor

The poetry of Wallace Stevens has been said to be in a class by itself. The sheer difficultly in comprehending the philosophical tones, when combined with his unusual flair toward elusive and often irrational complex use metaphors is enough to discourage the average reader from enjoying his work. After reading some of his best and now renowned work it becomes obvious to the critical thinking reader, that his work requires complete concentration, to fully understand his intricate stanzas and rhyme patterns that are his valiant attempts to avoid paraphrasing while losing himself and his readers in brilliant language, that are considered a school of poetry in themselves. Wallace Stevens is one the rare poets that any attempt to gain a better understanding of their work is best accompanied with an insight into the poets life and definition of the value or purpose of poetry.

Wallace Stevens was born in Reading Pennsylvania, in October 2, 1879. He attended Harvard University as an undergraduate from 1897 to 1900. Wallace