Wallace Stevens: A Return to Romanticism

While reading the poems of Wallace Stevens, I couldn't help but think about my experiences with British Romantic poems, and how similar the writing style is between Stevens and British Romantic poets such as William Blake. Stevens, especially when compared to his peers, uses a lot of epic, sweeping verses that attempt to get at the root of humanity or their behaviors. This especially in contrast to American moderist poets such as Frost or Eliot, who instead seek to try and explain one particular nuisance or incident of one particular man. In addition to what their poems examine, Stevens uses imagery on a greater scope then his contemporaries. Rather then focusing on something like a wall or a cityscape, Stevens is more universal in his similes and metaphors. The romantic tendencies of Stevens' poetries combined with this moderist perspectives and sensibilties creates a unique hybrid in poetry indeed.