{"id":470,"date":"2009-04-24T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-24T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2009\/04\/wallace_stevensmichael_spaffor\/"},"modified":"2009-04-24T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-24T11:00:00","slug":"wallace_stevensmichael_spaffor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2009\/04\/wallace_stevensmichael_spaffor.html","title":{"rendered":"Wallace Stevens\/Michael Spafford – 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the visual engages the verbal, the former is frequently an illustration of the latter. Michael Spafford’s homages to Wallace Stevens’ poem are a rare choice, not the usual echo. They are a duet with Stevens, a point\/counterpoint.<\/p>\n

Stevens’ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird<\/a> first published, 1917.
Spafford’s woodcuts of the same title, 17.5 by 23 inches, from 1975, with a second entirely different set a decade later. Images via Francine Seders Gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That’s why for each stanza there are two images, the first from 1975, the second from 1986. (Click to enlarge.)<\/p>\n

1.
Among twenty snowy mountains,
\n
The only moving thing
\n
Was the eye of the blackbird.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb1.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n


\n2.
I was of three minds,
\n
Like a tree
\n
In which there are three blackbirds.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird2.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb2.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
3.
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
\n
It was a small part of the pantomime.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird3.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb3.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>4.
A man and a woman
\n
Are one.
\n
A man and a woman and a blackbird
\n
Are one.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird4.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb4.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

5.
I do not know which to prefer,
\n
The beauty of inflections
\n
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
\n
The blackbird whistling
\n
Or just after.
\n
\"spaffordbird5.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb5.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
6.
Icicles filled the long window
\n
With barbaric glass.
\n
The shadow of the blackbird
\n
Crossed it, to and fro.
\n
The mood
\n
Traced in the shadow
\n
An indecipherable cause.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird6.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb6.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>7.
\nO thin men of Haddam,
\n
Why do you imagine golden birds?
\n
Do you not see how the blackbird
\n
Walks around the feet
\n
Of the women about you?<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird7.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb7.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
8.
I know noble accents
\n
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
\n
But I know, too,
\n
That the blackbird is involved
\nIn what I know.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird8.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb8.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
9.
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
\n
It marked the edge
\n
Of one of many circles.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird9.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb9.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
10.
At the sight of blackbirds
\n
Flying in a green light,
\n
Even the bawds of euphony
\n
Would cry out sharply.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird10.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb10.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
11.
He rode over Connecticut
\nIn a glass coach.
\n
Once, a fear pierced him,
\n
In that he mistook
\n
The shadow of his equipage
\n
For blackbirds.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird11.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb11bird.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
12.
\nThe river is moving.
\n
\nThe blackbird must be flying.<\/p>\n

\"spaffordbird12.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
\"spaffordb12.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
13.
It was evening all afternoon.
\n
It was snowing
\n
And it was going to snow.
\n
The blackbird sat
\nIn the cedar-limbs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"spaffordbird13.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"spaffordb13.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the visual engages the verbal, the former is frequently an illustration of the latter. Michael Spafford’s homages to Wallace Stevens’ poem are a rare choice, not the usual echo. They are a duet with Stevens, a point\/counterpoint. Stevens’ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird first published, 1917.Spafford’s woodcuts of the same title, 17.5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}