Most of the poem consists of rules or theories on what "modern poetry" must be. In short: it must be new, it must be grounded in real places, people, and events, and not shy away from unpleasant subjects. Modern poetry must be intently focused on the acts of the mind itself, and must give people a way to find satisfaction in their lives.
The poem begins with one of these direct definitions of modern poetry: it is "The poem of the mind in the act of finding / What will suffice." In the short first stanza, Stevens writes that poetry has not always faced the challenges it faces now (in 1942); but now, instead of merely repeating established forms, it has to adapt to a new world.
He continues with the rules mentioned above throughout the longer second stanza, and launches into a long extended simile in which poetry is "like an insatiable actor," speaking into the "ear of the mind" in an effort to express emotions. The actor is then described also as a musician, with poetry being an instrument with the power to make things make sense within the listener's mind.
In the last three lines of stanza two, set off by a broken line, Stevens writes that modern poetry must allow people to find "satisfaction," in one of any number of everyday ways. The poem ends by reasserting that a poem is an "act of the mind."
