The House Was Quiet and The World Was Calm
Wallace Stevens begins this poem with the line 'The house was quiet and the world was calm.' This, also being the title, sets the scene. The adjectives 'quiet' and 'calm,' complement each other, the former referring to the physical noise level and the latter revealing the mood of the house. Both are descriptive and in some ways could personify the house, suggesting that the state of peace in this opening stanza is inherent behavior of this abode.
The first active phrase, 'the reader became the book,' emphasized by alliteration, is a sort of reverse personification. The reader is described in this metaphor as becoming an inanimate object, yet, upon reading further, one learns of their deep experience of the book. They intertwine with the book in such a way that their very words are the narrative, seen in the line 'the words were spoken as if there was no book.' This suggests the content of the book, the narrative, becomes reality for the reader, as if the reader is the subject of the book rather than simply the inanimate book itself. This, in itself, is a comment on the nature of a book - being the truth of the author, an idea suggested in the mentioning of 'the scholar to whom his book is true.' The reader 'wanted much most to be [this] scholar,' to experience the book authentically and first-hand.
The close and personal encounter with the book is enabled by the atmosphere in which it is being read. The opening line 'the house was quiet and the world was calm,' is repeated and the theme of quietness and tranquility is weaved throughout the poem through the repetition of the adjectives 'quiet' and 'calm,' which become the foundation for this poem. This mirrors the fact that the peaceful mood these adjectives describe has become the foundation for an immersive reading experience. As Stevens writes, 'The quiet was part of the meaning, part of the mind: The access of perfection to the page.' The reader is allowed to sit in the stillness and appreciate the book and all that it says.
The metaphor is completed in the final couplets, as Stevens writes the metaphor, 'The truth in a calm world, In which there is no other meaning, itself is calm, itself is summer and night, itself is the reader leaning late and reading there.' He repeats both the physical elements of the poem, such as the 'reader' and the 'night,' but also mentions the abstract concepts such as 'meaning,' and 'calm,' this time as a noun. He connects the dots to reveal intertwined nature of truth and tranquility. He points out that the truth itself can bring peace and is peaceful if that is what matters in the world and if the world is still and receives the truth.
Stevens comments on the change from familiar writing styles with regards to poetry at his time of writing to the styles of modern poetry. The poem begins with the narrator describing a more traditional, basic sense of poetry in the active phrase 'The poem of the mind in the act of finding /What will suffice.' He highlights the difference in focus between modern poetry and that which he is familiar with in the final line of the poem, 'The poem of the act of the mind.' He uses this pun, a play on the opening line, to show that whilst traditional or contemporary poetry focuses on delivering the message of the mind, a person's ideas and thoughts, in a way that is appropriate, modern poetry tries to portray what the mind is doing, how it came to those ideas and thoughts and why. It also strives to present these ideas in a way that complements the ideas within the poem.
Stevens also uses figurative language and metaphors to display this change in poetry writing further. He juxtaposes contemporary poetry, for which 'the scene was set;' and which 'repeated what/ was in the script,' with a complete change in scenery. This pivotal point is highlighted in the caesura of the first, shorter stanza and the lines 'Then the theatre was changed to something else. Its past was a souvenir.' This sudden change leaves a confused tone, as trends in poetry shift without leaving much i the way of instructions or a script. In fact, even if there were a script, Stevens is noting that modern poetry wouldn't follow it. The past, being 'a souvenir,' presented in a telling metaphor, is something to remember, perhaps even reflect on, but to adapt and change and not repeat.
In the subsequent sections of the poem, Stevens repeats the phrase 'It has to be,' a monosyllabic introduction to all the ideas listed as prerequisites for modern poetry, for example 'It has to construct a new stage,' and 'It has to be living.' He crams so many aspects of modern poetry together and uses the imperative tone of 'it has to be' to show his exasperation at the rigid characteristics of modern poetry that claims to be free from a script, yet has many lines it follows itself.
