Essay Questions

In “The Idea of Order at Key West,” Stevens explains that modern poets must use their poetry to tell their readers exactly what they want to hear. Is he suggesting that modern readers are not intelligent enough to be challenged by poetry? Explain.

No, Wallace Stevens is not suggesting that modern readers are not challenged by poetry anymore. Rather, he is suggesting that poetry must remain relevant. For it to do so, it must appeal to its readers. He also seems to believe that poetry might be a dying art. As a result, he understands that, in order for it to appeal to readers, it must pander a bit to their wants and desires. Despite this, he’s not arguing that readers are unintelligent or incapable of being challenged. He’s simply pointing out that poetry is a very specific art, one that has the potential to be moving, relevant, and life altering. In order for it to achieve this, however, it must appeal to its target audience.

In “Of Modern Poetry,” Stevens states that poetry “has to think about war.” What does this mean and why does Stevens believe it?

This means that poetry, contrary to popular belief, should be more than just “fluff” literature. It has to be historically and politically significant. It must depict more than just the happy and surface-level parts of life. Stevens firmly believed that poetry should confront and depict the struggles, trials, and hardships of life. Stevens likely believed this due to his fondness for and obsession with poetry. Stevens firmly believed in the life-altering powers of poetry. This is precisely why he believed poets should depict relevant and real-world issues, rather than surface-level and superfluous issues.

In “The Idea of Order at Key West,” Stevens speaks of the language that poets use in their work. He suggests that poets must abstain from using the language of old and must instead update their vernacular to appeal to a wider readership. Do you think such an update can help return the relevance of poetry? Or is poetry simply a lost art?

Stevens makes a good point that the old, superfluous language used in the time of Shakespeare and Chaucer is not very relevant today. Readers find it hard to connect with such poetry due to the excessive decoding and analyzing that is needed to understand each individual line. When readers are forced to decipher and analyze each word, line, and stanza of a poem, its meaningfulness is severely lessened. As a result,poetry does need to be update if it wants to remain relevant. That is not to say that older works do not hold value. However, the poetry that Stevens wishes to write and share is a type of poetry that changes lives and makes people feel connected. IF poetry is really going to achieve this, it must be relatable and readable.