A musing on Wallace Stevens' "The Snow Man"--

Snowing again.

Sigh.

We went from -22 on Sunday night, to more snow. 



I'm reminded of the poem by Wallace Stevens, "The Snow Man," which begins,

"One must have a mind of winter" and then ends "And nothing himself, beholds/ Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is." 

The poem is one long sentence, broken into five three-line stanzas. Because it is one sentence, it contains, quite literally, one admittedly complex thought. What does it mean to "have a mind of winter," and why is it necessary in order to ponder the almost koan-like concept of "nothing that is not there and the nothing that is." 

What is not there can be taken literally: we can see what is missing in the landscape, especially if it is a familiar one. But to behold "the nothing that is" might take a little longer. What is that? What does it look like? I imagine the snow covered terrain, the unusual humps and slopes of things now lost to sight. Is that a chair under there? Where did the path lights go? Weren't there three steps up to the door? 

Or is this deeper, as an ontological thought? Does it lead us to consider the transitory nature of things that we've become accustomed to? All will be, in the final analysis, a "nothing," right? 

I'm not sure I have a "mind of winter," but it's interesting to consider the last two lines of Stevens' poem. Let me know what you think. 

Stay warm. Huddle up with the loved ones. 

C

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