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a cigar-rolling man whips 'concupiscent curds' of ice cream as the wenches come and go; in the adjoining bedroom, a dead woman lies in undignified discard, 'cold ... and dumb' under a sheet, her horny feet protruding. Both rooms teach the cynical wisdom that 'The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream': what you see is what you get; look out for Number One; enjoy the sweet cold before the bitter cold claims you."
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sees the poem as a harsh didactic lesson studying the use of the metaphor of "coldness." Grey states, "Stevens knows the corruptions of coldness as well as its beauties. Chief among them is the heartless selfishness, represented by the sweet sinister cold of 'The
Emperor of Ice-Cream.' In the kitchen
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The simple poetic structure is of two stanzas related by an identical closing verse in each stanza. The poem is only clarified in its allusion upon completion of the reading of the second stanza which identifies a "cold" and "dumb" body as common references to a dead body. In this case a dead body is
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and a scholar of
American literature, this poem was composed by Stevens for his daughter. Stevens had a strong sense of fulfillment of life. He did not see death in a special light. This poem is telling us to take things easy, but seriously. Ice cream is an incarnation of a sense of fulfillment. It
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According to Norman
Foerster, instigator of the New Humanist movement in American criticism, this poem has been discussed for a long time, but maybe we mistake an exact meaning. Foerster wrote: “At this funeral (or wake) there is to be neither the pretense nor the fact of morbid grief.” These are
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169:. The "emperor" of ice cream is illustrated through imagery by Stevens as sufficiently ruddy to churn the ice-cream and blend its sugar in order to make the customary funeral treat used in the country.
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expressed by ice-cream in this poem. At the same time there is neither disrespect for the dead nor a blinking of the fact of poverty and death. The world of his poem is a realistic and stable one.
137:. The poem "wears a deliberately commonplace costume", he wrote in a letter, "and yet seems to me to contain something of the essential gaudiness of poetry; that is the reason why I like it".
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218:, beat poet and innovator of a stylistic form known as "word jazz," recorded a rendition of Stevens's poem to the backing of eerily bubbly circus music on his 1994 album
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Misha
Chellam of the acoustic pop group Speechwriters LLC wrote a song entitled "The Emperor of Ice Cream" while in his high school folk-pop group Sid and Me.
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is easily melted, but it is a natural thing. Stevens tells us to enjoy the ice cream now. Ice-cream is a symbol of the summit of ordinary people’s delight.
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was a member in a band named
Emperors of Ice Cream which recorded two songs, "March of the Sinister Ducks" and "Old Gangsters Never Die".
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wrote an avant garde, mixed-media dramatization of the poem for eight vocal soloists, piano, percussion, and double bass in 1961–62.
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The character Amelia
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Morse, Samuel French. "Wallace
Stevens: The Poems of Our Climate – Harold Bloom's Vast Accumulation".
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Waga
Amerika bunkashi (My American Culture Journal)/ Shyunsuke Kamei / Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. /2003
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is the title of a novelette and a short-story collection of the same name by
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reflects on the poem throughout the novel, wondering what the ice cream symbolizes.
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539:"Sid and Me – Misc – SWLLC Digital Archive – Speechwriters LLC Free MP3s"
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An Irish band called itself
Emperor of Ice Cream and released two EPs,
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Frogs Eat Butterflies. Snakes Eat Frogs. Hogs Eat Snakes. Men Eat Hogs
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Mariani, Paul. ‘’The Whole Harmonium: The Life of Wallace Stevens,’’
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reads the poem for a high school class and wonders about its meaning.
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The heroine of Laura McNeal's National Book Award-nominated novel
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published a revision of his clarinet quartet named after the poem.
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frequently cites "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" as his favorite poem.
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Cy Est Pourtraicte, Madame Ste Ursule, et Les Unze Mille Vierges
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According to Syunsuke Kamei, an honorary professor at the
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used the phrase "finale of seem" in their 1988 song "
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is named "The Emperor of Icecream" after this poem.
239:made several allusions to this poem; in his novels
1065:Jasmine's Beautiful Thoughts Underneath The Willow
165:, which Stevens visited during business trips to
612:. Volume 1, Numbers 3 & 4 (Fall/Winter 1977)
157:in the poem is being prepared for serving at a
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953:The Curtains in the House of the Metaphysician
634:The Emperor of Ice Cream: Cummings Study Guide
109:The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
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86:As they are used to wear, and let the boys
715:The Paltry Nude Starts on a Spring Voyage
97:Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
88:Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
646:Explanations of the meaning of this poem
380:The protagonist of Andrew Smith's novel
1156:Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
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581:"Publication: The Empire of Ice Cream"
101:And spread it so as to cover her face.
99:On which she embroidered fantails once
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1205:The Revolutionists Stop for Orangeade
1086:The Bird with the Coppery, Keen Claws
287:A soap made by the cosmetics company
103:If her horny feet protrude, they come
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84:Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
619:. Vol VII (November 1948), unpaged.
373:Anthony Cappella published a novel
82:In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
925:Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
904:On the Manner of Addressing Clouds
105:To show how cold she is, and dumb.
80:The muscular one, and bid him whip
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1121:Two Figures in Dense Violet Night
519:. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1960,
278:referenced this poem in his book
932:A High-Toned Old Christian Woman
515:Foerster, Norman; Falk, Robert.
294:The song "The King of Cream" by
266:The poem was quoted in the film
63:Problems playing this file? See
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21:The Emperor of Ice-Cream (novel)
1191:The Surprises of the Superhuman
1142:Hymn from a Watermelon Pavilion
911:Of Heaven Considered as a Tomb
876:Anecdote of Men by the Thousand
799:Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores
123:'s first collection of poetry,
19:For the Brian Moore novel, see
16:Poem written by Wallace Stevens
995:Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock
890:Floral Decorations for Bananas
771:Nuances of a Theme by Williams
153:, quoted by Austin Allen, the
146:being prepared for a funeral.
95:Take from the dresser of deal,
78:Call the roller of big cigars,
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1170:The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad
1009:The Virgin Carrying a Lantern
820:Homunculus et la Belle Etoile
628:University of Tennessee Press
129:(1923). Stevens' biographer,
883:The Apostrophe to Vincentine
834:From the Misery of Don Joost
827:The Comedian as the Letter C
447:Letter to William Rose Benét
107:Let the lamp affix its beam.
1149:Peter Quince at the Clavier
1135:To the One of Fictive Music
1107:Colloquy with a Polish Aunt
939:The Place of the Solitaires
648:by Helen Vendler and others
609:The Wallace Stevens Journal
390:quotes the poem in various
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1198:Sea Surface Full of Clouds
1030:Six Significant Landscapes
855:The Worms at Heaven's Gate
722:The Plot Against the Giant
624:Words Chosen Out of Desire
298:is an homage to this poem.
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1282:Poetry by Wallace Stevens
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517:American Poetry and Prose
90:Let be be finale of seem.
988:Tea at the Palaz of Hoon
974:The Emperor of Ice-Cream
967:Depression Before Spring
918:Of the Surface of Things
848:Last Looks at the Lilacs
841:O Florida, Venereal Soil
778:Metaphors of a Magnifico
504:Harvard University Press
500:The Wallace Stevens Case
375:The Empress of Ice-Cream
303:The Emperor of Ice-Cream
257:, and in his miniseries
172:In his book on Stevens,
149:According to the critic
117:The Emperor of Ice-Cream
73:The Emperor of Ice-Cream
40:The Emperor of Ice-Cream
764:Le Monocle de Mon Oncle
708:Invective Against Swans
622:Vendler, Helen (1984).
398:The Empire of Ice Cream
225:Alternative rock group
1177:The Death of a Soldier
1072:Cortège for Rosenbloom
757:The Load Of Sugar-Cane
388:Ronald Shannon Jackson
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363:quotes from the poem.
296:The Love Kills Theory
141:Structure and meaning
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1051:Palace of the Babies
1037:Bantam in Pine-Woods
506:. 1991. Page 99-100.
433:, 2016, pp. 149–198.
431:Simon & Schuster
227:They Might Be Giants
1219:Anatomy of Monotony
1044:Anecdote of the Jar
1016:Stars at Tallapoosa
946:The Weeping Burgher
785:Ploughing on Sunday
736:Domination of Black
480:on 29 November 2014
312:coming-of-age novel
186:University of Tokyo
806:Fabliau of Florida
750:The Ordinary Women
615:Stevens, Wallace.
382:Grasshopper Jungle
205:In 1985, composer
193:In popular culture
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1277:Poems about death
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1226:The Public Square
897:Anecdote of Canna
474:Poetry Foundation
449:. 6 January 1933.
254:Just After Sunset
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813:Doctor of Geneva
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588:. Retrieved
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478:the original
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402:Jeffrey Ford
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332:The hero of
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281:The Good Guy
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131:Paul Mariani
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1023:Explanation
541:. Fexum.com
484:16 November
360:School Days
338:Joe College
334:Tom Perotta
308:Brian Moore
276:Dean Koontz
242:Salem's Lot
231:Pencil Rain
220:Upper Limbo
216:Ken Nordine
1262:1922 poems
1256:Categories
590:2017-10-17
566:2012-08-07
545:2012-08-07
418:References
368:Alan Moore
357:'s novel
345:Dark Water
329:, in 1993.
327:Skin Tight
306:(1965) by
65:media help
55:Recitation
1287:Ice cream
684:Harmonium
470:Resources
410:Damnation
392:Last Exit
269:Pathology
198:Composer
155:ice-cream
135:Harmonium
126:Harmonium
1184:Negation
1114:Gubbinal
377:in 2010.
248:Insomnia
366:Author
351:Spenser
323:Puerile
316:Belfast
314:set in
167:Florida
1128:Theory
1079:Tattoo
562:. TMBW
310:is a
486:2014
325:and
289:Lush
245:and
1240:Tea
687:by
336:'s
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