The first question that is always asked by a student after
reading a Wallace Stevens poem is, “but what does it mean?” This
is, of course, the wrong question entirely to ask about about
any poem, even one as loaded with potential meanings as a
Steven’s poem. As I have written elsewhere on MontanaWriter, the
question of meaning in poetry is always secondary to the
question of emotion/feeling. The best way to approach a poem
like “The Planet on the Table” is to begin with a different kind
of question altogether. Something like: “What is the emotive
center of this poem?” or “What emotion/feeling is the poet
trying to capture/convey?” To this question, Stevens gives us a
number of obvious clues, beginning with certain word choices:
“Ariel was glad,” “of something seen that he liked.” Secondly,
the emotion is carried in the “tone” of the language. This is
admittedly more subtle than word-meaning but is nonetheless
quite clear when the poem is read out-loud, like all poems
should be. Stevens occupies an interesting