The Experimental Verse of Wallace Stevens: An Analysis of Rhyme in “Sunday Morning”

Abstract

The North American poet and modernist Wallace Stevens is widely known for his innovative way of integrating rhyme and repetition in his poetry. Much of his verse, however, is defined as blank-verse. This paper shall provide a close-reading analysis of Stevens’ “Sunday Morning” from his first published collection Harmonium. This analysis will look at the complex and elegant use of sound repetition, through the use of consonantal and assonantal near-rhyme. Furthermore, by linking phonetic effects like reverberation and onomatopoeia to the semantic meaning of words, this paper shall argue how sound, as it is employed by Stevens, is an indispensable aspect of his poetry that extends both the rational and the emotional interpretation of “Sunday Morning.” Moreover, this paper shall argue that the restricting definition of blank-verse and the boundaries of verse that it is supposed to represent are not sufficient when considering “Sunday Morning.” More importantly, the established idea that this poem is written in blank-verse shall be challenged. This, then, brings forth a new question: How should we consider similar sound and melodic poetry like “Sunday Morning?”