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theses

In this paper, we review the principal elements of Stevens' first collection of poetry, Harmonium, and an argument is presented that (i) Stevens' career as a business executive and lawyer and his life as a poet are intimately related, not separate existences; and (ii) Stevens' life as a business executive and lawyer in the suretyship business directly influenced his approach as a poet insofar as that approach reflects his experience as a "claims man" as articulated by Stevens in an article written for an insurance journal. That approach reflects a pragmatic process focused on evaluating competing claims, and parallels Stevens' attempts to "find a satisfaction" and arrive at "what will suffice." It is argued that while these concepts suggest a high degree of success (satisfaction in a more complete and sweeping sense), the methodology outlined in Stevens' insurance article ultimately devolves to settlement of claims on the best terms available, and identification of salvage value (the value of an asset that has been reduced by injury or accident).
The paper also argues that Stevens, as a Modernist poet, takes on in Harmonium among the most significant questions faced in human life -- life, death, God, love, meaning, the role of the imagination -- and that he ultimately fails in an insightful and admirable way. This result follows almost directly from the audacity of Modernism: the questions taken on are too large in comparison to the creative and analytical arsenal available to apply to them. In this sense, the Modernist scope of inquiry is simply "too big not to fail." An analogy is drawn between the narrowed sense of "what will suffice" for Stevens (comparable to "salvage value" under his claims analysis) and the end result of the Modernist inquiry.

ETD_8181

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-aeba-dc21

ETD graduate

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