Poem by Wallace Stevens

Study of Two Pears

            I

Opusculum paedagogum.
The pears are not viols,
Nudes or bottles.
They resemble nothing else.

            II

They are yellow forms
Composed of curves
Bulging toward the base.
They are touched red.

            III

They are not flat surfaces
Having curved outlines.
They are round
Tapering toward the top.

            IV

In the way they are modelled
There are bits of blue.
A hard dry leaf hangs
From the stem.

            V

The yellow glistens.
It glistens with various yellows,
Citrons, oranges and greens
Flowering over the skin.

            VI

The shadows of the pears
Are blobs on the green cloth.
The pears are not seen
As the observer wills.

1. Farewell to Florida
2. Phases
3. The Revolutionists Stop for Orangeade
4. Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks
5. Infanta Marina

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