Of Mere Being

The poem, “Of Mere Being,” by Wallace Stevens, describes the image of a golden bird singing in a palm tree. The first stanza describes a palm tree, standing “at the end of the mind.” Continuing the poem through solar imagery, a singing bird is pictured in the tree. Stevens then proposes to the reader that we do not need to understand the bird’s song, or why it gives us emotional responses. The reader is lead to except the fact that the bird just exists in the palm tree, in space.

In the first line of the second stanza, the bird is described as “gold feathered.” The significance of a golden bird could symbolize one’s soul, or inner spirit. On the other hand, the bird could be completely outside of us. Its existence is an occurrence that we have no control over. Gold is a precious metal, which could signify life, importance, purity, or something desired. The fact that the bird is gold could signify that the bird’s existence is something that the reader could desire.

In the second and third lines of the second stanza, Stevens tells the reader that the

In the first and second lines of the third stanza, Stevens addresses the reader personally, and suggests that the bird’s song really has no effect on us, because we don’t understand it. Because the bird’s song is in a different language we are not intended to understand, it exists in a different reality in which we do not. This concept of perception and finding meaning echoes the work of Plato which Steven’s mentions in his work, “The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words.” Knowing Stevens has studied the work of Plato, Stevens must be aware of Plato’s ideas of “absolute” and the truth and purity behind ideas. Plato believed that only the elite and uniquely inspired could understand the absolute truths found in reality. With this divine understanding comes alienation, as mentioned in the second stanza. However, Stevens is also human, and refers to himself and the reader as “us”. Stevens is making the point that the absolute truth of the bird’s song is beyond all human understanding. Without any context of the bird’s thought or intentions of its song, human ears are left without placing any meaning or value on the song. Therefore the bird’s song cannot make us “happy or unhappy,” it

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