The Circumstance (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Hart Crane
- First Published: 1933
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Europe or Europeans, Religion, Native Americans or American Indians, Gods or goddesses, Mexico or Mexicans, Aztecs, Spain or Spanish people, Exploration or explorers
The Poem
“The Circumstance” exists in draft versions that Hart Crane composed before his death in 1932. It was not published in Crane’s lifetime and might best be regarded as a complete draft rather than as a poem the poet considered finished. Dedicated to Xochipilli, the Aztec flower god referred to in the poem, its twenty-four lines are divided into three stanzas of uneven length.
The poem is the speaker’s effort to find, in pre-Columbian America, a better way of responding to time than he has found in his own culture. The first stanza describes the ruined site...
[The entire page is 1552 words long]
See Also:
Hart Crane (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Hart Crane (Poetry)Hart Crane (Dictionary of World Biography)
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