The Emperor of Ice-Cream (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Wallace Stevens
- First Published: 1923
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Self-discovery, Self, Death or dying, Creative process, Personality, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Ice cream
A poem that Stevens once described as his favorite, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” so puzzled its first readers that an ice cream company wrote to Stevens about it, asking whether the poem was in favor of ice cream or against it. Ice cream suggests the evanescent pleasures of life; one could answer, then, that the poem is for it.
This poem is set up as a counterpoint between a scene of a funeral and images of enjoyment. The first lines suggest a sensual celebration, as cigars, “concupiscent curds,” and “wenches” are mentioned. Yet the temporary quality of all this is...
[The entire page is 513 words long]
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