The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Marianne Moore
- First Published: 1944
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Meditation
- Subjects: Memory, Perception, Music or musicians, Emotions, Birds, Senses or sensation, Thought or thinking, Brain
“The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing” appeared in the 1944 publication of Nevertheless. Both technically and thematically it is a central poem in Moore's work. In it, she uses intricate syllabic verse and stanzaic arrangements. Through a series of similes and metaphors, she alternates between details and generalities, integrating the two in the last line. The poems deals with a complex paradox: The mind is both subject and object, both enchanter and enchanted. It has the power to dissolve unities into multiplicities and also to synthesize those different facets into new unities....
[The entire page is 804 words long]
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