Explanation (poem)

"Explanation" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium (1923). It was first published in 1917, so it is in the public domain.[1]

Explanation

 Ach, Mutter,
 This old, black dress,
 I have been embroidering
 French flowers on it.

 Not by way of romance,
 Here is nothing of the ideal,
 Nein,
 Nein.

 It would have been different,
 Liebchen,
 If I had imagined myself,
 In an orange gown,
 Drifting through space,
 Like a figure on the church-wall.

  1. ^ Buttel, p. 162. See also Librivox [1] Archived 2010-10-13 at the Wayback Machine and the Poetry web site."Poetry". Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-23.