Poetry/Art

This seems to be some sort of commentary on the act of creativity cast in the terms of the Vedic tradition of India. "I went to Egypt to escape / the indian" seems to me to imply something about the difference in legacy between Egypt and India. Egypt's legacy is all permanence, stability, monolithics; while India is subtlety, cyclic change, and constant returning. Even Ronald Sukenick says of this poem, simply, "the 'indian' is the transitory flux of existence, and ultimately, death." (WSMTO, p.214)

"the indian struck / out of his cloud and from his sky' seems to be a reference to Indra, the wind and thunder god of ancient India. 'this was no worm bred in the moon': there is a vedic creation story in which Shiva, pure consciousness (the moon, which is worn by Shiva on his forehead), is disturbed by the faintest of vibrations (sometimes referred to as Shakti, his consort, sometimes as the hiranyagarbha, or 'golden germ,' a kind of 'worm') and creation results. 'and on a comfortable sofa dreamed' seems to refer to the familiar image of Brahma reclining on his sofa and dreaming the universe, which appears as a bubble emanating from his navel.

The Shiva-Shakti story demonstrates that pure consciousness is placid, empty yet full and content at the same time, until creation stirs and then all the trouble begins! Perhaps this is what Stevens refers to, in relation to himself as Shiva, disturbed by some creative urge or inspiration: 'the indian struck and disappeared. / I knew my enemy was near - i, / drowsing in summer's sleepiest horn.' When the creative urge strikes, the poet must be roused to work. Peace and sleep are over. In Harmonium, Stevens hints at this sleepiness, as for example in Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores, and elsewhere. It must have played some part in his process of poesis.

There is virtually no comment on this poem in my sources, although I have yet to scour every single one. Why the Cuban Doctor? I hope to research some references to Cuba in Stevens' letters for a hint. Maybe this is one of those incongruous titles that serve the poem simply by making it more enigmatic. Enigma was one of Stevens' goals in poetry, as I'm learning from Milton Bates' A Mythology of Self, surely one of the best-yet books on WS. Will keep you posted.

from The Dao of Wallace Stevens at http://knitandcontemplation.typepad.com/dao_wallace_stevens/2005/07/the_cuban_docto.html