The
Stevens
1
Melting
Moment:
Rehabilitation
of Ice
Cream
EDWARD NEILL
THE
E M P E R O R OF ICE
CREAM
C a l l the r o l l e r of b i g cigars,
The m u s c u l a r one, and bid h i m w h i p
I n k i t c h e n cups concupiscent curds.
L e t the wenches dawdle i n such dress
A s they are used to wear, and let the boys
B r i n g flowers i n last month's newspapers.
L e t be be finale of seem.
T h e only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
T a k e f r o m the dresser of deal
L a c k i n g three glass knobs, that sheet
O n w h i c h she embroidered f a n t a i l s once
A n d spread it so as to cover her face.
If her h o r n y feet protrude, they come
T o show how cold she is, and dumb.
L e t the l a m p affix its beam.
T h e only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
1
W e are i n f o r m e d t h a t Stevens " w a s once asked b y the
N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n of Ice-Cream M a n u f a c t u r e r s w h e t h e r
he was f o r o r against i c e - c r e a m . "
P e r h a p s to refute the
n o t i o n t h a t poets are unacknowledged legislators! B u t
they wondered w h a t the r u l i n g meant, apparently. " L e g i s l a t o r s " seems a good point, indeed, at w h i c h to start one's
e x a m i n a t i o n of the poem. I n the forensic peremptoriness
w i t h w h i c h i t orders things to be as they are, " T h e E m peror of I c e - C r e a m " operates i n the gap between " l e t " as
austere, h a r s h imperative a n d the effete permissive gesture
of someone w h o is " g i v i n g u p . "
2
3
N o doubt t h i s "famous puzzle p i e c e " w i l l abide o u r question, f o r a l l the ingenuity of its explicators. In a recent
book, James B a i r d r i g h t l y observes t h a t "ice-cream, cont r a r y to the opinion of some readers, is not death. Icec r e a m is a n A m e r i c a n c o m m o d i t y . "
H i s l i t e r a l i s m includes
4
5
THE
MELTING
MOMENT
89
the percept t h a t " t h e r e m a r k a b l e t h i r d line 'In k i t c h e n cups
concupiscent c u r d s ' describes the r i t e of the m i l k s h a k e . "
T h i s is incontestable, but, as his analysis shows, the l i t e r a l i s m cannot be sustained w i t h o u t m i s s i n g some of the
point.
T h e ice-cream, t h o u g h idiosyncratic, is not unique i n
Stevens' poetry. It reappears i n the l i g h t n i n g synecdoche
of the phrase " c h i l d r e n n i b b l i n g at the sugared v o i d " (p.
43). Its context •— i t is f r o m " T h e C o m e d i a n as the L e t t e r
C " — makes the image apply, not m e r e l y to " i n f a n t s " eati n g ice-cream, but to the whole of our sensuous awareness
i n the w o r l d . I n the poem, t h i s " c o n s u m e r " image is i r o n i cally applied to w h a t m i g h t be called the " o n t o l o g i c a l quest"
of the protagonist of the poem, C r i s p i n :
however "subl i m a t e d , " his perceptions a n d his poetic p r o g r a m m e s are
equally those of a " c o n s u m e r , " a parasite on the world's
fecundity, a " b i o l o g i c a l m e c h a n i s m . "
T h u s ice-cream is
the cosmos considered as a sugared void, the w o r l d as seen
i n accordance w i t h the Pleasure P r i n c i p l e .
Immediately
the R e a l i t y P r i n c i p l e is invoked, m a n is a " s c u l l i o n of f a t e "
(p. 6) r a t h e r t h a n a n emperor of ice-cream. T h e elegiac
reverberations we h e a r i n the strange line " T h e o n l y emperor is the emperor of i c e - c r e a m " are due to the fact that
the R e a l i t y P r i n c i p l e is indeed being invoked.
6
7
T h i s double-take of the poem — the peremptoriness and
the elegy — is the source of its status as "puzzle p o e m . "
T h e peremptoriness is p a r a d o x i c a l . It is a decreative fiat
w h i c h encourages things to go on as they are, a n intoned
refusal to indulge i n " r o m a n t i c i n t o n i n g " (p. 387) over the
dead person, i n a fatuous " i d i o m of apotheosis" (p. 124).
In t h i s poem, w h a t seems l i k e the beginning of a n e t h i c a l
a r b i t r a t i o n of a t r a d i t i o n a l k i n d , h a v i n g to do w i t h the
w e i g h i n g i n the balance of the faults and v i r t u e s of the
deceased person considered as a candidate for something,
dissolves hopelessly, as i n a childish consciousness, into
w h a t comes n a t u r a l l y to be the object of a t t e n t i o n :
"Call
the roll-/-er of b i g c i g a r s . " M y a r t i f i c i a l break is o n l y a
8
90
EDWARD NEILL
crude d r a m a t i s a t i o n of the progress of the line, of h o w the
m i n d goes to w o r k on it. T h e " w i t n e s s " is not to be a n
" e t h i c a l " person, but one who administers sensual satisfactions. O u r doubts as to his " i d e n t i t y " — r e a l l y about
the propriety of his being there — are i r o n i c a l l y " r e s o l v e d "
as we move into line 2: " R o l l e r of b i g cigars/The m u s c u l a r one."
T a k i n g this for the moment as a line-unit, we could look
on i t as almost a n i r o n i c a l version of a line f r o m , say,
Beowulf.
I n terms of social hierarchies, however, " r o l l e r
of b i g c i g a r s " = anyone, m a n i n the street:
but as the
" c r e a t o r " of sensuous pleasure, he is a n emperor, demiurge
of process of l a w according to nature. T h e e t h i c a l o r j u r i d i c i a l (preoccupation of t r a d i t i o n a l rulers a n d gods) flashes across o u r screens w i t h " w h i p " — but t h i s h i n t of flagell a t i o n is i m m e d i a t e l y dissipated. T h i s man's product ( w h i c h
approximates i n force to the notorious " i c e - c r e a m " itself)
is to be "concupiscent c u r d s " (line 3).
"Concupiscent
c u r d s " is a n odd expression. S u r e l y , we say, i t is the des i r a b i l i t y of the curds w h i c h Stevens wishes to emphasize,
not t h e i r desires. T h i s absurd construction contrives to
suggest t h a t the curds are indeed being punished for the
sensual delights w h i c h they offer — a n d yet the w h i p p i n g
is encouraging the curds. A l s o t h i s is a construction analogous to say, " h i l a r i o u s t r e e s " (p. 124), where the emotions of the h u m a n perceiver are " p r o j e c t e d " onto the
object. I n a n y case, "concupiscent," w i t h its bawdy suggestion, brings i n the idea of a l l k i n d s of desires for " t h e
things of the w o r l d " ( O . E . D . ) . T h e message of the stanza
is t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l m o r a l theology is w i t h o u t force, i n v i e w
of the fact of death's f i n a l i t y , t h a t there are no stabilities
beyond the laws of nature.
" C o n c u p i s c e n t " is also being used i n a n illiterate, impressionistic k i n d of w a y ( " Y o u must become a n i g n o r a n t m a n
a g a i n " (p. 380) i n a r a t h e r disconcertingly l i t e r a l sense)
to signify the process of becoming (desirable) on the p a r t
of the m i l k - s h a k e . Stevens' poetry is pre-eminently the
THE
MELTING
MOMENT
91
poetry of process, a n d he is p a r t i c u l a r l y aware of those
words w h i c h have endings w h i c h signify " c o m i n g into bei n g " on the p a r t of "these -escent, -issant pre-personae"
(p. 552). T h u s i t seems also legitimate to say t h a t the
whipper-up of curds is also " t h e P o e t . " T h i s a g a i n is a n
extension of the fact that the poem's message is t h a t "we
can order things o n l y i n accordance w i t h the Pleasure
P r i n c i p l e i n o u r imaginative life.
Therefore no a r t i s t i c
effort w i l l take the measure of things as seen under the
aegis of the R e a l i t y P r i n c i p l e . "
T h e sense of shock produced b y the " c a l l o u s n e s s " of the
poem, quite r i g h t l y insisted upon b y E u g e n e P . N a s s a r ,
encapsulates a n e u t r a l notation of the f i n a l i t y of death.
" D e a t h is absolute and without m e m o r i a l " (p. 9 7 ) . L i k e
T e d Hughes's p i g , the dead person is too dead. Reduced to
the status of t h i n g , the corpse is unable to " s e e m " (line 7 ) .
T h e t r a d i t i o n a l frame for h u m a n seeming a n d being is a n
ethical one — as at the opening of Hamlet
o r i n Measure
for Measure:
people seem v i r t u o u s a n d are vicious. I n
a " p h i l o s o p h e r ' s " terms, however, people seem a l l t h e i r
lives, being simultaneously subject a n d object, and the
seeming stops only w i t h death, w h e n t h e y have become
pure object a n d have ceased to seem. H a v i n g grasped this
fact, the attendants need have n o t h i n g to do w i t h m o u r n i n g w h a t is now only a n object i n status.
9
10
11
12
Those significant newspapers (line 6 ) ( " W h o w o u l d b r i n g
t o d a y ' s ? " as B l a c k m u r has remarked) b r i n g i n " t h e m a l a d y of the q u o t i d i a n " (p. 96) — they are i n fact a notat i o n of our general attitude to death i n a n " a l w a y s incipient
cosmos."
" W e n c h e s " (line 4 ) is nice i n t h a t i t tells the
u n v a r n i s h e d t r u t h about the girls, w h i l e at the same t i m e
sustaining the i r o n i c a l " p o m p " of the speaker (being a
w o r k of "poetical d i c t i o n , " possibly p i c k e d u p f r o m a n
epigraph of a poem b y T. S. E l i o t . )
S u c h focal points
(lines 4 - 6 ) have a seriousness b y w h i c h t h e l e v i t y is intensified, c o n s t i t u t i n g an upright i m p e r a t i v e to " d a w d l e " —
superbly a n t i t h e t i c a l to what is r e q u i r e d i n a rite. N a s s a r
13
14
15
EDWARD NEILL
92
is r i g h t i n i n s i s t i n g that we are not meant s i m p l y to acquiesce i n the poem's "judgement," as i t were, here, a n d i t is
appropriate to feel a sense of shock. B u t it is also important to feel that something positive (by w a y of judgement
about "the nature of r e a l i t y " ) is being established here
too.
A n intenser shock is, however, reserved for the i m p e r a tives of the second stanza. There is the sense of intrusion,
the cold notation of poverty, the briefest of b i o g r a p h i c a l
intimacies (introduced only en passant i n the course of the
p r a g m a t i c need to cover up the t h i n g ) . N o t to speak of
the corpse itself. W i t h " o n w h i c h she embroidered fantails o n c e " (line 11) we are m o m e n t a r i l y at the crossroads
between pathos, comedy (if this is the relevant b i o g r a p h i cal detail) and the "Verfremdungseffekt"
the speaker is
inducing w i t h his tone a n d posture, a freedom f r o m " a l l
the p e n u m b r a of conventional p a t h o s . "
The sense of
austerity is heightened i f we refer to a famous passage
i n T h o m a s H a r d y , where a s i m i l a r sense of i n t r u s i o n on
domestic i n t i m a c y seems more poignant a n d effective t h a n
a conventional tribute. It is i n The Mayor of
Casterbridge,
on the occasion of the death of H e n c h a r d ' s f i r s t w i f e :
16
" W e l l , poor soul, she's helpless to h i n d e r that o r anyt h i n g n o w , " answered M o t h e r C u x s o m . " A n d a l l her
s h i n i n g keys w i l l be took f r o m her, a n d her cupboards
opened; a n d l i t t l e things ' a din't w i s h seen, anybody
w i l l see; and her wishes a n d w a y s w i l l a l l be as
nothing."
17
T h i s quotation has been kept m i n i m a l , but perhaps i t is
also w o r t h n o t i n g t h a t the s y m p a t h y is evoked b y C h r i s t o pher Coney's F a l s t a f f i a n s t a n d : " W h y should death rob
life o' fourpence? Death's not of such good report that we
should respect en' to t h a t extent."
T h i s is exactly the
mood, or mode, t h a t " T h e E m p e r o r of I c e - C r e a m " starts
f r o m . B u t the v e r y starkness w i t h w h i c h the " r e f u s a l to
m o u r n " — t h a t is to say, the dehumanized r a d i c a l n a t u r a l i s m — is presented, of itself produces the shock w h i c h is
THE
MELTING
MOMENT
93
the reassertion of o u r h u m a n i t y . D e h u m a n i z e d itself, the
poem is nevertheless a h u m a n i z i n g force.
T h e most s h o c k i n g parts of the poem are lines 13 to 14,
the confrontation of the corpse itself. T h i s is the central
fact of the poem f r o m w h i c h our i n t e r p r e t a t i o n radiates
out. R i c h a r d E l l m a n n has said that i n Stevens " h o r n is
the colour-sign of d e a t h , " citing, v e r y usefully, " C o r t e g e
for R o s e n b l o o m . "
Nevertheless, there is a n e r r o r of
presentation here, since i t almost sounds as if " h o r n " were
a mere t o k e n supplied a r b i t r a r i l y by Stevens to designate
" d e a t h " : but w i t h h o r r i d " a c c u r a c y "
t h i s is appropriate to the off-white of the corpse. A n d here, as applied
to the feet, i t is even more effective t h a n i n " R o s e n b l o o m "
w i t h its suggestion of callosities. A n d t h i s is the poet who
was k n o w n , p a r t i c u l a r l y o n the strength of
Harmonium,
Stevens' f i r s t book of poems, i n w h i c h " T h e E m p e r o r of
I c e - C r e a m " appears, as a dandy, a n aesthete, a n i v o r y tower-man (!)
18
19
T h e poem's shock-tactics are sustained b y " c o m e " i n
line 13, a savagely ironic " p o r t e n t " — the a t t r i b u t i o n
of a c t i o n or process to the ultimate " b e i n g " — w h i c h ties
together both stanzas. T h i s , then, is the sense of h u m a n
l i m i t , w i t h w h i c h the i m a g i n a t i o n (the " l a m p " of line
15), m u s t come to terms:
the D a r w i n i a n cosmos.
It
m u s t order and direct its potential insight i n accordance
w i t h this percept, and also (le fait est dur) i n accordance
w i t h the fact t h a t actuality is not changed as a result of
its operations. A n "emperor of i c e - c r e a m " is not the less
a " n a t i v e of p o v e r t y " (p. 322). Indeed, the one is i m p l i c i t
i n the other.
So far, so good. B u t I have an uncomfortable feeling
that even t h i s is not quite adequate as " p a r a p h r a s e , " t h a t
the poem is a s k i n g me, as i t were, to d a r k e n the tone s t i l l
f u r t h e r a n d say that the " b e a m " of line 15 is also a g r i n ,
and a f i x e d g r i n at that, l i k e a Cheshire C a t , g r i n n i n g after
the raison d'etre of the g r i n has gone.
EDWARD NEILL
94
T h i s C h e s h i r e C a t is A r t , the
petually grinning " a f f i r m a t i o n s : "
the line is now
i m a g i n a t i o n w i t h its perthe V o i c e w h i c h speaks
a native of poverty, a P h i l i s t i n e :
l a m p a f f i x its b e a m !
"let
the
W h a t difference does i t m a k e ? "
To
here h e a r t h a t V o i c e —
essentially the voice of the
mass-
m a n i n the e l i t i s t p a r t e r r e of t h i s v e r y " e x c l u s i v e " p o e t r y
—
perhaps goes some w a y
to
explaining
f a s c i n a t i o n this poem has u n d o u b t e d l y h a d ;
is
only
one
possible
source
of
its
the
particular
although this
effectiveness:
deep / M o a n s r o u n d w i t h m a n y v o i c e s . "
And
if we
"The
close
w i t h t h i s famous couplet as a s u m m a r y of one's g i s t
N a t i v e s of poverty, c h i l d r e n of malheur,
T h e gaiety of language is our Seigneur (p. 322) —
we m u s t give due w e i g h t to the l i m i t a t i o n s i m p l i e d b y the
statement before it can stand as a s u m m a r y of
"The
E m p e r o r of I c e - C r e a m , " w h i c h seems to me one of the
great, poems of t h i s century.
NOTES
W a l l a c e Stevens, Collected Poems, ( N e w Y o r k : K n o p f , 1955),
p. 64. P a g e numbers i n the text refer to the
Collected
Poems.
P e r m i s s i o n to quote has k i n d l y been given b y
F a b e r and F a b e r a n d A l f r e d A . K n o p f , Inc.
See S. F . Morse, " T h e N a t i v e E l e m e n t , " first published i n the
Kenyon
Review, X X (Summer, 1958).
R e p r i n t e d i n The
Achievement
of Wallace
Stevens, eds. A s h l e y B r o w n a n d
R o b e r t S. H a l l e r , ( N e w Y o r k : L i p p i n c o t t , 1962), pp. 193-210
—to w h i c h m y page n u m b e r refers: p. 206.
T h e mode of Stevens' poetry, p a r t i c u l a r l y the later, is charact e r i s t i c a l l y that of e x h o r t a t i o n :
cf. " N o t e s T o w a r d s
a
S u p r e m e F i c t i o n , " Collected Poems, pp. 380ff., i n p a r t i c u l a r
" L e t Phoebus s l u m b e r a n d die i n a u t u m n u m b e r , " w h e r e
there is a s i m i l a r " a m b i g u i t y . "
It means either " D o n ' t
indulge yourself i n this (archaizing) f a s h i o n , " or " D o n ' t
w o r r y , y o u n g m a n ('young m a n ' because Stevens is addressi n g his 'ephebe,' his 'figure of the y o u t h as v i r i l e poet') it
seems l i k e dry and empty artifice to me, too." It could be
shown that the "subject m a t t e r " of the exhortations i n the
early a n d late poems (sc. " E m p e r o r " a n d " N o t e s " ) is the
same.
* F . K e r m o d e , Wallace
Stevens, ( E d i n b u r g h : O l i v e r a n d B o y d ,
1960), p. 41. K e r m o d e says that it has been " f r e q u e n t l y
explicated, several times by Stevens h i m s e l f . " T h i s is
doubly disappointing, f i r s t l y since it gave P r o f e s s o r K e r mode, w h o was obviously pushed f o r space, a n opportunity
not to comment; a n d w h e n we t u r n to the source of the
1
2
3
THE
5
8
7
MELTING MOMENT
95
r e m a r k (in Morse's " N a t i v e E l e m e n t , " pp. 206-207) w e f i n d
the example of Stevens' " e x p l i c a t i o n " g i v e n to be a beaut i f u l piece of escapology, a t h o r o u g h l y generic, almost coy
exception to the notion of self-explication.
J a m e s B a i r d , The Dome and the Bock: Structure
in the Poetry
of Wallace Stevens ( B a l t i m o r e : J o h n s H o p k i n s Press, 1968),
p. 248. H e cites, as being i n e r r o r here, A l f r e d K r e y m bourg, " A n E a r l y Impression of W a l l a c e Stevens,"
Trinity
Review, V I I I , 3 (May, 1954), 15. F o r R i c h a r d E l l m a n n , i n
" W a l l a c e Stevens' Ice-Cream," Kenyon
Review, X I X (1957),
p. 94, "ice-cream . . . is both death a n d l i f e . "
Stevens, " T h e I r r a t i o n a l E l e m e n t i n P o e t r y , " i n Opus Posthumous, ed. S. F . M o r s e ( L o n d o n : F a b e r a n d F a b e r , 1959),
p. 220.
Stevens' essay, " T h r e e A c a d e m i c Pieces" (in The
Necessary
Angel
( N e w Y o r k : K n o p f , 1951), pp. 71-82, is of interest
here i n its application of the P l e a s u r e P r i n c i p l e (together
w i t h w h a t m i g h t be judged a F r e u d i a n base i n " n a r c i s s i s m " )
to a poetic doctrine of pleasure i n resemblances a n d "metam o r p h o s e s " as they occur i n the world-as-perceived.
Stevens
evokes the R e a l i t y P r i n c i p l e i n the guise of F r e u d a n d posit i v i s m i n " I m a g i n a t i o n as V a l u e " (Necessary
Angel, pp.
131-156), a n d then feebly tries to shoo both a w a y :
feebly,
because i n reprehending P a s c a l , i n the same essay, his i m plicit base is indeed positivistic. R. H . Pearce, i n " T h e L a s t
L e s s o n of the M a s t e r , " considers that Stevens' poetry assumes the l i m i t a t i o n s of a F r e u d i a n R e a l i t y P r i n c i p l e up
to the last poems. T h i s essay is to be found i n Act of the
Mind: Essays on the Poetry of Wallace Stevens, ed. R. H .
Pearce a n d Joseph N . R i d d e l l , ( B a l t i m o r e : J o h n s H o p k i n s
Press, 1965). See especially p. 123.
Stevens — f o r w h a t this is w o r t h — wrote R, P . B l a c k m u r
i n f o r m i n g h i m that his daughter " p u t a superlative v a l u e "
on ice-cream.
B l a c k m u r presents this i n f o r m a t i o n i n a
light-hearted way, but that Stevens w a s p a r t l y t h i n k i n g of
a child-like attitude to the w o r l d (and sense of priorities)
m i g h t reasonably be supposed. See R. P. B l a c k m u r ' s " E x amples of W a l l a c e Stevens," w h i c h f i r s t appeared i n Hound
and Horn,
V , (Winter, 1932).
It has been r e p r i n t e d i n
several places, i n c l u d i n g the collection already referred to:
See The Achievement
of Wallace
Stevens, ed. B r o w n a n d
H a l l e r , pp. 52-80.
»See E u g e n e P. N a s s a r , Wallace Stevens: An Anatomy
of Figuration,
( P h i l a d e l p h i a : U n i v e r s i t y of P e n n s y l v a n i a P r e s s ,
1965), p. 129.
" S e e T e d Hughes, " V i e w of a P i g , " Lupercal, 1960, p. 40.
S e e H a m l e t ' s reproach to his mother, "Seems, m a d a m ! nay,
it i s ; I k n o w not seems" (I.iii) and the context of that.
See, e.g. the conclusion of the Duke's speech i n Measure
for
Measure
(I.iv): "Hence w e s h a l l see/ If power change purpose, w h a t our seemers be."
R . P . B l a c k m u r ' s " E x a m p l e s of W a l l a c e Stevens," i n The
Achievement
of Wallace
Stevens, pp. 59-60.
" J u l y M o u n t a i n , " i n Opus Posthumous,
p. 115.
8
u
12
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96
EDWARD NEILL
C f . the context of this w o r d as used i n the passage cited f r o m
B e a u m o n t and Fletcher's The Maid's Tragedy w h i c h stands
as e p i g r a p h to E l i o t ' s ' S w e e n e y E r e c t " ("Look, look wenche s ! " ) : see T. S. E l i o t , Collected Poems 1909-1962 ( L o n d o n :
F a b e r and F a b e r , 1963), p. 44.
A phrase used by R i c h a r d A . M a c k s e y (in Act of the Mind, p.
205) discussing " T h e C l i m a t e s of W a l l a c e Stevens," showi n g how, even i n a n a p p a r e n t l y s m a l l matter l i k e the use
of the indefinite r a t h e r t h a n the definite article, Stevens is
eschewing " a l l the p e n u m b r a of conventional pathos."
T h o m a s H a r d y , The Mayor
of Casterbridge,
( L o n d o n : 1886),
C h a p . X V I I I , last p a r a g r a p h .
! 8 R . E l l m a n n , " W a l l a c e Stevens' Ice-Cream," 91-92. F o r " C o r tege f o r R o s e n b l o o m , " see Collected Poems, pp. 79-81.
i»I have i n m i n d the near-parodic opening of " T h r e e A c a d e m i c
Pieces," Necessary
Angel, p. 71: " T h e accuracy of accurate
letters is a n accuracy w i t h respect to the structure of
reality."
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