Poetry Slam!: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

In this poem, Stevens presents a series of sometimes enigmatic impressions—or "sensations," to use Stevens's word—of blackbirds. As you learn this list, be sure to consider how a word's multiple meanings might be at play in any given line or stanza.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. whirl
    turn in a twisting or spinning motion
    The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
  2. pantomime
    a performance using gestures and movements without words
    It was a small part of the pantomime.
  3. inflection
    the modification of pitch, tone, or volume when speaking
    I do not know which to prefer,
    The beauty of inflections
    Or the beauty of innuendoes,
    The blackbird whistling
    Or just after.
  4. innuendo
    an indirect and usually malicious implication
    I do not know which to prefer,
    The beauty of inflections
    Or the beauty of innuendoes,
    The blackbird whistling
    Or just after.
  5. barbaric
    without civilizing influences
    Icicles filled the long window
    With barbaric glass.
  6. shadow
    a dark shape created by an object blocking a source of light
    The shadow of the blackbird
    Crossed it, to and fro.
  7. trace
    follow or ascertain the course of development of something
    The mood
    Traced in the shadow
    An indecipherable cause.
  8. indecipherable
    not easily decoded
    The mood
    Traced in the shadow
    An indecipherable cause.
  9. noble
    having high or elevated character
    I know noble accents
    And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
    But I know, too,
    That the blackbird is involved
    In what I know.
  10. accent
    distinctive manner of oral expression
    I know noble accents
    And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
    But I know, too,
    That the blackbird is involved
    In what I know.
  11. lucid
    transparently clear; easily understandable
    I know noble accents
    And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
    But I know, too,
    That the blackbird is involved
    In what I know.
  12. inescapable
    impossible to avoid or evade
    I know noble accents
    And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
    But I know, too,
    That the blackbird is involved
    In what I know.
  13. rhythm
    alternation of stressed and unstressed elements in speech
    I know noble accents
    And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
    But I know, too,
    That the blackbird is involved
    In what I know.
  14. euphony
    any pleasing and harmonious sounds
    At the sight of blackbirds
    Flying in a green light,
    Even the bawds of euphony
    Would cry out sharply.
  15. equipage
    a vehicle with wheels drawn by one or more horses
    Once, a fear pierced him,
    In that he mistook
    The shadow of his equipage
    For blackbirds.
Created on Thu Sep 28 11:52:41 EDT 2017 (updated Thu Sep 28 12:21:12 EDT 2017)

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