Wallace Stevens

1879–1955

Study of Two Pears

      I

Opusculum paedagogum.

The pears are not viols,

nudes or bottles.

They resemble nothing else.

      II

They are yellow forms

Composed of curves

Bulging toward the base.

They are touched red.

      III

They are not flat surfaces

Having curved outlines.

They are round

tapering toward the top.

      IV

In the way they are modeled

There are bits of blue.

A hard dry leaf hangs

From the stem.

      V

The yellow glistens.

It glistens with various yellows,

Citrons, oranges and greens

Flowering over the skin.

      VI

The shadows of the pears

Are blobs on the green cloth.

The pears are not seen

As the observer wills.