Flaws in Traditional Religion: A Poetic Study of Wallace Stevens's 'Sunday Morning' | Summaries Religion

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Johnson1

AnalysisofWallaceStevens’s“SundayMorning”

InWallaceStevens’spoem“SundayMorning,”theconventionsofreligionareexplored.

Hepresentsinterestingpointsofviewonwhatisdeservingofworship,withperspectiveson

death,pain,anddivinity.Stevensusesvividimageryofnatureincontrasttoreligiousallusions

todemonstratetheflawsintraditionalreligions’idyllsofheavenandgod.

ThespeakeropensthepoemwiththepictureofawomanlazingaroundonaSunday

morning.Clearlyindicatingthatsheisnotattendingchurch,hesetsthetonetobeginquestioning

sabbathobservance.Hepaintsthepicturebyassociatingbright,naturalimageswiththewoman’s

livingroomexperienceanddarkerimageswithreligion.Hedescribes,“...late/Coffeeand

orangesinasunnychair,/andgreenfreedomofacockatoo/Uponarug…”(lines14).The

colorsportrayedarebrightandwarm,andheassociatesthemwiththeword“freedom,”implying

thewomanisunhinderedandenjoyingapleasantmorning.Incomparison,hecontinues“...she

feelsthedark/Encroachmentofthatoldcatastrophe,/Overtheseas,tosilentPalestine,/

Dominionofthebloodandsepulchre,”(67,1415).AsthespeakeralludestoJesusChrist,or

religion,thetoneofthepoemchanges.Heuseswordslike“dark,”“encroachment,”and

“dominion”demonstratingaheavyconfinementthatimposesuponthewoman’speaceofmind

andthefreedomdescribedearlier.Thespeakerisimplyingthatreligionisbindingandseemsto

besoingrainedinsocietythattheinfringingguiltisdifficulttoescapeandloomsoverher,even

inthecomfortsandlibertiesofherownhome.

Stevenspushessociety’sconventionalunderstandingsofreligionfurtherasthespeaker

questionsandexhibitsthequalitiesofnatureinjuxtapositiontodivinity.Thespeakerpullsthe

readeroutoftheopeningsettingwithajarringquestion,asking“Whyshouldshegiveher

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Analysis of Wallace Stevens’s “Sunday Morning” In Wallace Stevens’s poem “Sunday Morning,” the conventions of religion are explored. He presents interesting points of view on what is deserving of worship, with perspectives on death, pain, and divinity. Stevens uses vivid imagery of nature in contrast to religious allusions to demonstrate the flaws in traditional religions’ idylls of heaven and god. The speaker opens the poem with the picture of a woman lazing around on a Sunday morning. Clearly indicating that she is not attending church, he sets the tone to begin questioning sabbath observance. He paints the picture by associating bright, natural images with the woman’s living room experience and darker images with religion. He describes, “...late/ Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,/ and green freedom of a cockatoo/ Upon a rug…” ( lines 1 4). The colors portrayed are bright and warm, and he associates them with the word “freedom,” implying the woman is unhindered and enjoying a pleasant morning. In comparison, he continues “...she feels the dark/ Encroachment of that old catastrophe,/ Over the seas, to silent Palestine,/ Dominion of the blood and sepulchre,” (6 7, 14 15). As the speaker alludes to Jesus Christ, or religion, the tone of the poem changes. He uses words like “dark,” “encroachment,” and “dominion” demonstrating a heavy confinement that imposes upon the woman’s peace of mind and the freedom described earlier. The speaker is implying that religion is binding and seems to be so ingrained in society that the infringing guilt is difficult to escape and looms over her, even in the comforts and liberties of her own home. Stevens pushes society’s conventional understandings of religion further as the speaker questions and exhibits the qualities of nature in juxtaposition to divinity. The speaker pulls the reader out of the opening setting with a jarring question, asking “Why should she give her

bounty to the dead?/ What is divinity if it can come/ Only in silent shadows...” (16 17). He is questioning why should religion require so much when it seems to be powerless, offering so little, the unrevealed mysticism skirting in shadows, leaving dissatisfaction and discontent. Religion is intangible. It is feelings of misty faith often with nothing concrete made manifest. He also insinuates that this limited divinity is untrustworthy, hiding in shadows or darkness. The speaker then presents an alternative form of worship, asking “Shall she not find comforts of the sun/ In pungent fruit and bright green wings, or else/ In any balm or beauty of the earth,” (18 20). He is replacing the abstract divine with the tangible bounties of nature. He proposes nature brings comfort in its warm, enjoyment in its flavorful ripe fruits, and healing in its beauty, all of which are attributes sought after in religion, and it does so while vibrantly exposed in the sunlight. This suggests, that if nature can fulfill all of these inner soulful desires, then religion is unnecessary, and becomes not only obsolete but burdensome as it requires sacrifice but gives little in return. The speaker argues that the natural world, with all its change and struggles, represents a better paradise than the religious heaven, and therefore is more deserving of worship. He boldly proclaims that “Death is the mother of beauty; hence from her,/ Alone, shall come fulfillment to our dreams/ And our desires,” (63 65). He plays with levels of irony as he uses the common fear of death, which often draws people to religion, and personifies it with the opposing attribute of motherhood. The curious statement is illuminated when coupled with the speaker’s imagery of seasons. He describes, “Passions of rain, or moods of falling snow;/ Elations when the forest blooms; gusty/ Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;/ All pleasures and all pains, remembering/ The bough of summer and the winter branch,” (24, 26 29). The speaker is

as idyllic, when broken down by the speaker and compared to nature, is revealed to appear more like a form of hell. “Sunday Morning” creates an unconventional perspective that exposes the romantic, picturesque notions of religion. The speaker claims that not only is traditional religion fruitless, but it actually inhibits one from understanding that paradise can be felt now in the changes of nature. The very counterbalances experienced in life bring satisfaction and enjoyment. The challenges that are overcome and the pains that are eased in the process of living are unequivocally necessary to our finding happiness. As the speaker mirrors this in examples of nature, it becomes clear that earth is a form of paradise, giving joy and a true heaven would reflect those qualities.

Flaws in Traditional Religion: A Poetic Study of Wallace Stevens's 'Sunday Morning', Summaries of Religion

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