Anecdote of the Jar
By Wallace Stevens
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.It took dominion everywhere.
The jar was gray and bare.
It did not give of bird or bush,
Like nothing else in Tennessee.
Summary of Anecdote of the Jar
- Popularity of “Anecdote of the Jar”: Written by a great American poet, Wallace Stevens, this beautiful poem “Anecdote of the Jar” appeared in his collection, Harmonium. It was published in 1919 for the first time and since then has turned into a textbook poetic piece. The poem presents a simple story of a jar that the poet puts outside in Tennessee during his stay there and he sees that it has grown in stature and position among the outgrowth.
- “Anecdote of the Jar” As Nature’s Power: The poet, who happens to be the speaker of the poem, has a very good experience of how wild outgrowth in nature blesses a thing with a new status. He placed a jar somewhere in Tennessee during his stay and witnessed excessive outgrowth of the weeds around it that it was left in the middle with sprawling plants around it. After some time, it turned into a new field without wilderness and the jar standing like a king on the top of the hill. Although it was empty, it did not have any attraction for nature, such as a bird or a bush, yet it has established its dominion like nothing else beautiful in Tennessee.
- Major Themes in “Anecdote of the Jar”: Natural outgrowth, domestication of nature, and beauty of nature are three major themes of this short poem. Although it does not seem like an anecdote, it is an anecdote in that the poet does not expect that a simple jar-placing activity would turn into an extraordinary place of beauty. The placing of the jar has given an opportunity to the wilderness to engulf it in its lap, but the connection of both has turned this wilderness into a domesticated natural setting though the jar does not have this attraction. This domesticated natural beauty has made the jar king of this world, which seems entirely different and unique in the overall natural setting of Tennessee.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Anecdote of the Jar
Wallace Stevens used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices used in this poem are as follows.
- Allusion: It means using important events of social, cultural, and mythological or religious settings in literature to stress upon the main idea. The poet used a geographical allusion to Tennessee.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “I placed a jar in Tennessee” and the sound of /o/ in “And round it was, upon a hill.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r / in “And sprawled around, no longer wild” and the sound of /d/ and /b/ in “It did not give of bird or bush.”
- Enjambment: It means to use a verse that rolls over to the next without a pause. The poem shows the use of enjambment, such as;
I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Wallace Stevens used imagery in this poem, such as “Surround that hill”, “The wilderness rose up to it” and “It took dominion everywhere.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the metaphor wilderness as if it is a man that has risen up.
- Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the personification of the wilderness as having emotions and a life of its own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as hill, wilderness, jar, wild, and ground to show the overpowering outgrowth.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Anecdote of the Jar
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and simple.
- Free Verse: It means to write verses without any metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. This poem is a free verse poem.
- Quatrain: It is a Persian stanza having four verses. This poem comprises four quatrains.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas, with each comprising four verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a simple, inscrutable, and gladdening tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about how wilderness responds to human enjoyment.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
