Imagination Quote by Wallace Stevens
““The Plain Sense of Things" After the leaves have fallen, we return To a plain sense of things. It is as if We had come to an end of the imagination, Inanimate in an inert savoir. It is difficult even to choose the adjective For this blank cold, this sadness without cause. The great structure has become a minor house. No turban walks across the lessened floors. The greenhouse never so badly needed paint. The chimney is fifty years old and slants to one side. A fantastic effort has failed, a repetition In a repetitiousness of men and flies. Yet the absence of the imagination had Itself to be imagined. The great pond, The plain sense of it, without reflections, leaves, Mud, water like dirty glass, expressing silence Of a sort, silence of a rat come out to see, The great pond and its waste of the lilies, all this Had to be imagined as an inevitable knowledge, Required, as a necessity requires.””
About This Quote
Source Poem: “The Plain Sense of Things”, Wallace Stevens, 1931
The poem reflects on loss of imagination, confronting stark reality and inevitable decay.
In simple terms: Imagining loss leads to confronting empty, cold reality.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and accept the limits of imagination.
Themes
art
mortality
imagination
loss
reflection
Mood
melancholic
contemplative
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- creative writing
- art criticism
- philosophical contemplation
- mental health therapy
Key Concepts
Existentialism
modernism
symbolism
Questions to Reflect On
- How does imagination shape our perception of loss?
- Can we find meaning in emptiness?
A Different Perspective
The poem may romanticize emptiness, ignoring hope.
