Samantha Bordador

October 18, 2014

E Block
AP English Literature
Analytical Essay (Poetry Project)
The Emperor of Ice-Cream by Wallace Stevens is an elliptical poem about the
celebratory preparations of a womans wake. As an elliptical poem, the word elliptical is being
used as to describe a way of speaking that cuts out extra, unnecessary language. Elliptical poems
do not blatantly show the meaning of the poem; they are obscure and hard to interpret. In the
poem, Stevens seems to think that the practices of a wake and a funeral are mundane and
unnecessary. The ceremonies of preparations for the afterlife and the opportunities to mourn may
be things that anger him, which may have been what made him write the poem. He wants people
to celebrate life instead of mourning the death of one person, because that person is no longer
relevant to the current moment. Instead of just a simple preparation for a wake, the poem stresses
the value of carpe diem and argues against the value of appearances by its form and style,
word choice and phrasing, symbols and metaphors, and descriptions of people and things.
In a poem that insists upon informality and against the value of appearances, one should
not expect the poem to keep up any kind of dominant form, meter, or sound pattern. Instead,
Stevens neatly designs the form to fit the meaning of the poem. It is free verse, and the only
uniformities are the eight-line stanzas and the rhyming couplet at the end of each stanza. The
poem acknowledges the importance of form overall, but the poem works towards the idea that
details do not really matter. The rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza indicate irony in
terms of form. By placing the overall message in a formal way, Stevens reinforces the idea of

embracing the reality of each moment and relaxing even in the most formal of times. Similarly,
Stevens plays around with language in the first stanza, which contains assonance in Line 2 and
alliteration in Line 3. Using sound techniques in language usually add a little bit of excitement
and enjoyment in the moments the words are said aloud. The techniques also add to the
suggestion of enjoying the little moments in life.
Stevens chooses words that, at first glance just add to the confusion, but actually
reinforce the message of the poem. In the first stanza, words such as muscular, concupiscent,
wenches, and dawdle suggest sensuality and pleasure. Describing ice cream as
concupiscent means that it is desirable in a lustful way yet indicates that it is a symbol of the
delightfulness of life. Dawdle means to move slowly an idly, and in Line 4, the action
symbolizes leisure. The whole first stanza is indicative of pleasure, leisure, and enjoyment. The
second stanza, however, talks about death, frailty, and poverty. Lines 9 and 10 describe an old
dresser that was probably bought at a very cheap price. The sheet in Lines 10 and 11 was
embroidered by the dead woman, which can lead the audience to assume that she was of the old,
grandmotherly type. Line 13 describes the womans feet as horny, suggesting that she probably
had a laborious life and was probably impoverished. Line 15, let the lamp affix its beam,
seems to say that the attention must be on the here and the now; attend to life. Emperor of icecream is the most out of place set of words in the entire poem. An emperor is the supreme ruler
of an empire; he is a person of great importance. Since the only emperor is that of ice cream,
Stevens means that the little ephemeral things in life are more important than strict rule and
uniformity. Line 7, let be be finale of seem, can be interpreted as to let things be how they are
and dont look too much further. Let what actually is become the end of what seems to be. The
attendees will not pretend to mourn, but celebrate life. As for the deceased, even if the sheet is

too short to cover her feet, who cares? Just let her be, because she is now just a cold corpse. It is
a reminder that life is too short to worry about something else. Take the opportunity to enjoy it
while it lasts
Likewise, the way people and things are described in the poem emphasizes and connects
the idea of taking everything in stride and going about life with comfort and enjoyment. The
wenches, which could mean female servants or prostitutes, attend the wake in their usual,
casual clothes. This is the first time the speaker mentions anything about appearance. Instead of
wearing formal mourning clothes, the speaker encourages the attendees to wear what they are
most comfortable in. Line 6 continues to speak against formality by letting the boys bring
flowers in last months newspapers, meaning that a bouquet in crisp plastic with bows or
arranged in wreaths or other shapes does nothing for simplicity and humbleness. The second
stanza indicates the shift from a kitchen and a party to a bedroom and a dead woman; in other
words, the shift from life to death. Line 14 describes the womans corpse as cold, which
connects to ice cream. If, throughout the whole poem, the audience is confused, then this word
should be the one to clear some things up. If cold death is related to ice cream, and ice cream is
related to the delightfulness of life, then it means that enjoying life in small pleasures such as ice
cream will bring about a happier death. According to Stevens, the overlying theme of life is like
ice cream, short and sweet at first, melts and loses its attractive qualities. Therefore, everyone
should live life by the second and enjoy what one is still capable of enjoying before the
opportunity passes.
The whole purpose of a wake is to comfort the friends and family of the deceased. It is
also a celebration of life. At first glance, the poem is just a poem about a party, a wake, the death
of a possibly impoverished woman. But the insertion of the only emperor is the emperor of ice-

cream stops every reader and prompts another look over the words. And suddenly, every word
seems to have another meaning, something that makes the words and ultimately the entire poem
go deeper than mere preparations. As the emperor of ice-cream, the poem is a prompt for the
celebration of life and every moment within it.