The Emperor of Ice Cream
By
Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
Call
the roller of a big cigars
The
muscular one, and bid him whip
In
kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let
the wenches dawdle in such dress
As
they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring
flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let
be be finale of seem
The
only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream
Take
from the dresser of deal,
Lacking
the three glass knobs, that sheet
On
which she embroidered fantails once
And
spread it so as to cover her face,
If
her horny feet protrude, they come
To
show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let
the lamp affix its beam.
The
only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
A. Meanings of the word
of Emperor
There are many meanings
of emperor such as super power or powerful, godly, having desire, mighty,
future-oriented, ambitious, king of kings, strong, leader, reign, honorable,
respectable, undefeated, wealth, monarch, wisdom, tough, war, nepotism,
authority, having concubines, dictator, expansion, high dignity, throne,
polygamy, the kingdom’s ruler, the highness, king, fair, feared, majesty,
incredible, the greatest ruler, huge army, loyalty, affecting, lovable, lordly,
unfriendly, colony, arrogant, rich, glorious, hard-headed, firm, cruel, royal,
forceful, smart, tricky, wise, absolute, and brave.
B. Meanings of the word
of Ice-Cream
There are plenty of
meanings of ice-cream such as short time, opportunity, cool, fresh, dynamic,
colorful, unique, enjoyment, relaxed, variant, happiness, pleasure, luxurious,
interested, curiosity, disappear, melting, soft, hard, frozen, wealthy, spare
time, valuable, red, white, nut, green, chocolate, spoon, cup, strawberry,
fruit, delicious, and yummy.
C. First Stanza
There are a lot of
imperative words such as call, bid, let, and bring. There are two sentences in
the first stanza. First sentence is:
Call the roller of a
big cigars
The muscular one, and
bid him whip
In kitchen cups
concupiscent curds.
Second sentence is:
Let the wenches dawdle
in such dress
As they are used to
wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last
month’s newspapers
Let be be finale of
seem
The only emperor is the
emperor of ice-cream.
D. Explication in the
first sentence of the first stanza
1. Call the roller of a
big cigars
Call means
that lyrical speaker asks somebody to call someone.
2. the roller of a big
cigars
the roller of a big
cigars means that someone who have a job as a roller of
cigars but that cigars must be big, not small because he must be strong.
3. The muscular one,
and bid him whip
The muscular one
means that a roller of a big cigars must be muscular, strong, tough, and
forceful because he is needed to whip something. What is that something? That
statement will be explained in the next part.
And bid him whip
means that the lyrical speaker asks
someone to bid the roller whip in making ice cream’’
Bid him means
that lyrical speaker asks someone to bid the roller. In this poem, Wallace
Stevens did not use the word “offer” or “give” but he used “bid”.
4. In the kitchen cups
concupiscent curds
Concupiscent concerns with desire.
So, here lyrical
speaker wants to tell that only the roller who is muscular person who can make
ice cream becomes soft, smooth, desirable, and delicious.
D. Explication in the
second sentence of the first stanza
The wenches are happy
and they enjoy everything. They let the boys to bring flowers and those flowers
are covered by newspaper and they give same chance to the boys as well. After
that, they have sex and they are really happy. They get ultimate joy.
In the second sentence
of the first stanza, it tells about young people who can have ultimate joy. All
sentences concern physical desire and secular and it tells about freedom as
well.
E. Second Stanza
In the second stanza,
lyrical speaker still uses imperative words such as take, spread, and let. First
stanza tells about young people who has ultimate joy but Second stanza tells
about marriage people who can have ultimate joy, especially the woman, she is
poor but she can has ultimate joy because in the sentence “Lacking the three glass knobs” She has dresser but it is lack of
three glass knobs. Those knobs are also made from glass. It means that she is
very poor. In addition, she has sheet that she embroider fantails. That
fantails are name of bird. In the literature, bird symbolizes freedom, success,
glory, and high achievement. That sheet she uses to cover her face when she
gets married. It is proved by:
And
spread it so as to cover her face
She uses gown for
marriage. After marriage, they have sex until she is very satisfied. It is
proved by:
If
her horny feet protrude, they come
To
show how cold she is, and dumb
So, second stanza are
also about ultimate joy. That is full of freedom, achievement, and happiness.
Moreover, it tells about satisfaction, not death.
The differences between
first stanza and second stanza is in the first stanza young people who have not
got married can have sex until they are really happy but in the second stanza
only people who have got married that
can have ultimate joy and freedom. Moreover, The Emperor of Ice Cream is
similar to another poem of Wallace Steven such as Sunday Morning. Both poem,
The Emperor of Ice Cream and Sunday Morning, tell about Christianity and they
also ask about physical enjoyment. In the Emperor Ice Cream all, spiritual and
physical enjoyment, are blended. So, it relates to Ice Cream. Both tell about
self-introspection as well, for example cannot we enjoy this life without
religion? And , must we think about religious things all our life?
Yogyakarta, 3 November 2015
Yogyakarta, 3 November 2015
Post a Comment