Harmonium (Stevens)/Anecdote of Men by the Thousand
Anecdote of Men by the Thousand
The soul, he said, is composedOf the external world.
There are men of the East, he said,Who are the East.There are men of a provinceWho are that provinceThere are men of a valleyWho are that valley.
There are men whose wordsAre as natural soundsOf their placesAs the cackle of toucansIn the place of toucans.
The mandoline is the instrumentOf a place.
Are there mandolines of western mountains?Are there mandolines of northern moonlight?
The dress of a woman of Lhassa,In its place,Is an invisible element of that placeMade visible.