“Am I not,
Myself, only half a figure of a sort,
A figure half seen, or seen for a moment, a man
Of the mind, an apparition appareled in
Apparels of such lightest look that a turn
Of my shoulders and quickly, too quickly, I am gone?”
"Angel Surrounded by Paysans" (1949)
Context: I am one of you and being one of you
Is being and knowing what I am and know.
Yet I am the necessary angel of earth,
Since, in my sight, you see the earth again,
Cleared of its stiff and stubborn, man-locked set
And, in my hearing, you hear its tragic drone
Rise liquidly in liquid lingerings,
Like watery words awash; like meanings said
By repetitions of half-meanings. Am I not,
Myself, only half a figure of a sort,
A figure half seen, or seen for a moment, a man
Of the mind, an apparition appareled in
Apparels of such lightest look that a turn
Of my shoulders and quickly, too quickly, I am gone?
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Wallace Stevens278
American poet 1879–1955Related quotes
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Arles, Summer 1888; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 507) p. 32 <br class="br">1880s, 1888
“I am the angel of reality,
Seen for a moment standing in the door.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American poet
"Angel Surrounded by Paysans" (1949)
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays
An American and France (1936)
“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope… I have loved none but you.”
Jane Austen book Persuasion
Variant: You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
Source: Persuasion
“I feel half faded away like some figure in the background of an old picture.”
Iris Murdoch book A Severed Head
Source: A Severed Head