Uhhh ya totes

Disillusionment at Ten O’Clock

Wallace Stevens

(1879 – 1955)

The houses are haunted

By white night-gowns.

None are green.

Or purple with green rings,

Or green with yellow rings,

Or yellow with blue rings,

None of them are strange

With socks of lace

And beaded ceintures.

People are not going

To dream of baboons and periwinkles.

Only, here and there, an old sailor,

Drunk and asleep in his boots,

Catches tigers

In red weather.

Oki doki, this is an interesting poem. My interpretation of this poem: Its a love story.

First the bit of information given is that " the house is haunted," by a spirit, by a memory, something.

Then it describes night gowns, white ones. Not Green nor purple nor yellow. And this makes be believe it is about a women.

The man loves this person for who she is, and he does not need socks of lace and beaded ceintures.

But there is no dreams of playful things like baboons and periwinkles.

Only thing that is here and there is old saloirs, drunk and asleep.

But in his sleep, in his dreams, he catches tigers in red weather, making me think of war.

So now his wife is gone the only thing that fills his heart is sorrow and anger.

Although its been brought to my attention

That the white robes might by a reference to society and they don't have the ability to have wonderful dreams, and the sailor who can have those dreams is forced to drink and sleep in his clothes by the rest of this plain society.