Depression Before Spring
The cock crows But no queen rises. The hair of my blonde Is dazzling, As the spittle of cows threading the wind. Ho! Ho! But ki-ki-ri-ki Brings no rou-cou, No rou-cou-cou. But no queen comes In slipper green.
despair
free verse
dreamlike
Depression Before Spring - context Summary
Published in Harmonium, 1919
Published in Wallace Stevens’ 1919 collection Harmonium, this brief poem stages a muted, ironic take on spring. Barnyard sounds and pastoral images—cocks, cows, a "queen" and green slippers—are arranged so renewal fails to arrive. Its compact lines emphasize sound and contrast rather than narrative, creating a small, unsettling tableau that fits Harmonium’s early experiments with modern diction, musicality, and destabilized traditional pastoral motifs.
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