Indian River
Indian River - context Summary
Composed During Florida Visits
Published in Harmonium (1923), "Indian River" compresses sensory observation into a brief Florida scene. Stevens repeats a single aural motif—the trade-wind "jingle" heard in nets, roots, and birds—to link disparate elements of the coastal landscape. The final line undercuts the pleasant resonance by denying a conventional "spring," suggesting the region’s climate, solitude, or mood resists renewal. The poem reflects Stevens’s habitual Florida vacations and attentive travel impressions.
Read Complete AnalysesThe trade-wind jingles the rings in the nets around the racks by the docks on Indian River. It is the same jingle of the water among roots under the banks of the palmettoes. It is the same jingle of the red-bird breasting the orange-trees out of the cedars. Yet there is no spring in Florida, neither in boskage perdu, nor on the nunnery beaches.
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