Lulu Gay - Analysis

Initial impression

This short, vivid poem presents a scene of erotic storytelling in which Lulu sings of "barbarians" to an audience of eunuchs. The tone is alternately sensual, playful, and ironic, with a steady rhythm broken by the repeated ululation that both punctuates and caricatures the listeners' response. There is a slight shift from descriptive eroticism to communal ritual as the eunuchs' cries become a chorus that enfolds Lulu's tale.

Authorial and historical note

Wallace Stevens, a modernist American poet, often explored imagination, perception, and the tension between reality and artifice. While no specific historical event is required to read this poem, the contrast between exoticized "barbarians" and the effete eunuchs reflects modernist interest in cultural otherness and the play of voice and audience.

Main themes: desire, performance, and otherness

The poem treats desire through Lulu's sensual descriptions—"kissed her / With their wide mouths / And breaths as true / As the gum of the gum-tree"—which emphasize physical immediacy and natural authenticity. Performance appears in Lulu's role as singer/storyteller and in the eunuchs' ululation, suggesting erotic narrative as spectacle and ritual. Otherness is signaled by the "barbarians" and by labels like "orchidean," creating a contrast between exoticized lovers and the eunuchs who are fascinated but separate, perhaps incapable of full participation.

Imagery and recurring symbols

The poem relies on sensory images: scent ("Sniffed her"), touch ("slapped heavy hands"), and taste/breath ("breaths as true / As the gum of the gum-tree"). The gum-tree simile links breath to sap—natural, adhesive, and true—implying an authenticity in the barbarians' erotic expression. The repeated ululation functions as a symbol of communal response that is both celebratory and reductive, turning a complex erotic exchange into a ritualized refrain. The word "orchidean" evokes orchid-like exoticism and may suggest both beauty and artificial labeling imposed by observers.

Concluding insight

Stevens compresses a theatre of desire into a few lines, using Lulu as mediator between wild passion and stylized reaction. The poem raises questions about who can truly inhabit erotic truth—the "barbarians" whose gestures are rendered as natural, or the onlookers whose ululation transforms intimacy into performance—leaving the reader to consider the gap between experience and its reception.