Study Of Two Pears - Analysis

Introduction and Tone

The poem offers a quiet, attentive meditation on two pears, combining plain observation with a subtly philosophical voice. The tone is precise and contemplative, occasionally ironic in its refusal to equate the pears with conventional subjects of art. A small shift occurs from simple description toward a recognition of perception's limits in the final stanza.

Contextual Note

Wallace Stevens, an American modernist poet, often explores the interplay between imagination and reality. This short, imagistic piece reflects his interest in how language and perception shape our experience of ordinary objects.

Main Themes: Perception and Reality

One central theme is the gap between appearance and interpretation. Lines that insist the pears are "not viols, / Nudes or bottles" reject metaphorical assimilation and assert the pears' singular reality. The closing statement that "The pears are not seen / As the observer wills" underscores how perception resists complete control.

Main Themes: Attention and Description

Another theme is the act of seeing as an ethical or aesthetic practice. The poem's careful cataloguing of color and form—"yellow forms," "bulging toward the base," "touched red"—treats close attention as a means of honoring the object's particularity rather than subsuming it under familiar images.

Imagery and Symbolic Details

The recurring visual images—curves, yellows, blues, and the "hard dry leaf"—work symbolically to contrast vitality and restraint. The varied yellows ("Citrons, oranges and greens") suggest richness and multiplicity, while the "hard dry leaf" and shadow "blobs" introduce stillness or mortality. These images emphasize both the pears' corporeal presence and the transience implicit in observation.

Ambiguity and Open Question

The poem leaves ambiguous whether the final refusal of mastery is a limitation or a liberation: does the observer's inability to will the pears into other forms point to the humility of perception, or to the autonomy of objects? This question deepens the poem's quietly philosophical reach.

Conclusion

Stevens' Study of Two Pears turns simple description into a reflection on seeing: through precise imagery and restrained assertion, it honors the pears' individuality while reminding readers that perception is never wholly sovereign. The poem thus celebrates attentive perception while acknowledging its limits.