Arts & Sciences

Exposition of the Contents of a Cab

by Wallace Stevens 1879–1955

From Harmonium (1923)

Arts & Sciences

Victoria Clementina, negress,
Took seven white dogs
To ride in a cab.

Bells of the dogs chinked.
Harness of the horses shuffled
Like brazen shells.

Oh-hé-hé! Fragrant puppets
By the green lake-pallors,
She too is flesh,
And a breech-cloth might wear,
Netted of topaz and ruby
And savage blooms;

Thridding the squawkiest jungle
In a golden sedan,
White dogs at bay.

What breech-cloth might you wear,
Except linen, embroidered
By elderly women?

MLA

Stevens, Wallace. “Exposition of the Contents of a Cab.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/stevens/46/.

Chicago

Stevens, Wallace. “Exposition of the Contents of a Cab.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/stevens/46/.

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