Arts & Sciences
The Plot against the Giant
From Harmonium (1923)
First Girl
When this yokel comes maundering,
Whetting his hacker,
I shall run before him,
Diffusing the civilest odors
Out of geraniums and unsmelled flowers.
It will check him.
Second Girl
I shall run before him,
Arching cloths besprinkled with colors
As small as fish-eggs.
The threads
Will abash him.
Third Girl
Oh, la ... le pauvre!
I shall run before him,
With a curious puffing.
He will bend his ear then.
I shall whisper
Heavenly labials in a world of gutturals.
It will undo him.
Cite this poem
MLA
Stevens, Wallace. “The Plot against the Giant.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/stevens/5/.
Chicago
Stevens, Wallace. “The Plot against the Giant.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/stevens/5/.
Read this poem with the Codex →