Saint John is a figure who appears in Wallace Stevens' poem "Saint John and the Back-Ache," published in The Auroras of Autumn (1950). Regardless of whether or not the figure is meant to represent Saint John the Apostle, the reader can assume that he is of a Godly nature because the Back-Ache, the antithetical figure in the poem, refers to Saint John as "father" (1) very early in the poem. [1] The poem is a dialogue between Saint John, the presence of mind or of a perceived God, while the Back-Ache refers to reality in the form of a pain that will ultimately make its presence known to the mind. A question is to be answered within the dialogue of the poem. Which is more powerful: the mind or reality? Drawing support from the philosophy of John Locke, the reader can conclude that the pain itself can move Saint John beyond idea and imagination into a genuine communion with God.
Notes[]
1 .Stevens in Kermode and Richardson 375.
References[]
Stevens, Wallace. "Saint John and the Back-Ache." Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry and Prose. Ed. Frank Kermode, and Joan Richardson. New York: Library of America, 1997. 375-76. Print.