Harmonium (poetry collection)

Harmonium is the debut poetry collection by American poet Wallace Stevens, published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is considered a significant work of early modernist poetry.

The collection is characterized by its innovative use of language, vibrant imagery, and philosophical explorations of the relationship between reality and the imagination. Stevens's poems often grapple with themes of perception, art, beauty, and the role of the poet in a world devoid of traditional religious or philosophical certainties.

Harmonium showcases Stevens's distinctive poetic style, which includes a rich vocabulary, playful use of sound, and a penchant for creating elaborate and often ambiguous metaphors. Many of the poems are marked by a sense of irony and a self-awareness of the artifice involved in poetic creation.

Notable poems from Harmonium include "Peter Quince at the Clavier," "The Snow Man," "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," "Sunday Morning," and "Anecdote of the Jar." These poems, and others in the collection, established Stevens as a major voice in American poetry and continue to be widely read and studied. The collection initially received mixed reviews but is now recognized as a landmark achievement.