"Let be be finale of seem"

  

"The Emperor of Ice-Cream"

by Wallace Stevens

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Rudolf Steiner:  "The conditions that lay beneath the surface decades ago, during a time when people abandoned themselves to the illusions that existed — those are the conditions that now exist in reality. And in this way, we can truly study history, insofar as we seek the involution within the evolution, insofar as we seek to discover what is developing beneath the surface.... This is what it means to truly study reality. And it follows from this that we must always be careful to direct our gaze onto the true realities of any situation; for nowadays we live in an age in which many realities must be seen through, in which realities must be constantly laid bare by stripping away the outer layer."






Source: February 21, 1920. GA 196. What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, pp.252-3

Related: https://martyrion.blogspot.com/2023/02/aint-that-america.html