In the early eighteenth century, Wallace Stevens first published his poem, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream.” It was immediately appreciated amongst the public and his peers, despite the unclear message it provided. It is now clear Stevens did not intend to relate the title to the actual meaning of the poem. At first glance, I assumed the poem would be about a sweet cold dessert. I was not sure what it was about until I had read the entire poem through multiple times.
The first stylistic pattern I noticed was this poem is written into two different stanzas. Each stanza has eight lines, neither with a clear meter pattern. The first stanza is about one party while the second stanza is about a funeral or wake. The first stanza is about a party where in the kitchen the neighborhood women are having a good time. They are making ice cream “In kitchen cups concupiscent curds (3). These women are dressed scantly. “Let the wenches dawdle in such dress” (4). The enticing young men are bringing these women flowers to woo them. They are flowers wrapped in “last month’s newspapers”. Because they are not wrapped in cellophane or tied with yarn, the reader is led to believe the men are poor and maybe do not have extra money. They do not buy flowers; they pick them from the ground. The second stanza is about a different story and a different idea.
The second stanza is not about ice cream, but about death. In line twelve, Stevens wrote “And spread it so as to cover her face.” We now know it is a wake and the woman is having a sheet she embroidered pulled over her face. The sheet is not long enough to cover her face and her feet at the same time. Short sheets were common among the poorer population in the 18th century. They could not afford more material for the sheets to fit or they had to buy the marked down mis matched sets. She had to be poor, as she did not even have nice cutlery and plate-ware for her guests, “In kitchen cups concupiscent curds”. The only kitchen cups she had were for eating ice cream. She also did not have a nice clothing dresser, but an incomplete one. “Take from the dresser of deal, lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet”. Her dresser was used so frequently and so often broken, she could not afford new knobs. Most likely, it was acquired second hand and incomplete to begin with. In this time, wakes were often in the deceased’s home, as a parlor would cost too much money.
Stevens not only used themes and non-pattern meter to write his favorite poem, he also used alliteration and repetition. In the first stanza, Stevens uses consonance. “In kitchen cups concupiscent curds” (3). By repeating the “C” sound, it sounds like the reader could be cold and shivering. In lines 7 and 8, he uses alliteration with the joyful and happy “e” sound. “Let be be finale of seem, the only emperor is the emperor of ice cream.” Alliteration is often used to put emphasis on certain words or phrases. In those two lines, he also uses repetition. When he used “be” twice in the first stanza, at first, I wondered if this was not a grammatical mistake. Nevertheless, on my third reading of the poem, I realized it was important to the idea of the poem. It was meant to take down the appearances put up for others and fills those holes with reality.
In this poem, a woman has died and is lying during her wake. The sheet covering her is not large enough to cover both her face and her feet at the same time, but her friends do not even seem to notice. They are enjoying their time. By their friend’s passing, they have seen how fragile life is and how she did not waste hers. She did not waste her money on new dresser knobs or enough yarn to knit a large sheet. She had fun and made friends. During her life, she made enough friends to fill her kitchen with women making ice cream. It is also possible; they are more than just friends are. Maybe these women are her family, or her work friends or roommates. These were women she was close enough with to and not have to have worried about her “horny” feet showing. Stevens used “horny” to describe the woman’s feet. He did not use “horny” in a sexual way but in a descriptive way; meaning calloused. Her feet were calloused and “horny” from standing all day. Was she standing on the street corner, working as a prostitute? Then, that would make these women her sisters on the street? That also could lead the reader to believe the “roller of big cigars” mentioned in the first line of the first stanza could be her pimp or her manager. It is clear there are many hidden meanings behind this poem, as there is with most poetry. Fortuately, the title "ice cream" is a pair of positive and encouraging words, which can make almost anyone smile.
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