Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

What I like about this poem is that it can be interpreted many different ways. Stevens did not make it clear which way to interpret it and left that largely up to the leader. He did not intend for there to be a right answer like so many other modernist writers of the time. For instance in stanza 8 which was my favorite he states " I know noble accents and lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know." One way that many people have interpreted it is that the noble accents are Steven's boss and the lucid inescapable rhythms are that of the office. This is related to the blackbirds and their very literal "pecking order" when they are setting up their territory and making it noble. Also in this stanza he could simply be talking about the seasons. He could be talking about the blackbirds migrations and life cycle. What I like about Wallace Stevens here is that their is not a clear right answer. He leaves the interpretation of the poems largely up to you as the reader. You construct the meaning on your own and take what you want out of it.