In “Nomad Exquisite,” Wallace Stevens turns a Florida morning into a lush, almost hallucinatory scene. Heavy dew brings the palm and vine to life, and the landscape seems so full that it calls hymns out of the person watching. The speaker names bright, strange details: green sides, gold sides of green sides, the eye of a young alligator, lightning colors. The mood is humid, ecstatic, and slightly wild. By the close, that outer abundance turns inward. The speaker feels “forms, flames, and the flakes of flames” come flinging into him, as if the landscape’s energy has become an inner creative fire—overwhelming, beautiful, and not quite orderly. The title hints at a wandering, almost exotic sensibility: someone passing through, dazzled by what he sees.
Nomad Exquisite — Summary
As the immense dew of Florida Brings forth The big-finned palm And green vine angering for life,
As the immense dew of Florida Brings forth hymn and hymn From the beholder, Beholding all these green sides And gold sides of green sides,
And blessed mornings, Meet for the eye of the young alligator, And lightning colors So, in me, come flinging Forms, flames, and the flakes of flames.