"Of Heaven Considered as a Tomb" is a poem from

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

's first book of poetry, '' Harmonium ''(1923). It was first published in 1921, so it is in the public domain.The Complete Public Domain Poems of Wallace Stevens, Volume 1.
/ref> This is a poem about the other side of death, optimistically hallooing the departed ("the darkened ghosts") for news that they are still "about and still about", pessimistically anticipating that the burials that occur each day are a portal into nothingness, "the one abysmal night". It may be compared with "

The Worms at Heaven's Gate "The Worms at Heaven's Gate" is a poem from Wallace Stevens' first book of poetry, ''Harmonium'' (1923). It was first published in 1916Buttel, p. 188. and is therefore in the public domain. Interpretation Badroulbadour Badroulbadour / Badr ul-B ...

", which presents death more naturalistically. That interpretation plays a language game, but not the one Stevens invites readers to play by asking "What word have you, interpreters...?"

Notes

{{Wallace Stevens 1921 poems American poems Poetry by Wallace Stevens