"Negation" 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''. It was first published in 1918, so it is in the public domain.Bates, p. 133 This poem was Section VII of the poem—sequence "Lettres d'un Soldat" (1918). It was extracted as "Negation" for inclusion in the second edition of ''Harmonium''. It may reflect Stevens's reading of ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (german: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Niet ...

'', according to Bates. The poem's image of God as bungling potter recalls Zarathustra's dialogue with the last pope, in which God is similarly characterized. Another ''Harmonium'' poem that clearly reflects Stevens's reading of Nietzsche is "

The Surprises of the Superhuman "The Surprises of the Superhuman" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, ''Harmonium.'' It was first published in 1918, so it is in the public domain. This poem was Section V of the poem-sequence "Lettres d'un Soldat" (1918). It ...

", which was also extracted from "Lettres d'un Soldat" for inclusion in the second edition. The poem is notable for its arch wit and the anti-poetical salutation, "Hi!", rather than as a solution to the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,The Problem of Evil, Michael TooleyThe Internet Encyclope ...

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