Concept of Deity in the Poetry of Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens sought to remove the false image of God in
order to find truth and reality. His various attempts to
dispel the myth of religion can be traced through his poetry
and correspondence. His poetry can be divided into five
phases, each illustrating Stevens's changing attitude toward
God. In phase I Stevens employed simple substitution,
replacing the image of the supreme with common objects. In
phase II he looked for ''the god within man" while increasing
his efforts to remove the illusion of God. Phase III was
one of transition, where Stevens rejected former theories
and sought a new direction to follow. In phase IV he
concentrated on exposing the myths and defining reality. At
the end of this phase, he reviewed his progress and found
himself no nearer to his goal. Stevens lacked focus in
phase V due to this disappointment; he died before settling
on a new theory.