“The Wish” is a philosophical thought experiment. While its central conceit—the speaker’s professed desire to have the power of the sun—suggests a paradox or impossibility, the poem uses it to explore the metaphorical possibilities of new philosophical developments. What difference does it make if the stars are suns (and the sun is a star)? “The Wish” offers one possible answer to that question.
Curations offer an array of verbal and visual materials that invite contemplation of different ways in which a particular poem might be contextualized. Sources, analogues, and glimpses into earlier or subsequent cultural phenomena all might play into possible readings of a given poem. Don't show again