Read "Anecdote of the Prince of Peacocks" by Wallace Stevens online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
In the moonlight / I met Berserk, / In the moonlight / On the bushy plain. / Oh, sharp he was / As the sleepless!
And, "Why are you red / In this milky blue? " / I said. / "Why sun-colored, / As if awake / In the midst of sleep?"
"You that wander," / So he said, / "On the bushy plain, / Forget so soon. / But I set my traps / In the midst of dreams."
I knew from this / That the blue ground / Was full of blocks / And blocking steel. / I knew the dread / Of the bushy plain,
And the beauty / Of the moonlight / Falling there, / Falling / As sleep falls / In the innocent air.