The pastor of Holy Martyrs Parish in Falmouth, Maine, Charles M. Murphy, examines in this book the rich inner life of the American poet who believed that the way to God was through the world. Wallace Stevens, an insurance executive, loved to compose verse while he was walking. He pondered the mysteries and the epiphanies of nature for signs of God. "The greatest poverty," he once wrote, "is not to live in the physical world."
Charles M. Murphy does a masterful job in getting at the spiritual dimensions of Stevens's work. He also sees him as a kindred spirit to St. Teresa of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Nicholas of Cusa. Murphy analyzes several of Wallace Stevens's best poems and shows ample evidence of his mission to discover "a missal in the mud." The end result is a demystification of this great American poet and a fresh interpretation of his spiritual quest.
