From the Misery of Don Joost is a poem from Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens

Wallace Stevens 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 a lawyer for the Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.His best-known poems include "Anecdote of the Jar",...

's first book of poetry, Harmonium

Harmonium (poetry collection)

Harmonium is a book of poetry by U.S. poet Wallace Stevens. His first book, it was published in 1923 by Knopf in an edition of 1500 copies. He was in middle age at that time, forty-four years old. The collection comprises 85 poems, ranging in length from just a few lines to several hundred...

. It is in the public domain, having been published in the journal Poetry in 1921 (volume 19, October 1921).

From the Misery of Don Joost  I have finished my combat with the sun;  And my body, the old animal,  Knows nothing more.  The powerful seasons bred and killed,  And were themselves the genii  Of their own ends.  Oh, but the very self of the storm  Of sun and slaves, breeding and death,  The old animal,  The senses and feeling, the very sound  And sight, and all there was of the storm,  Knows nothing more.

The only reference to this poem in Stevens's letters isn't helpful. Responding to a question from Hi Simons, he writes, "Don Joost is a jovial Don Quixote. He is an arbitrary figure." As Eleanor Cook observes, Don Joost is not jovial, and his resignation contrasts with Don Quixote's bravado.

It seems clear to me...that thou art not well-versed in the matter of adventures: these are giants; and if thou art afraid, move aside and start to pray whilst I enter with them in fierce and unequal combat. (Cervantes

Cervantes

-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...

, Don Quixote, I.viii, trans. Edith Grossman, 2003)

Buttel lists this poem as among a few from Harmonium that anticipate Stevens's later poetry. The others on his list are "Sunday Morning", "The Snow Man

The Snow Man

"The Snow Man" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium. "The Snow Man" was first published in 1921 in the journal Poetry, volume 19, October 1921 and is in the public domain.-Overview:...

", "Another Weeping Woman

Another Weeping Woman

"Another Weeping Woman" is a poem in Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium.This poem tells of a woman who is grieving for someone who has died.The triumvirate of imagination, world, and reality is at work....

", and "Death of a Soldier". Mention should also be made of "Le Monocle de Mon Oncle

Le Monocle de Mon Oncle

"Le Monocle de Mon Oncle" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry,Harmonium. It was first published in 1918.Quoted here is the eighth canto...

", with which it shares a focus on leaving youth behind. His body, the animal, has become old. He counts the passage of time by reference to the seasons, and his passage through the seasons is compared to a storm, which is abating. The combat with the sun may be a creative struggle, viewed as finished.

The writing of Harmonium was a watershed for Stevens, and this is one way he experienced it.