Thirteen Ways of Understanding Reality "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" is about many things and nothing in particular. There is no common thread in it (aside from the blackbirds, which only serve as a common symbol for different things); the poem is chaotic, like nature itself. The main focuses in the poem are imagination, nature, and mainly reality, which are facets of existence that no doubt weighed heavily on Wallace Stevens' mind (as …showed first 75 words of 1822 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1822 total…At the sight of blackbirds Flying in a green light, Even the bawds of euphony Would cry out sharply. XI He rode over Connecticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds. XII The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying. XIII It was evening all afternoon. It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs.