Scholar, The

The figure of the Scholar, "to whom his book is true" (8) [1] appears several times throughout Wallace Stevens' life work, including "The Auroras of Autumn" (1950): 
He opens the door of his house 
On flames. The scholar of one candle sees
An Arctic effulgence flaring on the frame
Of everything he is. And he feels afraid. (vi, 21-24) [1]
According to David Lavery in his critical essay "'In a Single Man Contained': Wallace Stevens as an Autobiographical Poet," "Stevens is, of course, this 'scholar of one candle.' The fear he describes is his." [2] The frequency with which the scholar does appear throughout Stevens' poetry indicates that the figure is prominent in the evolution and growth of Stevens as both a poet and a human being in his relationship with "the natural world" and "the universe beyond," clearly illustrated in "Looking Across the Fields and Watching the Birds Fly" (1954) [3]:  "A new scholar replacing an older one reflects / A moment on this fantasia. He seeks / For a human that can be accounted for." [1] At some point, the figure of the scholar does extend his persona to include the careful reader who also may long to understand his/her relationship with the natural world and the universe.
==Notes==
1. Stevens in Kermode and Richardson 312, 359, 440.
2. Lavery.
3. Cook 288.
==References==
Cook, Eleanor. A Reader's Guide to Wallace Stevens. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2007. Print.
Kermode, Frank, and Joan Richardson, eds. Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry and Prose. New York: Library of America, 1997. Print.
Lavery, David. "'In a Single Man Contained': Wallace Stevens as an Autobiographical Poet."
Stevens, Wallace. "The Auroras of Autumn." Kermode and Richardson 355-63.
---. "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm." Kermode and Richardson 311-2.
---. Looking Across the Fields and Watching the Birds Fly. Kermode and Richardson 439-40.