Gardens of Acclimitization, the

The Gardens of Acclimatization, Jardin d'Acclimatation, is a children's park and zoo in Paris that was founded in 1860 by Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. Unfortunately, during the Seige of Paris in 1870-71, chef Alexandre Etienne Choron cooked and served many of the captive animals. In addition, a Parisian fascination with the lifestyles and cultures of the African people invited the conversion of the zoo between 1877 and 1912 to a human zoo in which various people of Africa were displayed with great success. [1] The Gardens of Acclimatization is referenced in Wallace Stevens' poem "Analysis of Theme," published in Transport to Summer (1947). While the poem has been labeled as one of Stevens more playful poems addressing theme and form [2], the poet's use of the Gardens is indicative of a much darker theme addressing an "ugly, subconscious time" in which "[i]ts immaterial monsters move" (4, 13). [3]
==Notes                                                                     ==
1. Jardin d'Acclimatation
2. Cook 198.
3. Stevens in Kermode and Richardson 304-5.
==References==
Cook, Eleanor. A Reader's Guide to Wallace Stevens. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2007. Print.
Jardin d'Acclimatation
Stevens, Wallace. "Analysis of Theme." Wallace Stevens: Collected Poetry and Prose. Ed. Frank Kermode and Joan Richardson. New York: Library of America, 1997. 304-5. Print.