The Wind Shifts
"The Wind Shifts" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, "Harmonium." It was first published in 1917, so it is in the public domain. Interpretation. "The wind shifts" explains why John Gould Fletcher detected a poet out of tune with life and with his surroundings. (See the main "Harmonium" essay.) Buttel cites this poem as an example of Stevens's mastery of repetition within free verse. The repetition of "the wind shifts" underscores the associated human feelings, and "heavy and heavy" adds to the effect of leaden monotony.