I placed a jar in Tennessee,
And round it was, upon a hill.
It made the slovenly wilderness
Surround that hill.
The wilderness rose up to it,
And sprawled around, no longer wild.
The jar was round upon the ground
And tall and of a port in air.
The wilderness is now rising up to the jar, meaning Stevens has officially established nature’s position below humanity’s handiwork. The wilderness is attempting to reach the level of a perfect creation –a standard that nature simply cannot meet.
Anecdote of the Jar