sunday morning

In Wallace Steven's poem, "Sunday Morning" the idea of religion as it relates to reality is explored through the mind of the older lady. It is not through the older lady's religious voice, but the voice of Atheism, in her mind, that the poem is narrated. The poem is a discussion, a debate within her head, between the older lady's atheist voice and her religious voice on the perception of divinity. Her atheist voice questions …

…represented on earth because of our human condition of death. Through the narrative form, this debate between the two sides of the older lady's mind shows the cerebral merits of atheism. This poem serves as an example of the romantic atheist doctrine being questioned through a traditional religious debate. In this debate the atheist ideals are questioned, switching the traditional roles, and is shown through the symbolic expression of atheist ideals of heaven on earth.