《彼得·昆斯弹琴》(Peter)是美国著名诗人华莱士·史蒂文斯(Wallece Stevens 1879—1955年)诗作中颇有影响的作品。在美国文学史上,史蒂文斯是一个罕见的集企业家和名诗人于一身的作家。他既是哈特福特一家保险公司的董事长,又是本世纪初美国最优秀的诗人之一。在他的生活中,有两件他从不混淆却对他来说又是同等重要的事:赚钱和写诗。他还在这两者之间发现了某种联系——金钱为他提供了感官经验的可能,感官经验又为他的创作提供了基本的要素。在他看来,一个有能力拥有油画的人自然要比对油画只能夸夸其谈的人更能够评判 Peter is an influential work in the poetry of the famous American poet Wallece Stevens (1879-1955). In the history of American literature, Stevens is a rare writer who combines entrepreneurs and famous poets. He is both Chairman of an insurance company in Hartford and one of the nation’s finest poets at the beginning of this century. In his life, two things that he never confused were equally important to him: making money and writing poetry. He also found some connection between the two-money provided him with the possibility of sensory experience, which in turn provided the essential elements of his creation. In his opinion, a person who has the ability to own a painting naturally can judge more than a person who can only talk about oil painting