Gertrude Stein: Mina Loy Was Concise

The poem “Gertrude Stein” by Mina Loy is a brief yet beautiful homage to the poem’s namesake. 

The poem is a single sentence, only nine short lines, but a lot happens. I find it fascinating how Loy parallels Stein to Curie. The comparison here is likening a poet to a scientist. Loy seems to be making the point that in a lot of ways Stein was a scientist. She was a scientist in the way she bent language to the most extreme extent, testing what could work and what couldn’t and constantly trying new things and searching for new ways to exercise the use of written language. Loy is calling attention to Stein’s dedication and unwavering nerve as she challenged the conventions of what people thought poetry was. Stein deconstructed poetic theory with her work in ways that forced people to reconsider what they thought writing was meant to be and that is what Loy is calling attention to in this poem.

The brevity of this piece is truly beautiful because it at once perfectly contrasts and parallels with Stein’s work. Each line on its own is sort of broken and hard to understand in and of itself but when it is put in context of the full piece it all comes together to form a clear image. It is different, though, in how brief it is. This piece moves very quickly from beginning to end which is not how Stein’s work is at all. Loy does well here to compliment Stein and emulate her a little bit while staying true to her own style at the same time.

This poem is a short and beautiful dedication to someone who changed what writing is for all of us and I hope you all regard it as well as I do.