When I first read over Gertrude Stein I found it almost impossible to interpret. Then after we discussed the importance of sound in class, I read it out loud a couple of times to see if I could find any meaning behind the poem. The sound of the word sweet didn’t truly stand out until hearing it pronounced so urgently as it was suggested in the poem’s reading. Yet I was still struggling to understand the deeper meaning of the poem. There was one word that stood out to me, incubus, for this reason I went in search of its meaning. An incubus is an imaginary demon or evil spirit that would descend upon sleeping women to have sexual intercourse with them, they can also be simply considered a nightmare. After discovering this I was wondering what the mention of an incubus was in relation to the rest of the poem. I struggled to find research into what the deeper meaning of Stein’s piece was, although there were a few suggestions that she intended to shed light on feminist theories during a time when women’s rights were stifled by the power of men. There were also claims that by the use of words such as “tea” and “old vats” she was referencing old traditions and understandings of the roles of women. Through all of my research my final understanding of Stein’s poem is that she was fighting for the rights of women, including the rights of women sexually who may be forced by society or men to follow a particular standard. Such standard may simply mean providing sexually for a man, or where the intelligence of women is restricted along with their ability to work in an all male workforce. Although my interpretation of Susie Asado may be farther off then what she intended, that is the best part of poetry is that meaning is always up for interpretation and can provide meaning for a reader that they can then apply to their life.
