19 pages • 38 minutes read
Tender Buttons [A Long Dress]
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Trimmings” by Harryette Mullen (1990)
It is no accident that this book-length poem by American poet Harryette Mullen was first published by Tender Buttons Press. Explicitly inspired by and interacting with Stein’s Tender Buttons, Mullen’s book demonstrates the lasting impact Stein has on American poetry. Mullen updates Stein’s text to investigate race, gender, and the unique linguistic circumstances in which citizens of the contemporary era find themselves.
“Susie Asado” by Gertrude Stein (1912)
For an example of Stein’s poetry in a more traditional, lineated format, “Susie Asado” is exemplary. This short poem is rhythmically bold and stuffed full of puns and double (and triple) entendres. Like “A Long Dress,” this poem uses colors, clothing, and mundane objects to multiply meanings. Unlike “A Long Dress,” this poem is divided into lines, structured around repetition, and shows Stein’s more playful and musical side.
“Songs to Joannes” by Mina Loy (1917)
In many ways, Mina Loy is “the other” giant of feminist, avant-garde poetry of the early-20th century. Where Stein has Tender Buttons, Loy has “Songs to Joannes,” a shockingly fresh, long, serial Modernist poem. Unlike Stein and her syntactical play, Loy’s long poem is characterized by its experimentation with the image, lineation, and punctuation. Similar to Tender Buttons, Loy’s poem takes up feminine sexuality, language, and meaning as its primary interests. Like Stein, Loy’s importance is often overlooked in studies of Modernist literature, despite its singular experimentation and wide-reaching influence.
Further Literary Resources
“A Long Dress” by Laynie Browne (2015)
Stein’s poetry is characterized by its refusal to signify or refer to any singular representation, so any analysis of her work in traditional prose (including this guide) must invariably discuss theory and technique as a way around this unique challenge. This analysis of “A Long Dress,” written by American poet Laynie Browne, avoids this problem by discussing Stein’s work in the same mode it is written. While it may be disorienting at first to read a work of prose so seemingly detached from everyday language, Browne’s concise discussion of this sub-section of Tender Buttons gets closer to the spirit of Stein’s text than any traditional essay ever could.
The Poetics of Indeterminacy: Rimbaud to Cage by Marjorie Perloff (1981)
Stein’s work can be difficult to analyze or understand in the traditional modes of literature, the tools of which can feel unsuited to the distinctive features of her work. For new tools, look no further than Marjorie Perloff’s seminal study of the avant-garde, which splits the history of literature into two modes: symbolism and anti-symbolism. The book tracks the history and development of the oft-misunderstood literature of anti-symbolism (or indeterminacy), providing both theoretical structures and concrete tools for understanding and analysis. Split into several distinct chapters focusing on key authors of this literary lineage, Perloff’s chapter “Poetry as Word-System: The Art of Gertrude Stein” remains one of the best and most useful explications of Stein’s literature.
The Structure of Obscurity: Gertrude Stein, Language, and Cubism by Randa Dubnick (1984)
While currently out of print, Randa Dubnick’s book-length analysis of Stein’s writing is of particular use to any reader who finds the obscurity of Stein’s texts confusing. Dubnick approaches Stein’s difficulty with measured clarity, systematically approaching both her oeuvre as a whole and close-readings of individual poems and passages of prose.
Listen to Poem
LibriVox is a volunteer organization that records audiobooks of literature in the public domain. Unfortunately, while there are recordings of some of Stein’s lectures and her own readings of her texts, there is no recording of Stein reading from Tender Buttons. This video on YouTube is a full reading of the entirety of Tender Buttons, but “A Long Dress” is located at the 14:31 mark.
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By Gertrude Stein
