Wilderness

The primary setting of “Anecdote of the Jar” emerges soon within the body of the poem: in the first line, the speaker directly mentions “Tennessee,” and in the third line, he directly mentions “the slovenly wilderness.” This setting in the wilderness is significant because of the natural disorder associated with it – the speaker describes it as “slovenly” and “[sprawling]” (3, 6). In fact, the very word “wilderness” is built on the term “wild,” which implies its powerful inability to be contained. Therefore, the jar’s “dominion” is only heightened by its eventual ability to make the wilderness “no longer wild" (6).

Tennessee

The specific setting of “Tennessee” bookends “Anecdote of the Jar,” occurring in both the first and last lines of the poem (1, 12). Notably, “Tennessee” is the only proper noun in the poem, contrasting with the more generalized and unspecific nouns, such as “hill” and “wilderness” found throughout the poem. The...