"The Idea of Order atKey West" was published in October 1934, in a group of eight poems. While there may have been a great deal of order in Hartford, Connecticut, where Stevens lived, there was a great deal of disorder in Key West, Florida, where Stevens was visiting in February of that year. There are two main reasons for this. First, the Great Depression was in full throttle at this point in American history. This was particularly difficult for poets, as there was no great honor attached to being a Depression Poet like there was for being a War Poet just a few years earlier during World War I.

Additionally, it was hard enough to earn a living at a regular job during the depression, much less as a poet. Stevens was well aware of the effects that the Great Depression was having on his friends and...