Throughout ?The Emperor of Ice Cream?, Wallace Stevens makes use of numerous figurative language devices to symbolically convey his message that everything in society is mainly based on appearance, and that people should start living their lives based on simple and unadulterated truths. In this simple, two stanza, yet deeply symbolic poem, the reader is first met with the command by the speaker to- Call the roller of big cigars (line 1). Cigars typically are smoked for celebratory reasons, so the reader is able to sense that a special occasion is about to take place. The speaker?s peculiar choice of words to describe ice cream (-concupiscent curds [line 3]) leaves the reader wondering what carnal lumps of milk have anything to do with a celebration.