"Custard.
Custard is this. It has aches, aches when. Not to be. Not to be
narrowly. This makes a whole little hill.
It is better than a little thing that has mellow real mellow.
It is better than lakes whole lakes, it is better than seeding." From Tender Buttons (1911)
Tender Buttons, published in 1914, is made up of a number of small descriptive pieces that are grouped into the categories of Objects, Food and
Rooms.
The pieces contain some of Gertrude Stein's most difficult and often-parodied style, and can seem like abstract word paintings or rhythmic
musical pieces.
The poet-physician William Carlos Williams said this about the book:
"...she has
completely unlinked the words from their former relationships to the
sentence."
