Close Reading

In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin rhetorical trope) is defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects and mainly uses "is a" to join the first subjects.

*and in the superstition of that hour when light like a climbing vine begins to implicate the shadowed walls, my reason gave way and sketched the following fancy.

A superstition is the irrational belief that future events are influenced by specific behaviors, without having a causal relationship.
I think maybe this metaphor could be translated as the time between light and day is dangerous for the city.

*In the deep night of the universe scarcely contradicted by the streetlamps a lost gust of wind has offended the taciturn streets like the trembling premonition of the horrible dawn that prowls the ruined suburbs of the world.

taciturn: –adjective

1.	inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.

2.	dour, stern, and silent in expression and manner.

The wind is disturbing the quiteness, calmness that is the night and is warning the city of dawn.

It seems like Jorge Luis Borges liked to write about events that take place in the night. In the Break fo Day he is trying to capture the fear, blackness, and dreams that take place when the world falls dark. The Circilar Ruins is a story rather than a poem but still revolves around a mans dream and infact that man is a dream withing a dream. The connection between the Circular Ruins and Wallace Steven's poem, The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountian, can be determined in greater detail. They both provide the reader with an adventure as well as a descripton of a man's struggle to find himself. The mountain once again is being used as a symbol of obtaining a goal and reaching a peak of accomplishment. Stevens described the summit as a place to relax and just feel at home. In a way this place of solitude is more of a dream than reality. Borges wrote that the man's victory, and peace, were dilled by the wearisome sameness of his days. I think you can compare this thought to the whole reason behind Stevens poem. Stevens wrote The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain because he lived a corporate lifestyle and needed to escape the everyday routine that he was stuck in.