William Carlos Williams

[Isagel]

Please, please mr Admin can you add Williams Carlos Williams to the list of poets on this site?

I just read some of his poetry and have to share my favorite so far with all of you:

The Red Wheelbarrow, by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

for more by Williams:
http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm?45442B7C000C07060177

I´m looking for more poetry in this style. I´ve read Ginsberg, but I´ve read that Williams has inspired other american poets as well. I´m not that familiar with american poetry, so I´m thankful for any advice.

[Sindhu]

The Red Wheelbarrow is one of my favourite Williams poems too. I think its really akin to Ezra Pound's "In a Station at the Metro"; one of the few Pound poms I really like. If you are interested in poetry in somewhat similar style to Williams you could check out Denise Levetrov.My favourite Levetrov poem is:The Secret
Two girls discover
the secret of life
in a sudden line of
poetry.

I who don't know the
secret wrote
the line. They
told me

(through a third person)
they had found it
but not what it was
not even

what line it was. No doubt
by now, more than a week
later, they have forgotten
the secret,

the line, the name of
the poem. I love them
for finding what
I can't find,

and for loving me
for the line I wrote,
and for forgetting it
so that

a thousand times, till death
finds them, they may
discover it again, in other
lines

in other
happenings. And for
wanting to know it,
for

assuming there is
such a secret, yes,
for that
most of all.

Very relevant in its references to Pound, Williams and HD is
September 1961
This is the year the old ones,
the old great ones
leave us alone on the road.

The road leads to the sea.
We have the words in our pockets,
obscure directions. The old ones

have taken away the light of their presence,
we see it moving away over a hill
off to one side.

They are not dying,
they are withdrawn
into a painful privacy

learning to live without words.
E. P. "It looks like dying"-Williams: "I can't
describe to you what has been

happening to me"-
H. D. "unable to speak."
The darkness

twists itself in the wind, the stars
are small, the horizon
ringed with confused urban light-haze.

They have told us
the road leads to the sea,
and given

the language into our hands.
We hear
our footsteps each time a truck

has dazzled past us and gone
leaving us new silence.
Ine can't reach

the sea on this endless
road to the sea unless
one turns aside at the end, it seems,

follows
the owl that silently glides above it
aslant, back and forth,

and away into deep woods.

But for usthe road
unfurls itself, we count the
words in our pockets, we wonder

how it will be without them, we don't
stop walking, we know
there is far to go, sometimes

we think the night wind carries
a smell of the sea...

One of her poms hich I think really shows william's influence is "Living While it May"

The young elm that must be cut
because its roots push at the house wall

taps and scrapes my window
urgently - but when I look round at it

remains still

You could also check out Robert Creely: "Water Music" is a good example
The words are a beautiful music.
The words bounce like in water.

Water music,
loud in the clearing

off the boats,
birds, leaves.

They look for a place
to sit and eat--

no meaning,
no point.

Also Charles Olson and Cid Corman. My personal favourite is Levertov.
Sorry for the VERY long post, I can only hope you'll find it interesting! :D

[Isagel]

Thank you! Thank you! What a treasure!
I´ll get one of Levetrov´s books and maybe we can discuss her later?

[peeru]

Isagel, this is one of William Carlos William`s poems which i like, and i hope you will like it:

(This Is Just To Say)

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

[Sindhu]

Peeru, This is one of my favourites too!

[peeru]

oh how nice, we have something in common :D

[Sindhu]

Another of my ABSOLUTE favourite Willims poems:
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring

a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry

of the year was
awake tingling
near

the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself

sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax

unsignificantly
off the coast
there was

a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning

What do you think, Peeru? And you Isagel?

[Isagel]

I like both the poem about Icarus, and This is just to say.

This is just to say was the first poem I read from Williams, and it was my first experience with modern poetry, when I was 15. It made a strong impression. It turned evryday things into poetry, and they still look that way. I always wanted to be able to write like that.

Have you seen the Breughel painting that Williams is referring to? His poem is a really interesting interpretation and description of it.

Right now I´ve read "Asphodel that greeny flower" over and over again. It took some getting into, but now I love it. Here is a small part of it that I think Sindhu might like, and I hope Peeru will like it as well. It best read aloud.

I cannot say
that I have gone to hell
for your love
but often
found myself there
in your pursuit.
I do not like it
and wanted to be
in heaven. Hear me out.
Do not turn away.
I have learned much in my life
from books
and out of them
about love.
Death
is not the end of it.

[peeru]

Landscape shows the real style of William`s dont you agree sindhu?
it`s obvious that William` is bounded to short stanzas, this is what i noticeed, still i like this poem.

isagel, it is a nice poem really :)

[kelby_lake]

I really like The Red Wheelbarrow and This Is Just To Say.

[kelby_lake]

Thoughts on his poems?

[/dev/null]

Can someone explain that "triadic line" nonsense to me?

[Venerable Bede]

Thoughts on his poems?

I think some of his poetry is pretty good, but I hate "The Red Wheelbarrow."

[Sindhu]

Can someone explain that "triadic line" nonsense to me?
I can't figure out where the 'triadic line' comes from though I went through the posts. Could you be more specific, please?

[Sindhu]

I think some of his poetry is pretty good, but I hate "The Red Wheelbarrow."

Well, to each his Own! I wonder if you like this poem by Frost? It always seems to have something in common with The Red Wheelbarrow' to me.

The Secret Sits

We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.


Robert Frost

[/dev/null]

I can't figure out where the 'triadic line' comes from though I went through the posts. Could you be more specific, please?

Of asphodel, that greeny flower,


like a buttercup



upon its branching stem

save that's green and wooden


I come, my sweet,



to sing to you.
insted of just

Of asphodel, that greeny flower,
like a buttercup
upon its branching stem
save that's green and wooden
I come, my sweet,
to sing to you.

[kelby_lake]

I think some of his poetry is pretty good, but I hate "The Red Wheelbarrow."

Why do you hate it?

[Venerable Bede]

Why do you hate it?

I hate it because it is childishly basic and lacks any of the poetic resonance found in Williams's other works. It is without substance.

[kelby_lake]

I hate it because it is childishly basic and lacks any of the poetic resonance found in Williams's other works. It is without substance.

It's a different type of poem, more akin to painting than to giving a profound meaning. And it is quite resonant poetically, evoking images of rural life. It's a snapshot. Snapshots occur in many of Williams poems, particularly the better ones.

How do you feel about "This is Just To Say"?

[cafolini]

Williams -- a poem everywhere. The wheel barrow is lovable. And so much depends on it. REALLY!!!

[Venerable Bede]

It's a different type of poem, more akin to painting than to giving a profound meaning. And it is quite resonant poetically, evoking images of rural life. It's a snapshot. Snapshots occur in many of Williams poems, particularly the better ones.

How do you feel about "This is Just To Say"?

I get that it is a snapshot meant to describe a scene, similar to a painting, but it is still too simple for my tastes. It feels like something that anyone could write; it doesn't make you reconsider your opinion of a wheelbarrow, nor does it provide a fresh perspective. It just tells you what it looks like in the simplest language possible.