William Carlos Williams

Spring break is over and I have, what most would call, writers block. However, I must push through and continue on. Ok. Starting over. 

Williams writes poems that bring about much emotion. All poems do this, but Williams' poems do this in a way that blows the reader away. When reading The Young Housewife, I first felt a sense of sorrow. This married woman is home living her life, and then a young man drives by in his car. And much like men do, he stares at her for a moment. He compares her to a fallen leaf. What does he mean by this? Does he mean she is frail? Does he mean that she is delicate? Is this comment to be taken as a compliment or an insult?

Williams was a very cultured man, and by that I mean that he had been places and seen things. He seemed to have a greater outlook on life than most people today do. Since he worked in a medical clinic, he took the images in his of head of those patients and created poems, novels, and short stories. I believe Williams was comparing the frailness and delicate characteristics of the woman in his poem to one of the women that he had seen in the medical ward. Seeing women in a vulnerable state allows the individual to see who a woman truly is.

By writing his poems based on events and things that happened throughout his life, Williams is bringing a personal aspect to his poems, as well as encouraging the reader to feel the similar to the way Williams did when he was writing the poems.



I found another blogger who wrote about Williams, as well. You can find that blog here.

Tender Buttons

I've often thought about the complexity and confusion that ensue when someone reads any of Gertrude's works. I've began to wonder if what really seems so complex, is actually not so. My off the wall thoughts about these poems, actually make sense when given the context of the poems. "A BOX." for instance, is written in complete randomness. To most people, this poem makes so sense at all; And to others, this poem may make some sense, but the rest of it is just words on a page. Much like the thoughts and ideas of individual people... You see, everyone thinks differently. Everyone's thought processes perceive words and characters differently, and place them in a place that makes it all make sense. You've probably heard the phrase, "no two snowflakes are the same," when in reality, no two thought processes are the same.

So, when I say "a box," what comes your mind? An empty cube that you can put stuff in, right? What about when I say "circle?" Something round pops in your head. But what about if I said, "A BOX.," and then began to explain it in ways that you have never thought of before. Would that change your perception of the box? Or would you still assume it to be an empty cube? "So then the order is that a white way of being round is something suggesting a pin and it is disappointing, is it not, it is so rudimentary..."

T.S. Eliot

When I began to read T.S. Eliot's work as our assigned reading this week, I was pleasantly surprised with the familiarity that his writings bring. There seems to be a consistent beat, as well as a bit of rhyming within the lines. Several times within his works, Eliot mentions Ezra Pound. Was Pound a mentor or guiding counsel of Eliot's? Did Eliot purposefully allow Pound to influence him, or did it happen naturally?

Specifically on Eliot's poem, Gerontion, Pound had a great influence. In the Anthology footnote about the title of the poem, it says "Gerontion, from a Greek term for "an old man." Eliot had once intended this poem to serve as a prologue to The Waste Land, but Ezra Pound persuaded him to publish it separately." In the details as small as the title, Pound had an influence, what does this say about Eliot's poems?

Within the lines of Gerontion, Eliot writes in a sense of nostalgia. He writes this poem from the vantage point of an older man who desires to relive his younger days through a younger boy. The rhythm in the poem shows a sense of wisdom and sophistication within the words of the poem. The older man seems to be "flashing back" to his younger years, and by doing this, is writing a legacy for future generations to dwell on.

"After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,
Guides us by vanities. Think now"