William Carlos Williams

by, Axel Gale

Background
William Carlos Williams was born on September 17,
1883, in Rutherford, New Jersey.
He started writing poetry in high school, he decided at
that time to become a writer and a doctor.
He received his MD from the University of
Pennsylvania.
He met Ezra Pound there, he was a great influence in
williamss poems.

Background
his primary occupation was a family
doctor.
Williams health started to decline and he
actually had a heart attack in 1948.
He continued writing up until his death in
New Jersey on March 4, 1963.

Poems

The Red Wheelbarrow

April
Danse Russe
Daisy
To Waken An Old Lady
Spring and All
Approach of Winter
Complaint
Poem (As the cat)
Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus

Thesis
William Carlos Williams Changed poetry with
his simple Imagery, topics, and ideas.

The Red Wheelbarrow

Explication
The Red Wheelbarrow
Shift:
Titel:

There are very smal shifts in this poem. BEcause it is sutch a small poem the reader is given alot of

The titel of this poem gives us a clue of the topic, in this case a red wheelbarrow.

information. There are a small shift with each new snasa. It goes from talking about the red

Williams poems are very simple and straight forward so I bellive that this poem is infact talking a

wheelbarrowl to talking about in the end a white chiken. This makes a small poem seam big.

bout a red wheelbarrow but not just any wheelbarrow but the wheelbarrow.
Title:
Paraphrase:

The title is a direct reflection of what is in the poem. The peom talks about a red wheelbarrow and

A red wheelbarrow is placed by a white chiken. It is rainign and the wheelbarrow is glazed with

the titel states that.

water. The speaker also metions that someone depends on this red wheelbarrow.
Speaker:
The speaker in this poem is most likely the owner of it, I came to this cunclution because the
speaker is dependant upon this wheelbarrow. IT would not jsut be a spektator because they would
not feel anything towards the importsns of the wheelbarrow. The speaker is also a farmer sinse
they are in the precence of the white chiken.
Figurative Language:
Williams in this poem is not using many mataphores or similies, he is rather painting a picture
using imagry. beside the white chiken(7-8) this gives us an idea of whatb the scene might look
like. We all know what a chiken looks like and how the farm looks that the chiken and this scene
lives on. Because this something so familure and something we have learned from childhood we
can paint a very detailed picture in are head from such a simple frase.
Attitude:
The attidue of the poem is very broad and leavs much room for interpretation. The hint the
speaker gives in line five and six where he says glazed with rain water could gives us the idea of a
sad tone to the poem. We often assosiate rain and bad weather with sad thing like funerals. It
always seams to be raining in movies when they atend a funeral.

Theme:
The speaker is talking about the imoprants of this red wheelbarrowl on this rainy day. He most
likely is wanting to get to work but because it is raining he is having to wait. And because he lives
on a farm and that is his life sourse he feels a presure to get stuff done and he is dependant on that
wheelbarrowl to get that done.

This is just to say

Forgive me

the plums
that were in

they were
delicious

the icebox

so sweet
and so cold

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Explication
This is Just to Say

Attiude:
The attudude of the poem is one of being ablogijetic. We can infer this from

Title:

the Title of the poem this is just to say. If the speaker was not feeling

On a first glance of the title it sounds like a note to another person. They are

apoljetic he could not have writen the note in the fisrt place

most likely writing it to inform this reader about something, it is probably

Shift:
This poem stays on the topic thruoghout the hole thing. The speaker is

Paraphrase:

talking about the plums thate he ate. HE goes from stating that he ate them

The speaker is writing a note to the reader of this note apologising for eating

to describing how they tasted.

the plumes. He syas that the reader was probaly saving them for layter. The
speaker goes on to say how deliciuse and coold they were.

Title:
On frhter examination of the poem we can infer that yes this poem is for

Speaker:

someone lets. IT is a note to someone.

The Speaker of the poem is the writer of the note and he is speaking to us as
well as the person he wrote the note too. In this case the author of the poem

Theme:

is not the speaker.

the speaker is informing his reader about the plums he ate. I thinf he dose
this because he wants them to know. He might be a little guilty because he

Figurative Language:

said that you were probably saving them for later but he still ate them

Williams dosenot use much fugurative language in his poems. In this poem

knowing this. Then he goes on to say how good they were and how much he

the speaker is not relly usign any figurative alnguage he is rather having a

enjoed them, this gives us a hint into that he might not be guilty at al, he is

dialog with someone.

to happy with himself.

Blizzard
Snow falls:
years of anger following
hours that float idly down -the blizzard
drifts its weight
deeper and deeper for three days
or sixty years, eh? Then
the sun! a clutter of
yellow and blue flakes -Hairy looking trees stand out
in long alleys
over a wild solitude.
The man turns and there -his solitary track stretched out
upon the world.

Explication
Blizzard

Attitude:
The poem start of having a rather sad or de[resing tone, The fact that the

Title:

Blizard goes on for 60 years is really depresing. I think that the acutall

I think that the title of the poem says that the poem will be about the hard

attitude is actually a feeling of relife. They are happy the blizard is ofer.

part of winter or maybe that life is compared to a Blizzard.

The shift in this poem is quite clear. the shift happens when the suns comes.

Snow is falling, The snow falls for three days or 60 years then it stops and
there is the sun. The man turns around and sees his track in the snow

Title:

behind him.

The title was quite clear. it was about a blizard, but the title fails to meantion
the sun that comes after.

Speaker:
The speaker is telling a story of a man experiencing a man going through
this experiance of this blizzard. The speaker is someone watching, we only
see, we dont know what the man is thinking.
Figurative Language:
Again the speaker uses imagry to paint a picture in our head. The way he is
able to explain the way how the snow flakes are both blue and gold with the
sun coming out the sun! a clutter of yellow and blue flakes its like you can
see it infront of you.

Theme:
I think that the poem is actually not about a literal blizard. I think it is about a
man that is going through a very hard time. It is really seriouse because he
has lost al persepetion of time, i got this idea because he dose not know if it
was three days or sixty. The theme is about the hard times people have.

My poem
The Red Wheelbarrow

The Red FireHydrant

so much depends

so much depends

upon

upon

a red wheel

a red fire

barrow

hydrant

glazed with rain

glazed with old

water

paint

beside the white

beside the burning

chicken

house

Sources
Williams, William. "Blizzard Poem." Poemhunter.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
"William Carlos Williams." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
Williams, William. "This Is Just to Say Poem." Poemhunter.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
Williams, William. "The Red Wheelbarrow Poem." Poemhunter.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.