The Red Wheelbarrow - WCW

This poem is an exemplary example of the imagist style of poetry. You can see exactly what the image is. The poem is plain and depicts only what is real.

Supposedly, this picture was what one of William's patients could see outside her window. She was dying. Williams does not rely on his reader's ability to understand clasical references to understand his imagery. He makes it plain and simple so that everyone may read it and enjoy it. By so doing, he is "zinging" Eliot and Pound.

So when it is put into perspective, it actually makes sense! Amazing! Considering it makes no sense whatsoever on its own. Kudos, WCW, kudos!

This is Just to Say - WCW

This poem is a little funny, especially since there is no regular pattern to it. It could have just been a note left on the fridge. Maybe he really did just eat the plums. And they were delicious.

On a more serious note, there is speculation that this poem could be about temptation or the fall. Personally, I don't think so. I think that Williams ate some plums that were not his and he felt guilty about it. He wrote this poem to apologize and put his emotions into words. According to me, anyway. =D

To Elsie - WCW

This poem was not really about Elsie. It was more about the status of America and its inhabitants at this time. Williams is morally repulsed my many things that are happening in America and is publicly denouncing the society he lives in. I keep reading that the "driverless car" is the main image of this poem and is a metaphor for America.

Spring and All - WCW

Ah, this bit of the poem is beautiful. I love how Williams kind of hits you with one line, in this case it's the last of the selection, "grip down and begin to awaken." As we mentioned in class, Eliot described spring as the worst season of all, and here Williams is glorifying it. He is definitely letting his opinion of Eliot show.

The Young Housewife - WCW

This is a sweet poem, dedicated to a young, beautiful housewife.

Williams recognizes that a woman looks her most beautiful just after she has woken up and is in a sense, at her purest moment. Sweet, vulnerable, and unaware of her beauty. I really like this poem. And the footnote was entertaining, claiming that Williams said, "Whenever a man sees a beautiful woman it's an occasion for poetry," which is poetry in itself.

The Waste Land (pt. 1)- T.S. Eliot

First thing I noticed was that this poem is dedicated to Ezra Pound, who also edited it. Eliot called Pound "the best maker," taken from Dante's Inferno. Random, but it's interesting.

As for the poem itself, I found it really hard to read. I really don't know what it was about, aside from what the footnotes said. I even tried to Google it, but that did not help.

More to come on this... After class discussion of it. =D

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - T.S. Eliot

The first thing I noticed about "Prufrock" was all the references to mythology and classic works written by Shakespeare and Dante. Of course, I would never have gotten most of the references without the help of the footnotes. By using historical and literary references, Eliot shows that he is an educated man who can quote the legends of his field.

This poem is about a man, J. Alfred Prufrock, who is a rather boring and indecisive man who does not act on his feelings. He loves women, but is afraid to approach them. He keeps repeating the phrase "there will be time," which conveys his indecisive nature and his weariness to move on. Prufrock is scared to disrupt the life he has made for himself, although it is not a life to envy, by any means.

The title of this poem is undeniably ironic, considering that this is not exactly a love song as it is a revelation that Prufrock does not love, and is, in fact, scared to love. This poem is kind of sad, in a way. I ended up feeling sad for Prufrock, the lonely, aging, balding man who is afraid to find love. He even claims that the mermaids wouldn't even sing to him. :(