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William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1883 ("William Carlos Williams"). The diverse ancestry of his family exposed him to a mixture of different cultures. William’s mother was a renaissance woman who fancied theatre and literature (Foundation). His father introduced him to works of Shakespeare and various stories of the Bible (Foundation). He started writing poetry while attending Horace Mann High School, and during the years of his enrollment he decided that he wanted to become a doctor and a writer ("William Carlos Williams"). Williams aspired to one day be mentioned among the names of long-time idols Walt Whitman and John Keats ("William Carlos Williams"). He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he was influenced by his mentor, poet Ezra Pound ("William Carlos Williams"). The Imagist movement in the early 20th century embodied an idea that poetry should be clear, concise and non-traditional. Among the poets of the Imagist movement in America, Hilda Doolittle, Ezra Pound, and William Carlos Williams embodied this writing style ("William Carlos Williams"). Williams' poems “Spring and All,” “Paterson” and “The Red Wheelbarrow” all break modern conventions of traditional poetic writing ("William Carlos Williams"). Williams himself wanted to create American poetics based on the rhythms of American speech, thought, and experience. Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for his book entitled //Pictures from Brueghel// in 1963 (Foundation). Complications from previous strokes and heart attacks throughout the last 20 years of his life lead to his eventual death in the same year that he won his coveted prize ("William Carlos Williams"). (Orry 3:09 a.m. 11/15)

In the poem “The Dead Baby”, Williams uses a mechanical motion to display a form of escapism during the Modernist era. Williams writes, “The mother’s eyes where she sits/by the window, unconsoled –“ (Williams 1470). “The Dead Baby” is the story of an unexpected death of a newborn baby. In the early twentieth century, many newborns died unexpectedly due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or other similar complications. Whatever the reason, the parents are dealing with the problem very unusually because they don’t know the cause of their son or daughter’s death. The constant reference to sweeping is used periodically throughout the poem to display the parents’ denial of death to the readers. Williams uses this mechanical motion of sweeping to show that this couple does not want to deal with the harsh reality of death, so they fall back to their everyday responsibilities. The mother holds in all of her emotions. She sits alone “unconsoled,” pondering the cause. The missing piece of the puzzle only drives the reader to speculate the motive for this action. Williams’ poem corresponds to the drastic changing of the environment in the early twentieth century. More and more people were moving to large cities to work in factories and plants instead of staying in rural areas and working in a farm-like area. This change in the labor force exhibits a loss of compassion. In a rural setting, the family would work and live closer together. This lifestyle would not allow them to avoid a tragedy such as this. In this line alone, the reader can sense a growing conflict between the wife’s outer appearance and her emotional stability. Despite the fact that sweeping is a chore done at home, the references to their close proximity to other friends and a hospital suggest to readers that this family lived in an urban environment. (Orry 3:09 a.m. 11/15)

__"William Carlos Williams".__ 1997. 2 November 2010 . __"William Carlos Williams (1883 - 1963)".__ 2010. 2 November 2010 . Williams, Carlos Williams. “The Dead Baby.” //The Norton Anthology: American Literature.// 7th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007. 1469-1470. Print.

Death The Poem Death explains the death of a man that has not accomplished love, or much success in his life. This is shown when the poem states “the dog won’t have to sleep on his potatoes any more to keep them from freezing.” (Williams, 1471)

This line is an example of how he used other people to accomplish the tasks that he was supposed to do. He cannot even rely on someone else so he gets a dog to take care of him instead of him keeping his own food warm during the night. This may also be why he does not achieve love during his life, and why he is viewed as “insufferable.” The poem explains of how this person has gone through life without experiencing love and it causes him to bury his face into shame. Throughout the poem he is being called names that are dreadful such as a bastard, a godforsaken curio, and an insufferable person filled with anguish and defeat. It is very clear that William Carlos Williams is trying to get the point across that this person is a failure and is not liked. The poem explains that when someone is dead people will stretch and bend that person’s life story in any extravagant way that they want too, and the person that is dead cannot correct or validate what they say, and this is shown in the poem on lines 21-25 “Put his head on one chair and his feet on another and he’ll lie there like an acrobat-” (Williams 1472). Chairs are made to sit on for comfort and even relaxation at times, and once someone is comfortable with the fact that someone they knew, or even didn’t know is dead people tend to make lies or over exaggerate that person’s life and how that person has lived, because there is no way that the person that has passed can contradict with the lies or over exaggerations that are said because the person is dead.

A Sort of Song A sort of song explains how William Carlos Williams uses words as his defense and attack against humanity. He compares himself to a snake with the lines “Let the snake wait under his weed and the writing be of words, slow and quick, sharp to strike, quiet to wait, Sleepless.” (Williams 1473) With this comparison he is comparing himself to a snake hiding under his weed such as himself as an author would hide behind his writing. Williams explains how his writing can be of a slow or quick nature that is sharp or patient such as a snakes attack would be. Words and writing are William Carlos Williams attack against his enemies such as a snakes strikes are its attack against its enemies. William Carlos Williams compares humans to stones then explains how he is the saxifrage that splits the rocks. “-through metaphor to reconcile the people and the stones. Compose. (No ideas but in things) Invent! Saxifrage is my flower that splits the rocks.” Saxifrage are types of flowers that are known to split through rocks, and William Carlos Williams is saying that he is what splits the foundation of humankind into pieces with his words such as Saxifrage splits rocks foundations into pieces. ** Works Cited ** Williams, William Carlos. “Death.” Comp. Mary Loeffelholz. //The Norton Anthology: American Literature, Vol. D//. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton &Company Inc//.,// 2007. 1471-1472. Print. Williams, William Carlos. “A Sort of Song.” Comp. Mary Loeffelholz. //The Norton Anthology: American Literature, Vol. D.// Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton &Company Inc., 2007. 1473. Print.

"The Dance"
__The Dance__ begins with a line that reveals the source behind this poem. The Kermess, is a picture painted by Brueghel and is the influence behind the writing of Williams poem. William’s and Brueghel both created the same masterpiece using different tools. William’s used his words to create the same picture as Brueghel; he provided readers with certain vocabulary and descriptive words to allow a visual image to form. Williams creates his portrait, and by using the same sentence in the beginning and end of his poem he creates a structural picture frame for his poem. Doing this demonstrates the finalization of his masterpiece, because it is now framed and ready for public viewing. In William’s first and last line he refers to the picture as “great.” (Williams 1473) Looking at the ideas behind this poem provides us with an idea of what is important to the time period of Williams. __The Dance__ is a poem about people gathered and attending a party. The people are engaging in dancing and drinking, and looking at the structure of William’s poem, the people are uninhibited. We can draw this conclusion by looking at the punctuation and the line structures throughout William’s poem. The lines of this poem continue from line to line, and no idea finishes at the end of a line. This allows a sense of flowing and fluid to take a hold of the reader. The punctuation or lack there of, expresses how the partiers are not controlled by any factors. They are not worried about right or wrong, but are just allowing the experience of the party to control their actions. Williams did the same when constructing his poem, because he does not worry about right or wrong punctuations; he allows the words and verbal image to create itself within the readers head without pauses and breaks in his ideas. Williams also demonstrates the focus of the party by showing great emphases on the music and the dancing. He uses certain words to describe the actions of the people at this party. They are "kicking, rolling, and tipping". (Williams 1473) These words demonstrate the upbeat and careless mood of the party. I feel as though Williams wrote this poem going back to a simpler time. This poem was written in 1944, and during this time in the United States was World War II. I feel as though this poem was Williams way of bringing the readers back to a time of carelessness and freedom of inhibition, experienced last during the roaring 20s. This time of excitement experienced in the 20s was brought about by an industrial revolution. Through technology and mechanical advances, money was in a surplus. During times of hardships like World War II, which followed The Great Depression, society needed a flashback to when times were simple and carefree. Williams created that flashback through his detailed and visually arousing use of words in this poem.

Williams Carlos William’s poem, portrait of a lady, is an extremely sensual and sexual poem. He creates a piece of writing that is torn between realistic and fantastical images. He is creating this poem to put words into how he feels about a woman. However, the title of this writing is called A Portrait of a Lady, yet he mentions no body part above the waist. William’s sole focus revolves around the lower half of a woman and nothing more. He mentions four body parts throughout this poem; three from a woman and one from a man. He mentions a lady’s thighs, knees, and ankles and only part of his body that he speaks of is his lips. He takes these body parts and compares them to objects within nature. He refers to her thighs as apple trees, and her knees as a southern breeze. Williams begins the poem strong and confident, but as the poem continues he becomes unsure and flustered. He makes a historical error in the beginning of his poem by giving credits of a picture to the wrong artist. He says “which sky? The sky/ where Watteau hung s lady’s/ slipper. Your knees” (Williams 1464-1465) However, Watteau did not paint the picture he was referring to. The correct artist is Fragonard and the painting is titled __The Swing__. He continues his poem, and then corrects his earlier mistake by mentioning Fragonard. He states: “a gust of snow. Agh! what/ sort of man was Fragonard?” (Williams 1464-1465) Relating the frustration within the poem is like the frustration felt because of errors occurring in technology throughout the 1920s. During this time technological advances were reaching a booming high, but not all was easy. Many errors had to occur in order to reach a new technology. Errors in both technology and Williams’ poem were learned from and lead to a new creation. Williams’ poem some what becomes a new creation just like technology. Williams started with an idea. He then began focusing on key points of that idea, and that allowed his words to form a final piece. That is the exact formula that was used to create a new technology during the 1920s. An idea emerged and in order to create the final product brainstorming and correcting errors had to be done.

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Williams, William Carlos. “Portrait Of a Lady.” Comp. Mary Loeffelholz. //The Norton Anthology: American Literature, Vol. D//. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton &Company Inc//.,// 2007. 1464-1465. Print. Williams, William Carlos. “The Dance.” Comp. Mary Loeffelholz. //The Norton Anthology: American Literature, Vol. D.// Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton &Company Inc., 2007. 1473. Print.