Poetry of Carlos Williams
The poetry of Carlos Williams is some of the most intriguing yet odd works of literature that I have ever encountered. Untraditional in nature, Williams awed me with his unique style and at the same time, left me shaking my head with a smile at some of his pieces. In the video we viewed in class, Williams said that he stressed simplicity and wrote his poetry with the philosophy of "it is what it is." Although many of his poems can be taken at their face value with the "it is what it is" attitude, I felt that some of Williams work went deeper than the initial image conjured up by his almost hypnotic use of words. One such example is found in my favorite poem by Williams entitled "Danse Russe." If we take this poem at face value, we envision a grown man prancing about naked in front of a mirror while the rest of his family sleeps only pausing to marvel at his own body and genius. I think that to stop the interpretation and just take it for what it is would be a disappointing injustice. This poem in particular needs to be read repeatedly and with each reading, something new can be contrived from it. The first time you read "Danse Russe," you picture the whole scenario and make a quick mental inventory of the events taking place.
In conclusion, Jeffers was truly an afflicted man. There might be others who have engaged themselves in this pleasure, but how many would actually publicly write about it. He goes so far as to approach it with a cavalier attitude by "waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself. By diving deeper into what he is really trying to personify through his work, Williams, probably unintentionally, sets us all free. Robinson Jeffers struck me as a man who was constantly being vexed by the world surrounding him; or at least that's how he perceived it. " Williams is further without shame by audaciously dancing "before my mirror" consequently making himself to be his own voyeur. Not too mention that he does it without guilt, shame, perversion, or a second thought to what scares us all: What would other people think of me? In conclusion, I think that to take all of Williams' poetry at face value is a tragedy. The first thing that really stood out in Jeffers poems was his contempt for any form of Christianity. " He personifies the hawk as being Jesus by describing how the bird is perched on this rock much like how Jesus was perched on the cross. In the poem, "Vulture," he writes of a vulture that he sees while walking one day and expresses his disappointment that his body is not on this bird's menu for the day. Williams addresses this social attitude by describing his dance naked as "grotesquely. His apocalyptic attitude encompasses his work like a dense fog of impending doom. " This description is almost made in a facetious manner as Williams goes on to list parts of his body that he admires dispelling the idea that he believes that his naked romp is anything but grotesque.
Common topics in this essay:
Danse Russe,
Christianity Jesus,
Secondly Williams,
Robinson Jeffers,
Carlos Williams,
Rock Hawk,
happy genius,
genius household,
enjoying own nakedness,
,
williams happy genius,
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jeffers poems,
front mirror,
read poem,
own body,
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own nakedness,
feels free,
enjoying own,
danse russe,
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Acceptance Essays
