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- Songs for the Soul
- by Harry Furness
- William Carlos Williams
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Introduction
 Happy
Independence... I'm not one to be a blind follower of any US
policy. And I wasn't at the original signing of the Declaration
of Independence, like maybe John McCain was; however, I was at
Independence Hall for our 200th anniversary - it was a lot of
fun taking the tour at 3:00 A.M. Anyway, this is not just for
the citizens of the US. I hope for the independence of all peoples.
That said, I usually pick poets that fight the blind following
of any countries' leaders. I like people who challenge authority.
We are all often fooled, and the system (politics, publishing,
manufacturing, unions, etc.) is often corrupted by huge amounts
of money. William Carlos Williams was such a light in the wilderness.
His straightforward images opened the path for many 20th century
American poets. His poetry and vision made us look at ordinary
objects and see their strength and beauty.
Song For William Carlos Williams
I sing this song for WCW
Dichotomy in life, son of England and Puerto Rico
Learning in America and schooled in Europe
Doctor who was a poet and poet, a physician
Helping children enter the world and young poets as well
Singing simple images that mean so much
That red wheelbarrow that effects us all
Left of left and centered working the world
William Carlos Williams - Some Facts
William Carlos Williams was a born in Rutherford,
New Jersey in 1883. His father was an English immigrant and his
mother was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He attended public
and private schools in both the United States and in Europe,
including the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. During
his time at Penn, Mr. Williams was friends with Ezra Pound, Hilda
Doolittle (best known as H.D.) and the painter Charles Demuth.
He received his M.D. in 1906 and spent
the next four years in internships in New York City and in travel
and postgraduate studies abroad (the University of Leipzig where
he studied pediatrics). He returned to Rutherford in 1910 and
began his medical practice, which lasted until 1951. His patients
knew little if anything of his writings. He was the doctor who
helped deliver more than 2,000 of their children into the world.
William Carlos Williams
- As I See Him
Being a first generation US citizen colored
his views of American freedoms and effected his life as well
as his writings, as did his parent's backgrounds. His father
was from a cold water island and his mother was from a warm water
island. Mr. Williams had science and art running through him.
(I have no idea if this is really an explanation, but I love
the way this sounds.) Mr. Williams was not a man conflicted,
but rather seemed like a man who understood both worlds and was
not only able to work in both, but he was comfortable in both.
"I will teach you my townspeople
how to perform a funeral
for you have it over a troop
of artists -
unless one should scour the world -
you have the ground sense necessary."
("Tract")
During the First World War, when a number
of European artists established themselves in New York City,
Mr. Williams became friends with members of the avant-garde such
as Man Ray, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. In 1915 Mr. Williams
associated with a group of New York artists and writers known
as "The Others." Founded by the poet Alfred Kreymborg
and Man Ray, this group included Walter Conrad Arensberg, Wallace
Stevens, Mina Loy, Marianne Moore, and Marcel Duchamp. One can
see "The Others" Dadaist and Surrealist influence on
his earlier poems. This group lead the early modernist movement
in America.
"white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over -
or nothing."
("Queen-Ann's-Lace")
Mr. Williams married and moved into a house
in Rutherford, NJ. Shortly afterwards, his first book of serious
poems, The Tempers, was published. On a trip to
Europe in 1924, Williams spent time with writers Ezra Pound and
James Joyce.
"And be conscious
(of the two sides)
Unbent by the sensual
As befits accuracy."
(from The Tempers)
Mr. Williams' work consists of short stories,
poems, plays, novels, critical essays, an autobiography, translations
and correspondence. He wrote at night and spent weekends in New
York City with friends - writers and artists like the avant-garde
painters Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia and the poets Wallace
Stevens and Marianne Moore. These associations led him in the
direction of the Imagist movement; however, he developed opinions
that differed from those of his poetic peers, Ezra Pound and
T. S. Eliot.
One of the most influential poems in my
life is "The Red Wheelbarrow". It not only "shows"
an everyday image but leads us to believe in the importance of
everyday items.
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
Mr. Williams most famously summarized his
poetic method in the phrase "No ideas but in things"
(from his 1944 poem "A Sort of Song"). He advocated
that poets leave aside traditional poetic forms and unnecessary
literary allusions, trying to see the world as it is. Marianne
Moore, another skeptic of traditional poetic forms, wrote Williams
had used "plain American which cats and dogs can read,"
with distinctly American idioms
But Mr. Williams' importance does not end
with his being a poet or a doctor. He was also a most influential
mentor. He had an especially significant influence on many of
the American literary movements of the 1950s: poets of the Beat
Generation (and his NJ connection with Allen Ginsberg), the San
Francisco Renaissance, the Black Mountain school, and the New
York School. He personally mentored Charles Olson, who was instrumental
in developing the poetry of the Black Mountain College and subsequently
influenced many other poets. Robert Creeley and Denise Levertov,
two other poets associated with Black Mountain, studied under
Mr. Williams.
Bibliography
- The Tempers
(1913)
- Sour Grapes (1921)
- Spring and All
(1923)
- Go Go
(1923)
- The Cod Head
(1932)
- Adam & Eve & The City (1936)
- The Broken Span
(1941)
- The Wedge
(1944)
- Paterson
(Book I, (1946; Book II, (1948; Book III, 1949; Book IV, (1951;
Book V, 1958)
- Clouds, Aigeltinger, Russia (1948)
- The Desert Music and Other Poems (1954)
- Paterson
(Books I-V in one volume, (1963)
- Imaginations
(1970)
- Collected Poems: Volume 1, 1909-1939 (1988)
- Collected Poems: Volume 2, 1939-1962 (1989)
Mr. Williams will go down in American poetry
as one of the greats. However, he was also a great husband, father,
doctor, and teacher. Go and explore. Don't let me tell you all
that I know, which is only but a twinkling of his star. I hope
that I've opened a door. Now, it is up to you to enter. Thanks.
Send Harry a message either directly
or using the Word Catalyst feedback form. For more from Harry visit
the Word Catalyst archives or his
online home; or frohawk.
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