William Carlos Williams

As you read Williams' poetry, think about the following questions and post your responses below:

1) How does Williams play with interrelations among "the sister arts" (painting, photography, music)?

2) How do his poems use simple words that become meaningful when placed in juxtaposition or when placed in a highly visual composition?

3) Like Frost's work, many of these poems directly or indirectly address the writing of poetry. How? What do they say?

4) How does Williams construct his speakers? What kind of voice do we find in these poems? How would you characterize his language?

Here's Brueghel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," which is what Williams based his poem on of the same name: