Name: Pichayathida Siriwechdaruk

Instructor: Matthew Bishop

Class Name: English 12

Date: October 3, 2017

Abstract Ideas Expressed through Concrete Images within Williams Poems

William Carlos Williams, a famous poet and coiner of the belief in no ideas but in

things as stated in one of his work, Paterson written in 1927, is an American Imagist and

Modernist poet and doctor. In William Carlos Williams Sour Grapes, published in 1921,

which contains many of Williams great poems, including: The Desolate Field, Complete

Destruction, and Willow Poem. Within those of poems, negative abstract ideas were

expressed through the concrete images of nature created by Williams figurative word

choices.

Within the poem The Desolate Field, the idea of disillusionment, grief, alienation,

and loneliness after World War I was displayed through the usage of image of the vast gray

sky and the goat. The poem The Desolate Field is one of the poems that Williams has

written in 1921 when the idea of disillusionment and alienation is widely spread amongst

people. The field, where the scenario takes place, is described to be full with ...tall, dried

grasses (5). However, there is a goat [which] stirs / with [its] nozzle searching the ground.

(6-7) in the midst of the barren field, which is abnormal for a goat since it usually grazes for

fresh, green grasses. On the other hand, the narrator describes the sky as being Vast and

gray (1) and eventually later on within the poem describes his state of mind through the

statement my head is in the air / but who am I? (8-9). The goat that grazes in the

middle of a barren field represents the narrator in the sense that the narrator is lonely and is

lost. The dead grass serves as the dead, old identity and beliefs the narrator had before and

the act of searching of the goat illustrates ones doubt on their preexisting faith and existence
and the searching of truth in the old belief that has been dead in the eye of the narrator,

meaning that all of the old beliefs have been lost. In addition, the sky being vast and gray

emphasizes the feeling of loneliness expressed through the use of images and the space

expressed by the figurative word choice. The emptiness of the sky and the color of the sky

within the scenario builds on the feeling of loneliness due to the common association of the

hue to negative emotions such as sadness, loss, grief, and despair. Complementary to this, the

narrator describes his state of mind in the line, my head is in the air, saying that, perhaps,

he is lost and is struggling in order to hold onto his ideas and previous identity. The concrete

images of nature expressed through the figurative word choices within the poem reinforces

the feeling of disillusionment, grief, loneliness, and alienation.

Complete Destruction includes the usage of a cold, icy day to express the abstract

idea of sadness and numbness after a loss and expresses the idea of death through the usage

of the image of earth. Complete Destruction is another poem written and published by

Williams in 1921. The poem is about the process of burying of a cat on a cold, icy day.

Overall, there is no mentioning of any feelings or abstract ideas within the poem. Instead, the

ideas were expressed indirectly through the use of images within the scenario. Within the

poem, the setting was described to be ... an icy day. (1) when the narrator ... buried the cat,

/ then took her box / and set fire to it (2-4). After that, the fleas that were in the box

...escaped / earth and fire (6-7) and eventually, died by the cold (8). The usage of the

phrase icy day instead of the word Winter both gave a better image of the setting and

expressing the numbness and the grief that the narrator feels after the loss. It also sets a

depressing, sad mood to the poem. The fact that the narrator buried the cat, then took her box

to the backyard and burn it, killing the fleas that, apparently, might be the source of the death

of the cat shows a great care for the cat. On the other hand, the fleas escaped earth and fire

which could mean that the fleas literally escape the land in the area that the fire was lit and
the fire itself, or the fleas had escaped the earth, hence, they are now dead by the cold.

These images and the abstract ideas represented by the overall scenarios add onto the idea of

it all ends in death, creating more impact and a sad and depressing mood to the poem. It

also relates to the belief of no ideas but in things in a way that theres no idea that has been

expressed directly; instead, the ideas were described through things, or in this case, through

the image of the scenario.

Williams uses the image of a willow plant to expresses the idea of grief and the life

cycle of human in Willow Poem. Overall, Willow Poem is a descriptive poem in which

the state of a willow tree next to a river when winter is coming. Personification and

symbolism were used in this poem, which contradicts the Modernist style of Williams.

However, the usage of images to present abstract ideas is still prominent in this poem. The

poem starts with describing the willow that ... no leaf has fallen nor / bitten by the sun (3-

4), giving the idea that the willow was healthy, although Summer has ended. Then, the

changes of the willow were introduced as The leaves cling and grow paler, / swing and grow

paler / over the swirling waters of the river / as if loath to let go, (6-9) and adds onto the idea

that the leaves of the willow tree are the last to let go and fall / into the water and on the

ground (13-14). The changes of the willow represent the life cycle of human that eventually,

it would all end in death. The healthy willow, in which no leaf has fallen nor bitten by the

sun represent the early stages of life in which humans are young and strong. Then, the

changes, such as the fact that the leaves grow paler represents the aging of humans, whereas

humans grow older and weaker. Furthermore, it was described in the poem that the leaves of

the willow cling onto the bough, loathing to let go and is the last one to let go of its leaves,

the described image of the clinging leaves could be used as an analogy to how human

struggle to live and refuse death. Eventually, the leaves fall down into the water of the river,

like how people will eventually die off from this world. In addition, the usage of the willow
tree as a subject, in which the shape of a willow tree represents a person with grief

accentuates the idea of sadness, grief and the struggle to live. Altogether, the overall image of

within the poem accentuates that Williams has used images as the medium in order to express

abstract ideas instead of stating the ideas directly, adding onto his Modernist and accentuate

his intelligence and the value of a Modern Metaphysical Poet.

Abstract ideas could be expressed through many different types of media, one of them

is through the usage of concrete images as Williams has demonstrated in his poems: The

Desolate Field, Complete Destruction, and Willow Poem. In the poem The Desolate

Field, the idea of disillusionment, grief, alienation, and loneliness was expressed through the

image of a goat grazing in the midst of dead grass. Sadness, numbness, and death were

described through the images within the poem Complete Destruction. On the other hand,

the idea of the refusal to believe in the life cycle of human and the grief of people was

expressed in the poem Willow Poem. Although not stated directly, the presence of abstract

ideas within Williams work is prominent. This accentuates the idea that art and images are

not two-dimensional and could be used to indirectly express abstract ideas.

Infinite

Looking up
the infinite bleached sky
so vast,
so bright

Looking down
the infinite land
so deep,
so dark

Me
within the infinite greens
drifting around
endless search
Reflection

In my poem Infinite, I decided to mimic Williams poetic style and use the image of

nature as an inspiration and a medium to express some abstract ideas, like how Williams does

in a lot of his poems such as The Desolate Field and Willow Poem. When I wrote this

poem, I recalled a memory of mine. I was in 8th grade, when I was lost in my own mind, and

started to question my identity: who am I? what is the purpose of living? and most

importantly, what do I want to be when I grow up? I was in a camp at that time and the camp

took part in Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. In the

camp, I had an opportunity to let go of all thoughts and had spent a lot of time on my own,

enjoying the scenery of nature. I felt like I was just a small, small part of this huge, wide,

world. From that experience and after a while of consideration, I had realized that theres no

definite answer to who I am, and all of the so-called identity is up to us, the interpreter.

That memory is really valuable for me; hence, I had decided that I would write this poem in

order to do a rewind and go back to that time.

In terms of literary devices to be used in this poem, I decided that there would be no

rhyme or meter in order to mimic Williams Modernist style. Moreover, I decided to use

hyphens and line breaks to create fragmentation. All of the stanzas are equal in length, all of

them being four lines long. This creates the equal importance of all of the components of the

scene, not allowing any of them to be more prominent than the other. This resembles

Williams poems such as Complete Destruction and The Red Wheelbarrow in which all

of the stanzas are equal in length and all the images within the scene are equal in importance

and prominence. Lastly, the diction within the poem is all simple, yet figurative words. I

decided to stick to simplicity in terms of word choice in order to make the poem accessible to

all and to create a definite, concrete image that would be able to carry the hidden meaning

with it. The main image within my poem is like most of Williams poems studied within this
unit, which is the image of nature. I decided to use an image of a spacious forest and use the

space within the image to convey my ideas, as demonstrated in Williams The Desolate

Field.

The choices I made for the literary devices used in the poem supports my poem in

such ways that it reinforces the idea of fragmentation, create equality of the images and make

sure that theres no image that is more prominent than the others in order to express the

abstract ideas I intended to express accurately. Furthermore, the hyphens help with separating

and clarifying the three different images I wanted to create within this poem. In addition, the

enjambment used within the poem adds onto the idea of being lost and the lack of period

accentuates the idea that there is no definite ending in finding an identity of an individual.

About my experience regarding studying my mentor, William Carlos Williams, there

are so many things that surprised me and changed my perspective about him. Firstly, I was

surprised by Williams wittiness in terms of word choice. I had realized that Williams had

used simple, yet complex words in his poem. This means that sometimes, the word choice of

Williams could lead to two or more drastically different interpretation and change the overall

theme. An example of his witty word choice is from his poem Nantucket written in 1934. It

was stated in the eighth line that a key is lying... in which this line could be interpreted in

two ways: a key is merely lying, or the key is a false key. The wittiness in the word choice

adds onto the ambiguousness his poem. Next, the hidden abstract ideas within his poem are

remarkable. Williams has used images to express his ideas instead of stating it directly,

making his poem more interesting when reading over and over again. Thirdly, I think that

Williams poems are very thought-provoking. When reading once, the poem seems like it

expresses nothing, just mere images of trees and nature. However, when closely looked at

and when in focus, it seems like the poems are so much more, meaning that it could be

interpreted in many different ways and is very mind-blowing. In my own perspective, I feel
like I need to include the expression of abstract ideas while using the nature image in my

poem. I think that it is one of Williams signature, and is a new and interesting way to

express ideas. Williams has influenced me to look at things in my life in various perspective

and had taught me that theres always is more than one side/meaning of everything in our

daily lives and sometimes, theres no answer at all, it all depends on the people and their

interpretation. From doing this project and learning while having William Carlos Williams as

my mentor-writer, I had learned more about Williams style and the influences that are

hidden within his poems. I had noticed new things within Williams work such as the hidden

abstract ideas, the purpose of having a short poem, the purpose of irregular line breaks, and

the belief of not in ideas, but in things. I enjoyed every bits and piece within this unit,

especially when each and every poem were closely looked at and when the class helped each

other to interpret the poem since it allows me to learn more about others perspective and

their interpretation.