William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems

Still radical. Still saying things about the ethics of perception no one else is. Fun to boot!

This is a volume from the American Poets Project published by Library of America. The editor describes Williams' poetry as fresh and challenging and I agree. I read many of the poems two and three times and each time was like a first reading. I only remember two specific poems. The first is titled "Danse Russe" about the author dancing naked in front of a mirror in the north room when everyone in the house is asleep. "Who shall say I am not the happy genius of the household?" That would be hard to forget. It was reading that poem in an anthology that piqued my interest in his poetry. I also remember a poem titled "To a Poor Old Woman". She was on the street munching a plum out of a paper bag. The author describes the action by repeating show more the phrase "they taste good to her".
What I remember most is the author's way of looking at the world and seeing what was there and only what was there. The poems had a down to earth realism that gave a special value to what he had to say. His writing was done with carefully selected words delivering a clear-cut meaning. His poems don't have any rhyme scheme and he was not the member of any "school" of poetry. I know I can read the book again and experience the same eye opening immediacy in his poems.
Williams kept up a busy medical practice all of his life. Along with poetry he wrote novels, short stories and plays. Late in his life he received two prestigious prizes for his poetry. show less