William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1883. He began writing poetry while a student at Horace Mann High School, it was there that he decided to become a writer and doctor. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he met Ezra Pound. Pound became a huge influence in Williams' writing. Like Pound, he was a leader in the Imagist movement but over time disagreed more and more with that ideas that came across in Pound's writing. He thought that the poetry was too attached to the european culture. He came up with a way of writing that talked about everyday life and situations, "American Writing". His work took off at a slow but steady pace, but he started recieving attention in the 1950's. Some of his major works include Kora in Hell (1920), Spring and All (1923), Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962), the five-volume epic Paterson (1963, 1992), and Imaginations (1970). Williams' continued writing until his death in 1963.
In To a Poor Old Woman, I can see how Williams liked to elaborate on everyday situations. The woman in the poem is simply in the street eating plums. When you look further into it you notice the way he plays with the way it's written.
For example,
They taste good to her
They taste good
to her. They taste
good to her.
With each repetition, you are forced to speak it in a different way. Each way has a different effect on how you veiw this woman. It's almost like all of her happiness revolves around eating this plum. You feel as though you are outside watching this event take place.
This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams
In reading this poem, you can see how Williams takes a typical american situation and transforms it into a poem. This is Just to Say is a poetic apology for eating something out of the icebox that wasn't his. It's simple ideas such as this that comes across in many of Williams' poems, it's his trademark.
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