William Carlos Williams' This is Just to Say
poem (p m) – noun:
1. A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme.
2. A composition in verse rather than in prose.
3. A literary composition written with an intensity or beauty of language more characteristic of poetry than of prose.
-- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, there are three different definitions of a poem. William Carlos Williams’ highly anthologized poem, “This Is Just to Say,” fits only one of those descriptions. The single reason it can be classified as a poem is that it is written in verse. In all else, “This Is Just to Say” fails not only as a poem, but as an interesting work of writing.
“This Is Just to Say” makes absolutely no use of any literary techniques. It lacks rhyme, meter, metaphor, simile, symbol, analogy, allusion and any other device one can think of. The only alliteration present is in the second to last line and is otherwise so sparse as to make that bit seem accidental. Any person attempting to read the poem as a “metaphor for a variety of larger conflicts,” as the opponent of this particular paper claims, is making it up out of whole cloth and giving Williams far too much credit. True, there are three stanzas, each composed of four lines, but that hardly qualifies a piece as a genuine poem. There is no discernable pattern of syl...
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...had been fooled. It’s about time that somebody called the emperor’s bluff. Not even Williams himself originally intended “This Is Just to Say” to be read as a poem, so any attempt to defend it as one is doomed to fail. Unless, of course, the person defending that position is of the belief that any set of words strung together with the proper line breaks is magically transformed into a poem. In that case, everyone with a Magnetic Poetry Kit deserves to be as famous.
William Carlos Williams simply took two ordinary sentences, chopped them up into lines and stanzas, and called it poetry. The so-called poem “This Is Just to Say” is in reality nothing more than two thinly disguised, unremarkable lines of prose. The name of all poetry is cheapened when people call notes such as these “poems.” The truth is, “This Is Just to Say” says very little indeed.
Poetry is its own solid object” (Bad Poem, Great Song). To some, the dilemma is cut and dry, songs just can’t be poetry.
Poetry is something that is to be read delicately and cautiously if one wanted to find meaning through the words. Readers have to be gentle and patiently ponder about what they are reading in order to find any significance in the poem. If someone is not patient with reading, they will not feel impacted by poetry and will not want to read it. In Billy Collins’, “Introduction to Poetry,” he uses figurative language to help readers see that the way to enjoy and understand poetry is by reading between the lines and being patient with how each individual relates to the readings.
... ... middle of paper ... ... Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Michael Gray’s analysis of Dylan’s lyrics being a contrast between hackneyed expressions and “beautifully done” are exemplified in the song “Just Like a Woman.” Dylan’s lyrics “she aches just like a woman but she breaks just like a little girl” is given the harsh description of “maudlin platitude” and deemed to be a “non-statement.” If Dylan’s lyrics cannot uphold against meaningful music of the same category, how can they be expected to stand against literature written for a different field. John Lennon had his own critiques of Dylan’s works, calling out how the abstract nature of his lyrics, having loose definition, never achieved an actual point. Lennon’s definition of “poetry” referred to “stick[ing] a few images together” and “thread[ing] them” in order to create something meaningful. It once again boils down to the fact that Dylan’s music that was written and intended to be received as a live performance. The acknowledgement that “…you have to hear Dylan doing it” is a recognition of his composition’s failure to come across as a normal literary work. It’s all part of a “good game.” This in itself should disqualify Dylan as a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize.
Unlike the rest of the poem, these final lines are not ironicthey are serious and sad. But the impact of the plain and simple conclusion is much more effective because of its contrast with the ironic tone which precedes it.
Berube, Margery S., et all; The American Heritage Dictionary Second Edition; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, Mass, 1985
They are many different forms of poems that writers make. Poems are meant to read in order to go beyond traditional form of thinking. The poem “Read This Poem from the Bottom up” by Ruth Porritt is a reverso poem in which you can read the poem from bottom up to top down. This would be consider a free verse poem and yet saying it’s a free verse could be consider an oxymoron to free verses because it must have the same words to read from the top down to bottom up. This poem has all the ingredients to be consider a good poem. The purpose of the poem is to break traditional form of thinking and challenge the narrator to break the rules of how poem can be written.
Yet a term as broad as "poetry" is not so easily quantified as to simply attribute physical characteristics to it and let all writing either fall into or out of that category. Poetry is determined by the effect upon the reader. It is an individual opinion, and thus defined by the collected (individual) reactions.
The speech is poetry in itself, and if such a verse can be created in translation, what beauty could be found in the original text.
Alliteration is a key aspect to how the reader experiences the poem; it especially gives interest toward alliteration of the letter T. This alliteration begins in the very first line “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-” (1.1). The alliteration on the T is used three times within the first line; however, it does not stop there. Dickinson uses the “T” sound to continually draw back to the theme of truth. Dickinson, through the use of two stanzas, four lines each, uses quite a distinct rhyme scheme to organize her poem. The second and fourth lines of each stanza are clearly examples of end rhyme, by using words such as “lies” (1.2) and “surprise” (1.4). However, every single line is not an example of end rhyme. The first and third lines rhyme words such as “slant” (1.1) and “delight” (1.3); which can be described as near rhymes for they give a small sensation of rhyming. This rhyming pattern continues for the second stanza as well. The sequence of rhyming is not arbitrarily put into practice, rather, it also adds on to the truth theme. The near rhymes Dickinson stresses to not tell the truth in its entirety, but rather, convey a little bit of truth. This is being directly compared to the almost rhyming sensatio...
Is this the case? Hardly, this is a situation where the validity of Williams is essential because he presented his argument as a poem, the same format as The Waste Land. Therefore, the reader is prone to believe Williams leading his readers by example, the correct way to exercise the power of imagination that in his mind is “supreme” (Spring and All 179). It is not enough to accept Williams’s words in Spring and All as a sound argument for the direction of poetry, or as a proper list of what poetry shouldn’t be.
Not only do the words express the speaker's feelings. The structure of the poem has a memorable effect as well. The sentences in the first half of the poem are shorter with a two-line, a four-line, and a six-line sentence. Even in the six-line sentence there are pauses to keep order. However, there are only two sentences in the second half, with one being eight lines. This sentence also has very little structure and runs on. There is no caesura present in the second half, even though there is plenty of it in the
Poetry is a form of written word which has experience created by sound and meaning. It integrates various elements: Imagery; a figurative language which prompts the reader as well as the listener of the poem to create mental images. Poetic choice of words; this is based on the sound that is, denotation and connotation. Denotation refers to the accurate meaning of the word while connotation refers to the intended meaning of a word. The sound is another element of poetry which about the rhyme; words that sound similar or exactly alike in the poem. It employs metaphor which expresses something new and meaning way by way of comparison on unlike things. The theme as the main element is the purpose of the poem. Poetry is tied as an art because of
According to Webster's Dictionary, poetry is defined as "writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm." While this is the technical definition of poetry many writers attempted to further describe what poetry is. There are many contradicting views and no one can agree what is the essence of poetry. Some poets think that poetry is the expression of emotions and rules do not matter, while other poets suggest the poetry is all about the rules and the rhythm that must be followed. The perfect mix to define poetry is somewhere in between.
... is poetry for “everyone”, even though authors want to make meaning and tell a story; our interpretation of a poem is what counts. The true beauty of a poem is the fact that it is subject to various interpretations (Videnov, pp. 126-30).