Williams does a good job of creating this feeling by creating his own structure and pattern. He writes, “if I in north room/ dance naked, grotesquely” (7-8) these lines are a good example of enjambment; enjambment is when a poet breaks the sentence and does not follow correct grammar. If a poet had every sentence end at the same time it could deaden the poem, which would make it boring for the reader. Enjambment is a way for the poet to create his or her own pattern, and it is also a way to maintain the readers interest. Williams also uses the opposite of enjambment, which is endstopping, to create his own pattern structure. An endstopped line is a line that is broken in correspondence to correct grammar. For example Williams writes, “I am lonely, lonely./ I was born to be lonely,/ I am best so!” (12-14) As you can see all these lines are broken up in a way that is grammatically correct. Williams uses both of these because it affects the speed the readers use to read this poem. When a poet has both enjambment and endstopping in his or her poem it creates an unique pattern that effects the poem in a certain way.
Another way that Williams creates his own unique pattern in free verse is by using assonance, which also creates a repetition of sound. Assonance is when a poet uses repeated vowel sounds that can create internal rhymes within the poem. Assonance also give a poet flexibility, when he or she do not want to have a predetermined, or traditional metric pattern. In the first three lines Williams writes, “If when my wife is sleeping/ and the baby and Kathleen/ are sleeping.” (1-3) In these lines, Williams repeats the vowel sounds “ee” with “sleeping” and “Kathleen.” Williams is creating his own pattern and directing the attention of the reader to where he wants it to go. Williams hopes to give the poem a sense of continuity or fluidity, by using assonance. The use of assonance in these lines gains the attention of the reader in a way that a traditional metrical poem does.
Toward the end of the poem Williams starts to use the repetition of possessive words, like “I” and “my,” to change up his pattern in this poem. For example Williams writes, “I am lonely, lonely./ I was born to be lonely,/ I am best so!/ If I admire my arms, my face,/ my shoulders, flanks, buttocks/ against the yellow drawn shades.”(12-17) It is for one to see the reoccurrence of these possessive pronouns, Williams does this to draw the reader’s attention and focus on these certain lines. Williams wants the reader to focus on this part specifically because this is where he starts to present a change of consciousness. The man in this poem goes from feeling a sense of freedom to feeling this sense of embarrassment about his body, and he starts to notice his flaws. Williams also use these lines as a way to build up to his ending lines, “Who shall say I am not /the happy genius of my household?,” (18-19) and the point he is trying to get across in the poem. These last lines are separated from the majority of the poem, and put into a separate stanza by itself. Williams does this because these last two lines show what his main idea of the poem, and separating these lines from the poem helps draw more attention to those lines. Although it may be different, free verse can still be a good to make great poetry. Free verse allows the reader to create an emotional effect on the reader in his or her own way. When it comes to free verse pattern recognition is key. The poet use different methods to catch the reader’s attention. At times this almost works better because it allows the poet to focus the reader’s attention on what he deems necessary. Danse Russe by William Carlos Williams is a good example of a free verse poems that creates its own unique structure to make it just as good as any other poem that uses traditional meter.
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