William Carlos Williams : Craft Analysis Essay Example

William Carlos Williams: Craft Annotation The poet William Carlos Williams stands apart as one of the most influential poets of modern times. Williams' poetic voice composes a unique picture in which the reader is immersed in the poet's world of sensory perception. Williams believed that everything in our lives, no matter how simple, can be organized into poetic verse. Through Williams' rather simplistic straightforward language and observations he speaks directly to ordinary individuals. Williams' poetry utilizes objectivism to craft the poem into an object and to emphasize the action of perception. The poems, "Poem," "The Great Figure," and "Spring and All" are each representative of Williams' ability to craft language and imagery into a lucid moment of perception. In Williams' poetic world, the act of observation is critical in arousing the senses and imagination of the reader. Williams' poetry speaks in a unique voice while embracing the basis of traditional American poetry. The poet uses straight forward diction to convey both observation and action. In his "Poem," Williams uses perception to develop and describe the simple motion of a cat descending from the top of a room. Visually, similar to many of William's poems, the structure appears choppy. The visual pattern of this poem is written in four three-line stanzas. The apparent simplicity of "Poem" draws attention to essential details that are a critical part of the poem. The structure of this poem parallels the descent of the cat. "Poem" lacks punctuation, another common feature in Williams' body of work. By removing punctuation, the flow of the poem conveys the motion of a cat in a series of fluid movements. When read aloud, each stanza represents a frame of the ongoing action. Each stanza is similar to the individual frames of a motion picture. When pieced together, the stanzas create a descriptive sense of motion. Williams uses enjambed lineation in order to increase the pace at which the poem is