Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams
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| Language: | English |
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Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK
1963
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085291997 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-bgsu1554464085291997 |
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oai_dc |
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English |
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American Literature |
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American Literature Wagner, Linda Welshimer Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| author |
Wagner, Linda Welshimer |
| author_facet |
Wagner, Linda Welshimer |
| author_sort |
Wagner, Linda Welshimer |
| title |
Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| title_short |
Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| title_full |
Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| title_fullStr |
Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams |
| title_sort |
imagery, measure, and design in the poems of william carlos williams |
| publisher |
Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
1963 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085291997 |
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AT wagnerlindawelshimer imagerymeasureanddesigninthepoemsofwilliamcarloswilliams |
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1719455132229304320 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-bgsu15544640852919972021-08-03T07:09:58Z Imagery, Measure, and Design in the Poems of William Carlos Williams Wagner, Linda Welshimer American Literature Because the position of the contemporary writer is tenuous, with most critics fearful of appraising new work, this study of the poems of William Carlos Williams attempted to fill a crucial gap in contemporary criticism: to find the technical reasons for the generally-acknowledged excellence of Dr. Williams' poems. One premise of the study was that Williams' poetry showed undeniable progression in both subject matter and technique throughout his half century of creation. A second premise was that Dr. Williams was by no means an "instinctive" poet, but rather that his poetic development resulted from experimentation which implemented a body of conscious critical theory, depending for its successful culmination on the poet's own critical judgment. The primary methodology used was close textual analysis of both Dr. Williams' poems and his relevant critical writings. Paterson was treated only from the focus of the entire dissertation; its many individual problems were not discussed. Williams' other works were included only when necessary to an understanding of the poetry. Because so little valid secondary criticism of Williams' poetry existed, emphasis fell most heavily on primary sources, both published and unpublished. And because the final estimate of any artist depends--or should depend--on his technical accomplishments rather than on his sentiments--Dr. Williams' developments in verbal and prosodic techniques were of primary significance. Arrangement within each area was chronological, correlated where possible with the poet's criticism. The study concluded that Dr. Williams' position as one of America's greatest poets was well-deserved: not only was most of his poetry good but his continuous technical progress led to the great poems of the triadic line, written since 1952. The study showed further that such progress was possible because the poems reflected to a surprising degree the poet's theory, the body of which was remarkably consistent. Most of it grew from the basic principle that the local was the source of all art and that poetic idiom was to reflect the patterns of natural speech. Since the poem was to re-create contemporary life, it was to change constantly; yet it was also simultaneously to remain linked with the timeless body of past art. In technique, then, Williams progressed toward the traditional goals of interrelation, concentration, and indirection; while at all times achieving the basic demands of the local. This dissertation also pointed out the general correlation between the poet's critical connnents and his experimentation within the poems. Interaction between Williams' shifting emphasis on prosody and language eventually changed both the structure and style of the poems: Dr. Williams became a writer of modernist, kinetic poetry rather than of substantive. In moving from one mode to another, Williams used figurative language (chiefly the kinds of metaphor, defined here as structural, colloquial, transitional, and symbolic) in patterns so distinctive that it revealed the rationale of his entire technique; as did his changing prosody which culminated in the "variable foot" and the individual "design" of the later poems, those appearing in The Desert Music, Journey to Love, Paterson V, and Pictures from Breughel. This study concluded further that Dr. Williams' final reputation for excellence will rest largely on this achievement of these four books. Despite the influence of Ezra Pound and Imagism, of Objectivism, and of the younger poets whom Dr. Williams continuously encouraged, Williams' poems showed in nearly every case his individual technique, progressing logically from the basic principle of the local and its idiom, achieved through untiring, conscious experimentation. 1963 English text Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085291997 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085291997 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |