Matsumoto,+Jennifer

William Carlos Williams 1883-1963

William Carlos Williams was a “high” modernist poet who was innovated by experimenting with juxtaposition, imagination, and creative use of language. Williams engineered several techniques in modern poetry, in particular the development of the “exact significance” technique, where he sought to construct poems that were “perfectly calibrated” to provide a “swaying of interpretation” (Billitteri 48). Williams had an interest in language and the stillness of things. He wanted to emphasize the dilemmas of his immigrant working class surroundings with powerful language. Joshua Schuster observes that Williams's poetry “re-intensify the aesthetic vivaciousness of the local faced with the aftermath of industrial upheaval.” (117). Williams allowed these social predicaments to become part of his interaction with language and reality. He gave meaning to the struggles by intergrating his imagination and social awareness into modern poetry. The rapid proliferation of machinery and technology played a huge role in the industrial movement, and therefore, Williams devised poetry like a machine. Williams viewed poetry as a process of “‘making bolts’ and the words are sensorial ‘materials’ to be ‘composed’ in perfect designs so as to make sure their ‘exact significances’ are ‘bolted’ or locked in place (Billitteri 50). Williams’s intention was to approach poetry like reality, and he envisioned it as a mechanized format. The purpose of Williams's approach was to offer “exact meaning” to the significance of what he perceived as art. Here is a video of Williams's context of mechanized poetry: ([]). // Apology //

Why do I write today?

The beauty of the terrible faces of our nonentities stirs me to it:

colored women day workers— old and experienced— returning home at dusk in cast off clothing faces like old Florentine oak.

Also

the set pieces of your faces stir me— leading citizens— but not in the same way.



**Edna** ** St. Vin **** cent Millay ** Glamorous, sensual, and vibrant indeed, Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was a woman of many facets. She was the first female poet to win the Pulitzer Prize (Axelrod 463), and was coveted by both men and women alike. Most importantly, her work was admired because of her unconventional femininity and independence. Ed Winfield Parks believes that “her poetry was intimate rather than conventional, emotional rather than intellectual, realistic rather than philosophical, and inconstant to an extreme" (42). Much of her poetry is derived from her sexual freedom and independence. Millay was a multi-faceted woman who was not afraid of expressing her alternative lifestyle. Some of her contemporaries actually found her work lacking philosophy and intellectual curiosity (Parks 42). Her poetry, however, does reflect many traditional formats that are sentimental. Millay wanted to express her attitudes of modernity as a woman struggling to find her identity. Millay had various sexual affairs with men and women, and her poetry reveals her feelings during these affairs. Millay’s sensual format cannot be easily dismissed. Instead of overlooking her unorthodox femininity, many found her sensuality appealing.

Millay’s traditional lyrical style is sensual, yet detached from the idea of romanticism. Parks portrayed some of Millay’s work to be parallel to Elizabeth Browning (44). However, Millay elaborates more on the bleakness of her relationships instead of “how she can count the ways to love thee.” She utilizes images and vibrant language. Millay’s “Only Until this Cigarette is Ended” is in reference of a love affair that she recalls as memorable, but the person is forgettable. In this poem, there lies an independent woman feeling empowered by the capability to recall and forget a love affair as easily as dropping ashes to the floor. Edward Davison believes that there is a dual personality behind Millay’s work where there is a mix cynicism and romanticism resulting in her poetry (672). Her language and diction sounds romantic, but there is also coldness in the theme of some of her sonnets. "Only Unitl This Cigarette in Ended" and others alike in form, makes Millay a traditional modernist during her era.

// Only until this Cigarette is Ended //

Only until this cigarette is ended, A little moment at the end of all, While on the floor the quiet ashes fall, And in the firelight to a lance extended, Bizarrely with the jazzing music blended, The broken shadow dances on the wall, I will permit my memory to recall The vision of you, by all my dreams attended.

And then adieu,—farewell!—the dream is done. Yours is a face of which I can forget The color and the features, every one, The words not ever, and the smiles not yet; But in your day this moment is the sun Upon a hill, after the sun has set.

Works Cited Axelrod, Steven G., Camille Roman, and Thomas Travisano, eds. //The New Anthology of// //American Poetry: Modernisms.//London:RutgersUniversity Press, 2005. Print. Billitteri, Carla. “William Carlos Williams and the Politics of Form.” //Journal of Modern// //Literature//. Vol. 30.Philadelphia,PA:IndianaUniversity Press, 2007. 42-63. //JSTORE.// Davison, Edward. “Edna St.Vincent Millay.” //The English Journal//. Vol. 16.Urbana,IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1927. 671-682. //JSTORE//. Schuster, Joshua. “William Carlos Williams, Spring and All, and the Anthropological Imaginary.” //The English Journal//. Vol. 16.Urbana,IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1927. 42-63. //JSTORE.//