Spring and All by William Carlos Williams

Spring and All

by William Carlos Williams

By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast-a cold wind.  Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen

patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees

All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines-

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish
dazed spring approaches-

They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter.  All about them
the cold, familiar wind-

Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined-
It quickens:  clarity, outline of leaf

But now the stark dignity of
entrance-Still, the profound change
has come upon them:  rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken

Williams was one of the foremost poets of American modernism.  In this poem on nature, Williams personifies the spring that is entering the world naked and uncertain. The most striking element of this poem, the title poem of Williams' first major collection, is the imagery. Williams manages to paint complex scenes with few words such as "broad, muddy fields brown with dried weeds." Williams makes it easy for the reader to see the world through his eyes.

Spring in New Hampshire by Claude McKay

Spring in New Hamphire

by Claude McKay, 1920

Too green the springing April grass, 
Too blue the silver-speckled sky, 
For me to linger here, alas, 
While happy winds go laughing by, 
Wasting the golden hours indoors, 
Washing windows and scrubbing floors. 

Too wonderful the April night, 
Too faintly sweet the first May flowers, 
The stars too gloriously bright, 
For me to spend the evening hours, 
When fields are fresh and streams are leaping, 
Wearied, exhausted, dully sleeping.

Source: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21416

Analysis: Claude McKay whose work preceded, influenced and participated in the Harlem Renaissance was a unique poet. His work can nearly be divided into two categories his pastoral contemplative work, and his activist modern work. Though McKay gets most of his acclaim for his bleak unapologetic poetry primarily about racism and the urban experience, he wrote enough poetry that is softer in tone that we have to accept it as sincere, and not simply as subversive and ironic. "Spring in New Hampshire" is an excellent example of this style. 

     McKay's poem, which encourages us to get out doors and experience nature, is as relevant today as ever. He is proposing simply, that the day is too beautiful to stay inside. The most striking poetic touch has to do with how he's constructed his two stanzas. Each use a simple end rhyme scheme ABABCC, familiar as the last six lines of a Shakespearean sonnet, but also starts the sentence with the same letter scheme TTFWWW, except his second stanza adds switches the third W for a third T.

Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

Introduction to Poetry

by: Billy Collins, 1996

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Source: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/

Analysis: Collins is talking about the difference between what the reader experiences in reading a poem, and how teachers ask students to analyze poetry. This poem was the inspiration for the website, since I wanted to give poetry meaningful analysis, while avoiding the temptation Collins warns us of "beating it with a hose." Collins manages to succeed with this poem using a series of simple metaphors. Collins talks about experiencing a poem like an exploration of the unknown. His simple conversational language is typical for Collins' poetry, and common among many contemporary poets.