The Song of a duck

 

                   

1.                                         I am a common duck

                 A creature of simple luck

                Though white, not a swan

                To fly through breezy dawn.

                I can’t walk swift like a fawn

               Across the dew-decked lawn.

 

2.                                This marshy pond, my place

             No ethereal cloudy ways

             This humble state, I sigh

             Yes, hard to please, I know not why.

             People may mock my gait and wit

             A wild goose chase, I lazily sit.

 

3.                             This dark-green moss

           These white blooms bland

           This wavy toss

           This sylvan land

           I glide with ease

          What more can please?

 

4.                          I am a common fowl

         Life is not a sugary bowl

         Life, a game both sad and gay

         I have my own role to play.

        Though people say “lucky Duck”

        I may not have much push and pluck.

 

5.                 I live as I am made

      As nature’s child I wade

      Through water under the shades

      Ducked out, don’t stay behind;

      Be content and be kind;

      I give my little mite

     This life, God-given light.

     ***********************

23rd October, 2023                    Somaseshu Gutala

           

A Note on William Carlos Williams’ Poem---“The Yachts”

 

       

   

This poem was published in volume I of the “The Collected Poems” (1909-1939). In this poem the poet made a scathing attack on the capitalist system in U.S. during the great depression (1930’s). This poem is an eleven-stanza poem that is divided into tercets or sets of three lines written in free verse without any specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.

In the first two stanzas the mighty destructive and uncontrollable power of the ocean is described.  Personification plays a major role in this poem. The yachts are almost shown as alive. The yachts symbolize the rich section of the society who flourished despite the economic depression. The yachts were sailing in a semi-protected area of water though the ocean outside is rough and ungoverned. 

The sea can toss the biggest hulls and sink them mercilessly like moths in the mist of its turbulent waves.  The best man or the most skilled navigator knows how difficult it is to remain safe against its beatings. The sea is moody and touches the smooth sides of the yachts as if to find any flaw in them. The sea is powerful enough to sink them pitilessly. Though the crew works smoothly, the poet does not hesitate to indicate how small they are in comparison to the ship as a whole in the ocean.

 

The third and fourth stanzas drift away from the chaotic imagery of the ocean and describe the movements of the yachts and their crew. The yachts glide “with broad, bellying sails” tossing green waters of the sea against their prows.  The crew crawl over them like ants adjusting the sails to catch the winds and go in the right direction.

 

In fourth and fifth stanzas the poet describes how the yachts are followed by the lesser vessels on which other men and women were sailing. They seem to be humble and move slowly in a random manner. They represent the struggling poor and middle-class people.

 

 The sixth and seventh stanzas describe the secure and safe position of the yachts in midst of raging waves. The yachts are feckless and free like horses set ready to start in a race as they are well-made and equipped to sail with speed. They appear youthful and carefree as “the light of a happy eye.”  

 

The eighth and ninth stanzas describe the pitiable condition of the lesser boats which are shattered by   the waves of the sea.  “It is a sea of faces about them in agony, in despair.” The whole sea became “an entanglement of watery bodies” desperately struggling to grasp at the sides of the yachts hoping for salvation. The yachts pass over unconcerned for the suffering of their fellow humans. The eighth and ninth stanzas portray the competitive spirit on the ocean. The waves outside the yachts symbolize the great depression, economic inequality and confronting challenges. The yachts are “too well made and they survive the adverse effects of the great depression. They are under the command of men and who lead them safe out of the consequences of unfair economic policies and sufferings caused by the great depression.

 

The tenth and eleventh stanzas reiterate the fate of the struggling poor people in times of economic depression in a symbolic way. They are like drowning people crying for help. The dark and disturbing imagery serves as a powerful contrast against the peaceful and seemingly beautiful sailing yachts described in the third and fourth stanzas. The ocean is filled with struggling people. They are trying to hold on to the ships that sail through them. But they are left to their fate while the yachts smoothly pass over them.

The impoverished condition of the people discarded by the economic system of capitalism. They are dead or dying without getting any help. The sea is “an entanglement of watery bodies/ lost to the world bearing what they cannot hold.”  They are “broken, beaten, desolate” and they “cry out, failing, failing.” Their piteous cries for help rise like waves, but the skillful yachts recklessly pass over them without showing any mercy. The wealthy and well-off symbolized by the yachts triumph over that of poor. The rich winners of this economic battle discard and exploit the poor and sail over them on their way to safe future. There is no sentimentality in the speaker’s description.

 

The message is that in a capitalist system especially during the American great depression during 1930’s, the wealthy always triumphed over the poor and they felt least concerned about the tragic fate of the struggling poor and underprivileged people. This message is symbolically conveyed through the image of the yachts navigating through a sea of desperate and dying bodies. The yachts are also symbols for slave ships on which the most horrifying atrocities were committed.

 

In this artistic and graceful poem, the poet suggests that the outward beauty of the capitalist system is akin to the illusion shown by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s hero in his novel “Great Gatsby.” Capitalism demands competition and indifference to suffering masses. Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle” in more realistic terms reveals the plight of jobless men and women though the Chicago’s bosses rescue a fortunate few. Similarly in this poem, the horror of class war, inequality in income, viciousness against the weak and helpless, and exploitations of the poor are revealed through symbols and artistic use of language. 

The use of enjambment with lack of punctuation and the use of first letter in lower case at the beginning of every stanza line to suggest the poet’s priority for the oppressed majority.  Though the poem is in free verse form, the poet used figures of speech like assonance in words like: encloses -blows; Knows – blows. Alliteration was used in word: Biggest and best. The desperation of the drowning men and women is reflected through the poet’s use of short and choppy sentences in the last three stanzas in contrast with the long and lyrical lines that began the poem.   “Broken/ beaten, desolate, reaching from the dead to be taken up/ they cry out, failing, failing! / their cries rising/ in waves still as the skillful yachts pass over.”

 The poet used personification and symbolism to express his views on Capitalism. The yachts represent the rich capitalists, wealth, freedom, youth and comfort zone. This poem is a typical specimen of Imagist poetry. The poet expressed his views clearly through the image of yachts personifying it and adding symbolic meaning to it. The language is simple and lucid without any abstract and vague implications. The poet used free verse without any ornamentation. He used literary devices which seem to be natural and contribute to the effect of the poem.

                                 **************************

    16th October, 2023                          Somaseshu Gutala

 

 

 

  

The Tale of Hari, the taxi-driver

       

  

    

  A Brahmin boy turning a driver at last;

  A strange affair, some people thought;

  But Hari ignored their views and tried

  To earn his bread with no sense of pride.

  Unable to pursue his studies he found

  His friend’s advice proper and sound;

  A poor priest’s son, how can he aim

 At lofty goals and professions prime?

 He worked with vigor both day and night

 To earn and help his family in plight;

In keeping with his state, he married

A girl free of dowry with no sense of greed;

His expenses quickly rose in various ways;

His restless mind in bad company sought solace;

Blessed with two daughters he made too many debts

Driving for days his family he left

His father’s sage advice he did not heed;

He could not meet his family’s needs;

 

Vexed with his ways his spouse began to fume and fret;

Addicted to booze he did not regret;

Evil habits and wayward ways upset

His feeble health and suddenly he met

With a fatal accident and was not fit

To drive due to ill-health and lost

His livelihood and in heavy debts caught;

With his wife and daughters, village he left;

He could not find means to clear off his debts;

His wife left him with daughters somewhere;

She turned a cook her children’s expenses to bear;

He found shelter to work under a priest;

A helper in conducting funeral feasts;

The Vedic hymns he learnt in his boyhood days

Helped him to do his work in many ways;

A few cooking tips from his mother he caught

Made him work as a cook in priest’s business vast;

Free food and shelter for himself he got

About his poor family he sadly thought;

His daughters as maid- servants toiled a lot

And yet they studied without losing heart;

 

He seemed to realize his grievous fault;

Lessons too late he seemed to realize.

Blunders and blows made his mind wise;

When I watched him serving food

He gazed at me with keen looks shrewd

Like the ancient mariner in the fabled tale;

Who followed the guest with countenance pale;

He spoke in a low, pensive voice slow

Of his happy past and destiny’s blow;

He visits his home now and then to behold.

His wife and daughters with conscience cold.

His wife’s spurning looks seared his guilty mind.

Still he hopes for her pardon for his rash acts blind.

The vilest sinners are forgiven by God;

Why erring mortals so vindictive and hard?

He found in me a patient listener to vent his grief.

A kind comforting word gives him relief;

Time will transform our lives and everything.

Likewise, a happy compromise in his life may bring.

                    *********************

Note: "The Rime of the ancient mariner" – Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 describes a sailor’s experience when his ship was caught in icy Antarctica seas. By mistake he killed an innocent bird that alighted on the deck. The other sailors thought that this sinful deed would bring them bad luck. So, they forced him to wear the dead bird on a rope round his neck so that they would not get punished for his crime. Bereft of food and water he suffers a lot and sees hallucinations of a ghost ship carrying the grisly figure of death and another figure called Life-in-death. All the sailors fell dead except him. The sailor feels guilty and repentant for his sinful act. A sense of pity and love gushed from his conscience on seeing the water- snakes glistening on the waves of the sea. He fell into a trance and a shower of rain touched his lips. When he was awake, he found himself in another ship. He was rescued by another ship’s captain. From then he wandered narrating his story to anyone to find a sense of solace and comfort.

                       ********************************

            6^th October, 2023                    Somaseshu Gutala

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Visit to Sri Bhu Sametha Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy Temple, Thondamanadu. (A.P.)

 

 

      

                  

                              

This temple is in Thondamanadu, a small village ten kms away from Kalahasti and 28kms from Tirupati. The way to this temple is very confusing. No proper directions are seen on traffic boards. The road is full of potholes and bumps. Even when enquired, passersby did not give proper directions. The T.T.D. authorities may develop this road and give publicity as many devotees do not know that there is a temple here. When we went there, very few pilgrims are seen. When we enquired the priest, he said that many pilgrims visit this temple on Fridays and Saturdays.

This place was once the capital of Thondaman Chakravarti, brother of Akasa Raju, father-in-law of Lord Venkateswara. Thondaman built a temple on Tirumala hills at the behest of the Lord Venkateswara. Daily he used to climb the hills to worship the Lord. As he was becoming old, he was not able to go up the hill every day. He felt sad and depressed. The Lord on noticing his plight Himself appeared in Thondamanadu along with His two consorts and stayed here on the old king’s request. Unlike in other temples, here Lord Venkateswara is seen in sitting posture (sukhasina bhangima) with His consorts Sri devi and Bhu Devi, on both sides. Nowhere we can see Lord in this posture in any other temple. The Lord here is called “Veetilundarai Perumal”

According to Sthala Puraana, after the demise of Akasa Raju, Vasu Dasa, Son of Akasa Raju and Thondaman fought for the kingdom. Lord Venkateswara sided with his brother-in-law but gave his discus and conch to Thondaman. Later Lord Venkateswara brought peace between them. The kingdom was divided into two parts. Narayanapuram (Narayanavanam) was given to Vasu Dasa and Thundeera Mandalam was given to Thondaman. Thondaman built a big lotus-pond near this temple, and water from Akasa Ganga and Kapileswra waterfalls flows into this pond.

This temple has a spacious compound. This temple is facing east. The main entrance or the Raja Gopuram has three tiers. One can see Dwhajasthambam Bali peetham, and the idol of Garudalwar. There are four mandapams inside; Mahamandamapam, Mukha mandapam, Antarala mandapam and Garbha griha. Two idols of Jaya and Vijaya are seen at the entrance of Grabha Griha. In the Garbha Griha, the idol of Venkateswara is seen in sitting posture with four hands holding conch, discus Yoga Mudra and Abhaya Hastha with Sri devi and Bhu devi sitting on either side. In the Antarala mandapam, one can see the Utsava Murties of Srinivasa with His two consorts, Sri Sita Ramalakshmana swamy with Sri Anjaneya, Sri Vishwaksena and the idol of Sri Ramanujacharya. People believe that by worshipping the Lord here, married couples will have a happy and harmonious life and that unmarried youth will get married soon. 

According to historical evidence this temple was re-constructed during 9^th and 10^th centuries. The Vimana of this temple resembles the Vimana (Ananadanilayam) of the Tirumala temple. Cholas, Pallavas and Vijayanagara kings worshipped this lord. In 2008, the Tirmala Tirupati devastanam Board took over this temple and developed it. After re-construction, Kumbhabhishekam was done in 2016. The temple timings are from 6.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 4.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. Every Friday Abhishekam is done to idols in the sanctum. Special poojas are performed during Dhanurmasam and on Vaikunta Ekadashi.

                                 &&&&&&&&&&&&&

     4th October, 2023                           Somaseshu Gutala

My Stay at Hotel Bhimas Paradise, Tirupati (A.P.)

 

    

  

 

                 

 

This hotel is a very old and popular one among the famous group of Bhima founded way back in 1960’s. This hotel was started in 1993. This three-storey two-star hotel with thirty-five rooms is centrally located on Tirupati-Renigunta Road opposite Reliance mart. It is nearly 2.5 kms from Tirupati railway station. The famous Govindaraja Swamy temple is 2kms and Padmavati Ammavari temple is 4kms. from this hotel. Many famous restaurants like Multi-cuisine Minerva coffee shop, Hotel Blue Box and Hotel Manasa are quite nearby. 

This hotel has an in-house restaurant serving vegetarian delicacies. This hotel has free parking, rental car service’ lift facility and free-Wi-Fi facility. There are two types of rooms: A.C. Deluxe and Standard room.  The check-in and check-out timings are 12.00 p.m. and 11.00 a.m. The standard bedroom has 120 sq.ft bedroom with a queen-sized bed, two chairs, a table, ward robe, electric kettle and toiletry items. Though the rooms look a little old all facilities are available at affordable prices. I booked this hotel directly with a request for early-check-in. The hotel authorities agreed on the condition that I should vacate within 24 hours. Especially in pilgrimage towns like Tirupati many trains arrive early and so permission for early check-in with 24 hours duration for check-out is very convenient for pilgrims. Other hotels should also provide this facility to pilgrims. 

Free bottled water, soap, towels and spare bed sheet was provided. Complimentary breakfast facility is there. The hotel gives prompt response and room service is good.  When the A.C. and T.V. were set right soon after I asked the receptionist for help. There is a need for improvement in cleanliness and providing a better appearance outlook. Door curtains are to be provided to shield bright sunlight coming into the room. The corridors and the reception room may be decorated with paintings and art works to highlight the importance this town which has many beautiful places and temples around. Pamphlets giving more information about this town will help pilgrims in planning their schedule.

 As we had to catch an early morning train, we asked the receptionist to arrange for transport. The receptionist gave a wake- up call and arranged a vehicle to take us to the railway station.  This hotel is a budget hotel quite suitable for pilgrims as it is centrally located with all facilities.

                                     ********************

29th September, 2023                           Somaseshu Gutala

 

A Note on William Carlos Williams’ Poem: “The Red Wheelbarrow”

This poem was originally published without title and was designated as XXII in Williams’ 1923 book “Spring and all”, a hybrid collection with alternating selections of prose and free verse. This poem is a prime example of early 20^th century Imagism. The pictorial style was inspired by the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz and the precisionist style of Charles Sheeler, an American photographer-painter whom Williams met shortly before composing this poem.

 This poem represents an early stage in Williams’ development as a poet. It focusses on the objective representation of objects. This poem was written in brief haiku-like free verse form. The man by whom the poet was inspired to write this poem was Thaddeus Lloyd Marshall Sr. He lived a few blocks away from Williams in Rutherford, New Jersey. His grave is seen in Ridge Lawn cemetery in neighboring Clifton. He was an old Afro-American who sold eggs and vegetables in his wheelbarrow. In his backyard the poet saw a red wheelbarrow surrounded by white chickens. The poet’s affection and good relationship with the man inspired his word choice and subject matter. Orrick John’s “Blue under-shirts upon a line” published in “Others” in 1915 may have provided the framework upon which he developed this poem.

 According to Dr. Mark Hama in “College literature” (1910), Williams found in John’s poem the framework for a new modern American poetic line. One can find a sense of nostalgia, sentimentality and love for Nature in this short poem. According to Williams, the red wheelbarrow is an incredibly important tool for rural and farming communities to earn their livelihood and maintain their families. The poet suggests through this poem that we should take note of the value of common things which we often take for granted. There is Wordsworthian approach of glorifying the ordinary, simple objects in people’s language without any artificial ornamentation. Williams, like Frost, believed that modernizing American poetry means incorporating contemporary American speech and American scenes and way of life in his poems.

 

The poet depicts in very simple language a red wheelbarrow drenched   in rain.  The whole poem is a single sentence divided into four couplets. This is a four-line stanza poem that is separated into sets of two lines known as couplets. The entire poem has sixteen words with four words in each stanza. The lines are extremely short. The first line of each stanza has three words, and the second line has only one. This poem is in free verse with no meter and rhyme. This poem is written in simple and conversational style and is calm and cool in tone.

 A few literary devices are used to add force and effect to this poem. The use of alliteration (repetition of same letter or sound at the beginning of words) in words: rain, red and borrow. The use of assonance (repetition of vowel sounds in the same line) in phrases like "glazed with rain" and "beside the white." The use of symbolism is seen in the image of the red wheelbarrow which represents farm life. The neglected state of the wheelbarrow suggests rupture in man's relationship with nature. The use of phrase "so much depends" suggests the inevitable dependability of man on nature and farming for his ultimate survival.

 A nonpoetic object like the wheelbarrow is given importance. He depicts it as the hinge upon which the entire world rests. The images of the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens are juxtaposed and shown as the central symbols of farming and agriculture necessary for maintenance of life.  The wheelbarrow is used to move shrubs and plants, to remove debris and carry fertilizers in the fields and gardens. The poet uses enjambment (a run-on sentence without a pause at the end of a line) gives a sense of continuity and freedom. No capitals are used to indicate how the importance of simple and ordinary objects like the wheelbarrow is overlooked by men.

The poem starts with the description of a red wheelbarrow drenched in rain suggesting that it is left being neglected. It is glazed with rain attracting attention. Though it looks red and ordinary it gained attention when it is seen beside the bright white chickens. The red color of the wheelbarrow the Marxian concept of working force and the white color of the chickens represents peace and freedom. The close proximity of the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens side by side suggests the intimate connection between the workers welfare and the resultant prosperity and peace in the society. There is an underlying note of irony in the poem. Though the wheelbarrow is very useful in carrying manure and debris from the yard, it is left neglected while the bright white chickens are favored.

 The absence of punctuation in the poem indicates that the final act of wheelbarrow in its use as a farming tool matters most. The ending of the whole poem with a period suggests the ultimate fate of wheelbarrow, a state of being neglected in spite of its immense use to mankind. When applied to human nature it indicates that there are people around us who are essential to our wellbeing, but they are overlooked for various reasons. However, their influence on others is seen like the shining glaze that comes due to falling rain on the wheelbarrow. So, we should not overlook those who truly matter for our existence. The lack of appreciation would lead to the ending of relationships like the period in the poem at the end. We should learn how to treat our relationships so that they would not become tainted and rusty.

 

Though this poem seems to be a simple, visual interpretation, it is a complex riddle. The red wheelbarrow represents any common and everyday object that deserves our appreciation. This poem also implies the importance of agriculture and farm laborers. The main image of the poem is an agrarian theme, the yard of a farmhouse where a wet, red wheelbarrow stands surrounded by white chickens. Symbolically, the red color of the wheelbarrow the Marxian concept of working force and the white color of the chickens represents peace and freedom. The close proximity of the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens side by side suggests the intimate connection between the workers welfare and the resultant prosperity and peace in the society. 

 The tone of the poem is calm and matter-of-fact reflection. William breaks compound words “wheel barrow” and “rainwater” into smaller words (Wheel barrow, rain water) to add emphasis.

                     ************************************

   25th September, 2023                   Somaseshu Gutala

 

 

A Note on Imagist Movement (1912-1917)

  

  

               

             

Imagism was born in England and America in the early twentieth century as a reactionary movement against passionate and excessive Romanticism and Victorian poetry.  Imagism emphasized simplicity, clarity of expression and precision using exact visual images. T.E. Hulme, English philosopher and poet, in his essay “Romanticism and classicism”, (1908) stressed on accurate presentation of the subject with no excess of verbiage. According to him the language of poetry should be visual and concrete and the images in poetry should not be a mere decoration but the very essence. A poem should present concrete details and be image-focused like the poems of Greek lyricists and Japanese Haiku poets.

The imagists used free verse without any fixed meter and did not use unnecessary digressions and moral reflections. They adopted a casual and calm tone without sentimental exaggeration. They focused on a single “hard, dry image.” They believed that there are no ideas but things. Images give meaning to the poem. Language is used to convey vivid, precise images to the reader. They used images with “simple language and great focus.” They did not use superfluous words and they treated the subject directly rather than passively.  

The famous American poet, Ezra Pound adopted Hulme’s ideas on poetry in 1912 and he introduced the word “Imagism” first in the literary world. In November 1912 Pound published Hulme’s complete poetical works. According to Pound, an image is an emotional and intellectual complex in an instant of time. It gives a sense of liberation from the time and space limits.  In his essay “A few don’ts by an Imagiste” published in “Poetry” (March 1913), Pound stated three principles: 1) Direct treatment of thing whether subjective or objective 2) To use no word that does not contribute to the presentation. 3) to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of metrical division. In 1914 Pound assembled the poems of Imagist poets like William Carlos Williams, Richard Aldington, James Joyce, Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) and Amy Lowell under the title” Des Imagistes”.

 

But later differences arose among these writers. Amy Lowell criticized Pound for his too myopic view of poetry and assumed the leadership of this movement from 1915 to 1917 and published three anthologies with the same title” Some Imagist poets.” Pound named his new Imagist poetry as “Vorticism” defining that the image is not an idea but a radiant cluster or vortex. After 1917 the Imagist movement gradually became absorbed into the modernist poetry. Still, we can see traces of this movement in modern poets.

Here are a few examples of Imagist poems for better understanding of the Imagist poets. In His poem “In a station of the metro”, Pound used just fourteen words to show the unstable and fleeting status of crowds in a metro station. They are compared to petals on a wet black bough. The poet used the word “apparition” to show the strange appearance of the crowds in the rainy weather.

“The apparition of these faces in the crowd/ Petals on a wet black bough.”

In the poem “The pool” Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) describes her encounter between her and her yet unborn child. Two months after the publication of this poem, in May 1915, she delivered a still-born baby, the first and only one child with her husband, Richard Aldington. It is a poem about self-discovery. Her face mirrored in the river was covered with bands of her net. In just five lines consisting of 23 words, she brings out the lack of freedom and conflicting thoughts of a woman trapped by the conventions of the society and the traditional role of the woman.

“Are you alive? / I touch you. / You quiver like a sea-fish. / I cover you with my net. / What are you-banded one?

 

In the poem “Wind and silver” Amy Lowell compares the moon and the fish-pond to silver and wind. The poet contrasts the quiet beauty of the fish-pond with the swift movement of the wind which makes the pond shake with silver ripples like the scales of a moving dragon in autumn moon light.

 “Greatly shining, / The Autumn moon floats in the thin sky; / And the fish-ponds shake their backs and/ flash their dragon scales/ As she passes over them.”

 In another poem “A Lady” the poet depicts the appearance and the worth of an old woman. The poem consists of sixteen lines. In the first part comprising twelve lines, the main idea is projected. The old woman looks beautiful, yet faded. She compares her appearance to the sounds of an old opera harpsichord and to silks damaged by the sun in a woman’s sitting room or boudoir. Still in her eyes one can see the imprint of the past glory appearing like fallen roses. The innumerable experiences of her life are compared to “the pungence of sealed spice-jars.” In the second stanza she tells about herself as “a new-minted penny. She asks the old lady to gather the penny from the dust and let its sparkle amuse her. The poet thinks that her youth is no more valuable than a penny when compared to the complexities of age. The poet admires the old woman and aspires that she will also like the old woman find important meaning in all the experiences she will have.

 

In “The Red Wheel Barrow” William Carlos Williams focusses on a single image and shows the importance of much neglected tools like the wheelbarrow, representing the working class. The white chickens beside the wheelbarrow in contrast shows the dependence of man on both living and non-living beings for his survival. The red wheelbarrow drenched in rain acquires a peculiar shine suggesting the Nature’s intimate connection with simple things. The images of the red wheelbarrow and the white chickens are juxtaposed and shown as the central symbols of farming and agriculture necessary for maintenance of life. 

The whole poem is a single sentence in six lines without capitalization and punctuation written in a calm and meditative tone. The entire poem has sixteen words with four words in each stanza. The lines are extremely short. The first line of each stanza has three words and the second line has only one. This poem is in free verse with no meter and rhyme. This poem is written in simple and conversational style and is calm and cool in tone.

“so much depends/ upon / a red wheel/ barrow / glazed with rain /water / beside the white / chickens.”

Thus the Imagist movement brought simplicity, accurate observation, liberation from conventional rules and straightforward description of things without any artificial trappings. It is like a picture painted with words.

                    *********************************************

    17th September, 2023                                     Somaseshu Gutala

 

A Note on William Carlos Williams’ Poetry (Part-II)

 

  

 

 

 

The first book of poems (1909) by Williams was conventional and correct in sentiment and diction. In his second book “The Tempers” (1913) his style was imagist in feeling though it was still romantic and allusive. In his third book “Al Que Quiere!” (1917) Williams applied the imagist principle of the direct treatment of the things rigorously. 

Webster Scott said that “Williams was an immensely complicated man…. He was the complete human being and all the qualities of his personality were fused in his writings.” Williams emphasized that poetry should focus on objects and not on concepts. It should move away from abstract characterization of things. Poetry should create visual images and should be tangible or observable.

 

 According to him ideas exist in things since images create an idea of the object and gives it a meaning. To Williams, poetry was a means of gaining access to social realities. It is also an instrument for imagining the future, a shared life free of alienation and exploitation. He wrote,” The outstanding character of poetry is that it cannot exist other than as the revolutionary attribute of a free people.” His early poems shared a number of aesthetic concerns of his contemporary writers especially that of Ezra Pound in conveying imagery through textured language. His early interest in Nature marked the influence of Whitman and Keats. His later poetry was brief, pointed and deceptively simple with complex meaning.

 According to Randall Jarrell, Williams in his writings demonstrates that “he feels, not just says.” His lifelong quest is that poetry should mirror the speech of the American people. He sought “a language modified by the American environment. He sought to express democracy in the language and thought materials of America expressing his point of view. William stressed that poetry must find its primary impetus in local conditions. Richard Ellman and Robert O’clair called him “the most important literary doctor since Chekov, with a deep sense of humanity.”

 

In 1914 his first son, William G. Williams was born who later became a physician like his father. His second son was Paul. H. Williams. Williams was very much interested in painting and this influence is seen in his poetry where he used realistic imagery with clarity and simplicity. As a doctor he practiced during daytime and wrote at night.

 

Williams was influenced by Imagist movement through his friend Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle (H.D.). But soon he formed his own opinion different from theirs. In 1920 he published his experimental book “Kora in hell: improvisations”, one of his favorite books. According to Webster Scott, it is an extraordinary combination of aphorisms, romanticism, philosophy, exhortation combined with a few elements of obscenity and reverie.  Pound called it “incoherent” and “Unamerican” and H.D. considered it as “flippant.” Wallace Stevens also complained about the poet’s tantrums. But Williams defended his stand and was determined to continue the advances he had made in American poetry.

 

 In 1923 he published “Spring and all”. In this seven- stanza free verse poem without set rhyme and metrical pattern, he describes the sad state of the society at the end of the World war I. But the poet hopes that the world may enter a more promising future. William believed that change or transformation is not an instant process and it takes time to evolve. Williams wanted new poetry to be based on everyday speech formed by imagination rather than on any metrical compulsions and rules. His poetry differed from that of poets like T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden who were conventionally technical in their approach.

 

 In 1922 the publication of Eliot’s “The wasteland” overshadowed Williams’ concept of poetic modernism. Williams wrote, “It was a shock to me that he was so tremendously successful.”  He criticized Eliot’s highly intellectual style with its frequent use of foreign languages and allusions to classical and European literature. According to him T.S. Eliot was conforming to rules of classroom English whereas the modern poets are breaking the rules.

 

 In “Spring and all” Williams viewed the same American landscape as Eliot did, but interpreted it differently. Williams’ poetic task was to affirm the self-reliant, sympathetic consciousness of Whitman in a broken industrialized world. Unlike Eliot who described the harsh realities of the world, Williams saw his task as a break through restrictions and generating new growth. The real function of imagination is not to avoid reality but to affirm reality most powerfully. In his later works, his verse grew shorter, more austere and more pointed. After 1923, Williams did not release another book of poetry for ten years. He wrote prose dealing with America.

 

In “The American grain” he tried to examine the founders of the American history. He gave a succinct definition of America and its people. In his “Voyage to Pagany” based on his travel to Europe he assessed the world through the eyes of an American. In short story collection “The knife of the times” dealing with and the depression, he blamed the inadequacies of the American culture for both the economic and emotional plight of American people. In his trilogy “White Mule,” “In the Money,” and “The build-up” he dealt with the problems of an immigrant family in American society. He won national Book Award for his third volume of “Paterson” and “Selected poems.” In 1953 he got Bollingen prize for his literary achievements. William’s last book “Pictures from Brueghel and other poems” won Pulitzer Prize in 1963.

 “The desert music” and “Journey to love” are considered as mature works of Williams. According to Kenneth Rexroth the “Desert music” is an explicit statement of the irreducible humanness of the human being. In this book the poet presented simple, indisputable with calm maturity.” In his poem “Asphodel, That Greeny Flower,” an elegiac epithalamion, the poet confesses his infidelities to his wife and asks for forgiveness. He seeks new life on the verge of his life. W.H. Auden praised this poem as “one of the most beautiful poems in the language.” In the love poems of “Journey to love” the poet presents vignettes of daily scenes in his characteristic rhythms and language. In his poem “reflections on death” he writes that love and imagination are the essence of life. He who loses them is as good as dead. In his play “A dream of love” Williams dramatizes his belief in the conflict between man’s need for emotional renewal in love and the woman’s need for constancy in love.

 He preferred colloquial American English and a humane approach to portray the conditions of the contemporary society. In his modernist epic collage of place “Paterson” in five books (between 1946 and 1958), he gave an account of the history, people, and essence of Paterson, New Jersey. He examined the role of the poet in American society and summarized his poetic method in the phrase “No ideas but in the things.” In his preface to “Paterson” Williams wrote that “a man himself is a city beginning, seeking, achieving and concluding his life in ways which the various aspects of a city may embody … all the details of which may be needed to voice his intimate convictions.”

 

In “Paterson” he explored the myth of American power. He revealed the mixed results of success and industrialization which resulted in creation of widening inequality and city slums. William chose Paterson, New Jersey as the prototype of the American industrial community. He preferred a society of useful manufacturers with competitive energy and moral stamina to lift the burdens of the common citizen and raise the living standards of people with social and cultural benefits. According to Breslin, “The Wasteland” is a kind of anti-epic in which the quest for meaning is entirely thwarted and we are left at the end waiting for the collapse of western civilization. “Paterson” is a pre-epic showing that the process of disintegration releases forces that can build a new world confronting the savagery of the present society and affirming a creative future. Breslin thinks that Eliot’s end is Williams’ beginning. Williams completed five books and he was planning to write sixth volume before his death. “Paterson” was criticized for its mosaic and loose structure with alternating passages of poetry and prose. Yet it is considered as an “Ars Poetica’ for contemporary America. Breslin thinks that “Paterson” has a thickness of texture and a multi-dimensional quality which makes it seem difficult sometimes, but gives a rich and intense experience. Later poets like Allen Ginsberg, Charles Olson, Robert Lowell and Denis Levertov recognized Williams’ greatness and “Revolution of the word” and acknowledged “Paterson” as the modern “Leaves of grass.”

 

 His poetry influenced many literary movements of the 1950’s—the beat movement, the San Francisco Renaissance, the Black Mountain school and the New York School. He had close friendship with Allen Ginsberg, another poet from new Jersey. Williams included several of Allen Ginsberg’s letters in “Paterson.” One of the letters of Ginsberg inspired Williams to write the fifth section of Paterson.” Williams also wrote the introduction to Ginsberg’s book ‘Howl and other poems” in 1956. Williams suddenly had a heart attack in 1948. His health deteriorated with many complaints. He spent some time in Hillside Hospital, New York. He died in his sleep on March 4, 1963. He was buried in Hillside cemetery, Lyndhurst, New Jersey. William’s poetry as a modern poet will be remembered for his precious contribution to the American poetry for its simple language, portrayal of common people in America, and his focus on imagery.

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     31st August 2023                               Somaseshu Gutala

A Note on William Carlos Williams’ Poetry (Part-I)

 

                                           

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was a leading poet of the imagist movement. He was a doctor, poet, novelist, essayist and playwright. His poetry is remarkable for its empathy, sympathy and emotional identity with his subjects.” He wrote about the lives of everyday people and the beauty of simple, seemingly unimportant objects in simple American language used by common people.

 According to Randall Jarrell, “there is no optimistic blindness in Williams…. though there is a fresh gaiety, a stubborn or invincible joyousness.” He wrote on American subjects and themes using the living colloquial American language. As a doctor he moved closely with patients and understood the real conditions of his neighborhood and derived inspiration for his poetry and other literary writings. He became an inspiration to the Beat generation poets in 1950s and 60s. Instead of being frank and straightforward with his words, he adopted a suggestive approach as he said “show, don’t tell”. In his poems he portrayed urban landscape, ordinary scenes and conditions of working class and poor people using typical American rhythm and simple language. His focus on imagery and simple language without irrelevant decorations makes his work emblematic of modernism. His poem “Red Wheel Barrow” is considered a typical example of imagism and his style.  

William Carlos Williams was born on 17^th September,1883 in Rutherford, New Jersey. His father, George Williams was born in England and from the age of five he was raised in the Dominican Republic. He introduced his sons to Shakespeare, Dante and the Bible.  His father’s mother was a lover of the theater.  His mother, Helene was from Puerto Rico and was of French origin. She was very much interested in painting.  

The Caribbean culture of the home had an important influence on Williams. His parents spoke Spanish, and this was his prime means of communication. Till he was a teenager English was not his primary means of communication. He did his primary and secondary schooling in Rutherford till 1897. Later he continued his education in a school near Geneva, in Paris and Horace Mann School in New York. He took interest in mathematics and science. Later when he was in High School, he took interest in languages.

But his parents tried to instill rigid idealism and moral perfection in his sons.  They wished that Williams should study medicine. So, in 1902 he joined the medical school of the university of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1906. He went to Leipzig for advanced study of Pediatrics. In 1909 he published his first book “Poems”. After his return from Germany, he married Florence Herman (1891-1976). He stayed in Rutherford with his family and practiced as a doctor in Pediatrics and General Medicine in Passaic general Hospital (later called St. Mary’s General Hospital) for more than four decades. He worked as Chief of Pediatrics from 1924 till death.

 According to his wife, Flossie, “William loved being a doctor, making house calls and talking to people.” He was impressed by poetry of Keats and Walt Whitman. His first major work was modelled on Keats’ “Endymion”. Whitman’s free verse offered ‘an impulse toward freedom and release of the self.” Later he found his mentor Ezra Pound, leaving the influence of the studied elegance of Keats and the raw vigor of Whitman.  Through Pound he was introduced to a group of friends of the poet, Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) and painter, Charles Demuth. He found a sense of liberation from rigid and ordered poetry of his time in Imagist Movement which influenced other genres of art such as in painting (Cezanne), music (Stravinsky) and fiction (Stein). 

The imagists broke from the conventional poetic forms by stressing a verse form of “swift, uncluttered, functional phrasing.” Imagism is an early twentieth reactionary movement against Romanticism and Victorian poetry. The essential purpose is to re-create the physical experience of an object through words unlike Victorian poetry which tended to be narrative in its content. It emphasized simplicity, clarity of expression and precision through the use of visual images. It stressed on clear and sharp language and direct treatment of the subject. No word should be used that does not contribute to the effect of the poem. The poet should concentrate on everything he wishes to communicate into a vivid image rather than use poetic devices and meter to complicate and decorate it. Imagist movement is the first organized modernist literary movement. This trend is reflected in Avant Garde (introducing new and experimental methods in music, art and literature) art and Cubism.  The imagist works were published mostly between 1914 and 1918. The famous Imagist writers of this period are:Ezra Pound, Hilda Doolittle, Amy Lowell, T.E. Hulme, F.S. Flint and William Carlos Williams. 

T.E. Hulme in his essay “Romanticism and Classicism” (1908) wrote that language in poetry is a visual concrete one and images in verse are not mere decoration but very essence. Pound adapted Hulme’s ideas for his Imagist Movement in 1912. He moved away from fixed meters and moral reflections, subordinating everything to what Hulme called “hard, dry image.” Pound defined image as an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time. The presentation of such complex gives a sense of freedom from time limits and space. Williams met Ezra Pound during his stay in Pennsylvania and with his help his second book of poems “The tempers” was published by a London Press.

 In 1914 Pound edited and published an anthology “Des Imagistes” including poets like William Carlos Williams, James Joyce, Hilda Doolittle and Richard Aldington. Due to difference of opinion Amy Lowell assumed leadership of Imagist movement and published three anthologies between 1915 and 1917, all called by name “Some imagist Poets.” Lowell also distanced himself from this movement later.  Pound propounded a new philosophy called Vorticism to describe the creative energy of artistic creation. The Vorticists developed an abstract style filled with energy and dynamism. They opposed the ostentatious rhetoric of traditional style and the 19^th century sentimental and imaginative approach but stressed on solid reality. Pound's essay “Vortex” appeared in “Blast” in 1914.The vortex represents maximum energy and mechanical dynamism of the age. The Vorticists preferred control, dynamic energy and rationality without any deviations from the main theme.

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     28th August,2023                         Somaseshu Gutala