"NANTUCKET" by W.C. Williams
Flowers through the window
lavender and yellow
changed by white curtains-
Smell of cleanliness-
Sunshine of late afternoon-
On the glass tray.
a glass pitcher, the tumbler
turned down, by which
a key is lying-and the
immaculate white bed.
We then started suggesting possible interpretations of the poem, saying that the images in the poem represent possibilities, new beginnings, escape, refuge, etc. We spent two whole hours discussing what we thought the poem means.
Later that day, my classmates and I were required to attend a master lecture on the importance of imagery and statement in poetry. There, in the class, the speaker recited a poem by W.C. Williams and said that Williams believed that poems shouldn't have deep images and that they should simply capture the visuals of an object or a moment in life. So many of his poems, like "Nantucket", were full of images which, to W.C. Williams, didn't represent anything. At this point, my professor, who was seated in front of us, turned around and smiled at us.
That's the funny thing about poetry. Everyone thinks that poets always write about deep truths and heavy emotions and that poems are always full of symbols, so they always go crazy looking for a meaningful interpretation. What people forget about, the speaker said, is that sometimes the poet writes a poem simply because he or she feels like writing it.
The speaker, however, said that W.C. Williams poems don't have meaning just because he (the poet) didn't intend to put any in them. Meaning and interpretation in poetry, and in the rest of literature, depends on the reader because reading is a personal experience. So while the poem doesn't mean much to W.C. Williams, it can mean something to his readers. So remember that when you're reading poetry.
That was just a silly anecdote I wanted to share. With university being what it is, all of my anecdotes nowadays are school-based.
Until always,
Lemonjuicesodapop
No comments:
Post a Comment