Monday, December 22, 2008

Internal Structure 1: The Dance - William Carlos Williams

The internal structure is obvious in this poem. The Kermess, a painting by Breughel, is the image in which Williams writes his poetry. He encloses the poem by mentioning The Kermess in the beginning and end. It is as though he is framing the poem. This also led me to believe that Williams did this to show the "internal structure" of the poem. Williams uses somewhat a list, which shows his description of the poem. It is as if he is just describing what he sees as he sees it. He mentions "a bugle and fiddles tipping their bellies" and "kicking and rolling about the Fair Grounds" to describe the painting.
His plan was to make the picture come to life in his words. I personally did not think it worked. He was helping the reader visualize The Kermess, but I just feel that his poem was to simplistic to capture the reader. Though I didn't enjoy the poem, it does have a precise beginning and end, which encloses the poem as if to say, that is all that matters. Also, his use of "and" magnifies the gravitas of details within the painting. Now that I re-read the poem, I can see the painting. The poem just has to be read carefully I guess.

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