Spring and All by William Carlos Williams

Spring Symbol Analysis: As we know might have guessed from the title, Spring is a pretty important part of this poem. Eventually, it emerges as a kind of weird main character, taking on almost human characteristics as it changes the world of the poem. Lines 14-15: Our first glimpse of spring. When it shows up, it is described as being "sluggish and dazed." These words usually apply to humans, and, when they are used to describe an object or an idea like spring, thats called personification. Line 25: Heres a point that Williams fills in a little bit in other places in the book "Spring and All." The "profound change" of springs arrival is a metaphor for the changes that are sweeping over the whole world in the early 20th Century. World War I is over; people are producing new and exciting art and philosophy, and starting to see some new prosperity. In a general sense, spring has always been a symbol of new beginnings, but Williams definitely has some specific things to say about his moment in history. Plants The poem is chock full of plants, both the dead old ones that Winter has left behind, and the new ones that are emerging with spring. Lines 9-13: This is a pretty long description of dead plants, especially for a poem this short. This tips us off to the importance of these plants as an image of cold and lifeless winter. More generally, they are symbols of the death that must come before rebirth and new possibility. Line 16-18: These new plants are compared to human babies, another use of personification. The Hospital The man-made objects that open the poem have a big influence on the way we look at the nature scenes that follow. The hospital becomes a kind of lens that changes the way we see the world in the poem. Line 1: The image of the contagious hospital puts us (just for a moment) in a completely human world. Everything that follows is natural, but here, for just a second, were stuck in a place of disease, with its white sheets and the smell of disinfectant. Williams is too sly to tell us exactly what the hospital means, but, sitting where it does, we can be sure that this isnt just a random location. Then again, if were going to make a deal out of the hospital, it wouldnt be fair to leave out the road. Its not as exciting as a "contagious hospital," but its a pretty important symbol, especially in America. In so many books and movies, it stands for freedom and possibility. On the other hand, roads can also make us think of danger, loneliness, and the violation of nature

Rhyme, Form & Meter This poem doesnt have a regular meter, and the lines dont rhyme. This is the stuff that English teachers call "free verse." Williams wasnt real interested in the fancy traditions of poetry, and he was working hard to avoid getting stuck in old ways of doing things. He needed a poetic style that was modern, unpretentious, and direct, and thats pretty much what he got in his poem. Now, we dont want to sound defensive, but its always important to see that just because it doesnt rhyme or have an even rhythm doesnt mean that a poem doesnt have any form. The choice of words, the arrangement of the lines, and the use of images in this poem are all very precise, and designed to create specific effects.

Speaker Point of View Basically, we dont know much about the way this person looks, or even if they are a man or a woman. To make up for that though, we do get a lot of information about how this person sounds. Say this was an email you got from a person you had never met. What guesses would you make about his or her personality, based on the way he/she writes? You might decide that the speaker of this poem writes a bit like a scientist. Personal emotion is held back. Even as things speed up or slow down, we dont get a sense that the speaker lets him or herself get carried away. The words are precise and short, without any extra flourishes. They all serve a purpose. In a sense these words are like tiny scalpels, dissecting this landscape, looking for its secrets. Objects in the poem are described as "cold," "stiff," and "stark." Its almost like were watching someone perform an operation. Its not that it isnt exciting or important, but theres no room for error. Words and images cant wander, or take their time. Above all, this speaker is in control of the situation, and wants us to know it. Setting The whole poem is basically describing the setting, that famous road to the hospital with the dead plants all around it. Seems simple enough, right? At the same time, some other person could describe this same landscape in a totally different way. A big part of the setting is not just the trees and plants that happen to be standing around, but the mood created by the description. When we read about this place, it makes us feel alone, surrounded by a sort of brownish-grey emptiness. Theres a kind of loneliness to everything that we lay eyes on. There are no other people, and not even a deer or a chipmunk wanders into the frame. Plants rule this world, or at least the dried skeletons of plants. So, for example, if humans went to war with trees (dont think too hard about why this would happen) and the trees won, but only barely, this might be how the last surviving human would see the world. So maybe you dont see anything as freaky as a plant apocalypse in this poem. Nonetheless, its hard to deny that theres something desolate about this setting that sinks into you a little, which is hard to forget about or ignore. Of course, spring does eventually show up, and the idea is that it will drive away the bleakness of winter. But does it? Do you feel like things in this poem come to life by the end, and the setting is transformed? Or, are we left in the same wasteland, but with some hope that things might soon change?

Sounds of the Landscape This will probably seem silly at first, but bear with us. Have you ever heard one of those tapes that plays sounds that are supposed to make you feel like youre at the beach, or in a rainforest, so that you can fall asleep faster? So, we dont want to take away from the genius of Williams, or say that he puts us to sleep, but think for a second about how the sounds of this poem might help put you in the landscape it describes. When Spring is in its full rush, and Williams tells us that "it quickens, clarity, outline of a leaf," (line 23) listen to the knifelike sound of those words. They make us feel the fast spreading of the leaf and the sharpness of its edge. We get the same feeling a few lines before, when he talks about the "stiff curl" of a new leaf. The texture of those words perfectly captures the strong, tightly packed curve of a leaf unfolding. When the roots in the final line "grip down," we can feel not just how they grow, but how strong and determined and relentless they are. As spring builds up, the whole poem fills with the rustling sound of growing, moving plants. Although, now that we think about it, maybe the total effect is a little more creepy than soothing, so dont hold your breath for a "Spring and All". Summary Someone has stopped by the side of a road that leads to a hospital, and he or she is looking at the landscape. This person (the speaker of the poem) begins by describing the scene: the dead plants that cover everything at the end of winter. Then, the poem shifts, and the speaker describes the coming of spring, imagining how new life will emerge from this landscape as it begins to wake up. Spring and All Theme of Man and the Natural World This is the big theme. Williams isnt shy about pointing it out, so neither are we. Now, this could have been a poem just about nature, and for the most part, it is. But, someone is watching this nature, and someone is talking about it. Williams drives this point home hard by starting us out with the road and the hospital. Those two places are major symbols of the human world. They cut through the landscape and shut it out. In order for this poem to happen, the speaker and the reader have to step out of these human spaces and pay real attention to the natural environment. Spring and All Theme of Mortality Death opens this poem in a big way. Its hard to think about a contagious hospital without thinking about the possibility of death. If that wasnt enough, the landscape turns out to be dead, too. Check out the "dried weeds, standing and fallen," and the "dead, brown leaves." Ultimately, the whole world we see in this poem is "lifeless in appearance." That last word is key, though. While a disease might make you really dead, the land only "appears dead." The payoff in the poem, the heartwarming conclusion, is that this isnt the scary kind of death, but the kind that leads to rebirth. Spring and All Theme of Transformation Transformations are a major way Williams approaches nature in this poem. What he describes is "just" the changing of the seasons, but he makes it into a really big event. The

world is changing, transforming itself from brown to green, from dead to living, from cold and windy to calm and warm. As Williams puts it: "the profound change has come upon them." Its the big shift in the poem, so its definitely worth underlining here. Spring and All Theme of Time This one might seem too obvious, but stick with us here. Time is definitely a factor in that the changing of the seasons is all about the passage of time. The interesting and tricky thing about time here is that its hard to tell whether the coming of spring this big event weve been talking about so much really happens in this poem at all. The speaker definitely imagines it in the future, but is he watching it happen too? Is the time in this poem in the real world, or in his mind? When the plants "grip down, and begin to awaken," are we seeing them come up, or just imagining whats going to happen?