Thursday, March 11, 2010

"The Desolate Field" by WIlliam Carlos Williams, Blog Wk 1

After reading the poem, “The Desolate Field” by William Carlos Williams, I found myself sitting on my chair breathless. I have read through the other poems, yet this one seemed to grab me somehow. The imagery was pronounced and fascinating yet it seemed to delve even deeper. The first two lines leaves one guessing as the author talks about how the sky seems like an illusion. He finds himself unsure of its existence. If you ever walked down the street and felt a wave of amazement as you stared at the leaves falling or the opening of a sunrise you would understand the emotions pulling at this piece. I feel as if the poet is searching for some sort of sign to appear to lead him into the right direction. I can feel his uncertainty and pain with reality. To just exist yet not knowing why you were placed here or what destiny has in store for you. He talks about a nozzle searching the ground. Sometimes people just find themselves so caught up with scientific details on what happened or why it happened, where as life is passing by without any recognition or gratitude. He’s searching for answers, to feel whole again yet wherever he turns he finds himself as he says, “desolate” with nowhere to go. Yet sometimes when things fall apart before you, when all seems to crumble to the ground, a small aspect catches your eye. This aspect can be anything, a smile or the feeling that things just might get better, that this life IS worth it. The poet then feels the need not to search for the answers but rather to experience them. The poet wants to feel some sense of belonging and realizes just because love is not in front of him does not mean all hope is lost. Rather it means that far ahead love is waiting to be cherished and experienced to its fullest extent. A sense of bewilderment is possessed deep into his heart and if one reads these lines they can almost feel the same. At first I believed this was a depressing piece yet after reading it two times I realized it takes the reader from a sense of despair and brings the reader up to a new light, to a sense of hope.

3 comments:

tl said...

lots of interesting insights here... noticing that particular detail that holds one to the world--the goat, here? Several ambiguities here of course--note that love is imaged as "vast and grey" and that it "yearn[s] silently" and that it is "over" him. Also, another interesting idea to follow up, re the poet's relation to the world around him/her--he says the sky is a "similacrum" to all "but" those who can realte to that greyness-- implying that, to them, it becomes somewhat more than representation (though of course it still is that...)? A connection to "The Fish," here (though Bishop acknowledges her own fiction-making...)

Tell said...

I'm sure we've all felt that sense of wonder in relation to something that we'd ordinarily perceive as mundane. I like that the goat "stirs, with nozzle searching the ground", while the poet's "head is in the air". The poet wonders who he is, and stops amazed. Perhaps that love that is waiting to be cherished and experienced is closer ahead than we expect. -R. Siegner

Poet Steez 47real said...

I thought it was dumb.