The work of American poet William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) is best known for its sharp and clear imagery, and this poem gives a good account of it. It is often claimed that it is based on Alfred Steiglitz‘s 1902 photograph, Spring Showers (below right), although the poem goes much deeper to explore the Sycamore as, as the critics put it, ‘the tree of life’ and thus continuing the theme of our last Monday poem. Enjoy.
The Young Sycamore
I must tell you
this young tree
whose round and firm trunk
between the wet
pavement and the gutter
(where water
is trickling) rises
bodily
into the air with
one undulant
thrust half its height-
and then
dividing and waning
sending out
young branches on
all sides-
hung with cocoons
it thins
till nothing is left of it
but two
eccentric knotted
twigs
bending forward
hornlike at the top
William Carlos Williams
If you’ve got a suggestion for Monday’s dirty poem, don’t hesitate to get in touch…
