An Introduction to Paterson by William Carlos Williams
Paterson is an American epic poem written by William Carlos Williams that was published between and in five separate books. This modernist poem has been influential in American literature and has been widely studied due to its rich content, themes, and groundbreaking techniques.
The Background of Paterson by William Carlos Williams
Paterson by William Carlos Williams is a reflection of the writer’s fascination with the city of Paterson, New Jersey, and its people. The poem takes inspiration not only from the city's landscape and history but also from Williams' personal experiences and beliefs. As a physician, Williams had a deep understanding of human naturewhich is evident throughout the poem. The poem's structure was shaped by Williams' unique approach, with each book delving into a particular aspect of the city.The first book of Paterson introduces the city's history, while the later books focus on the people, their dreams, and the city's natural surroundings. This multi-layered narrative offers a unique blend of innovation and storytelling.
Paterson - William Carlos Williams
Subject:Paterson Revisited
I first read William Carlos Williams's ( -- ) long poem "Paterson" about forty years ago when I was taken both with city life and with the possibility of combining an active, demanding career with a life of creativity and art. (Williams was a physician as well as a poet.) Williams's poem is in five books published separately in , , , , and and is set in the once thriving inustrial city of Paterson, New Jersey. The poem's main character also is named Paterson. Book 3 of "Paterson" won the National Book Award for Poetry.
The memory of "Paterson" long stayed with me, and it I couldn't wait to see the Jim Jarmusch directed film which, as is the poem, is set in Paterson New Jersey and features a character named Paterson, played by Adam Driver. Paterson drives a bus through the streets of Paterson, lives a life of routine, and is a poet in the style of Williams and his language of the everyday. Paterson and his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) combine the struggles of life with love and with efforts to create and to find meaning in the eve
Important Quotes
“Paterson is a long poem in four parts—that a man in himself is a city, beginning, seeking, achieving and concluding his life in ways which the various aspects of a city may embody—if imaginatively conceived—any city, all the details of which may be made to voice his most intimate convictions.”
(
Preface
, Page 1)This quote comes from the preface to Paterson. Here, Williams explains his purpose in writing the book: of a man embodying the city and vice versa. Despite the collaging of both poetry and prose, and despite the number of poems present in the book, Williams describes the book as a long poem (rather than as a collection).
“the city
the man, an identity—it can’t be
otherwise—an
interpenetration, both ways”
(Book 1, Page 3)
In these lines, Williams explicitly describes the relationship between Paterson the man and Paterson the city. Instead of one being part of the other, he describes the two as an “interpenetration” of both. Williams is personifying the city.
“never in this world
will a man live well in his body
save dying—and not know himself
dying; yet that is
the design. Renews himself
thereby, in addition and subt
Classic Poem
Before the grass is out the people are out
and bare twigs still whip the wind—
when there is nothing, in the pause between
snow and grass in the parks and at the street ends
—Say it, no ideas but in things—
nothing but the blank faces of the houses
and cylindrical trees
bent, forked by preconception and accident
split, furrowed, creased, mottled, stained
secret—into the body of the light—
These are the ideas, savage and tender
somewhat of the music, et cetera
of Paterson, that great philosopher—
From above, higher than the spires, higher
even than the office towers, from oozy fields
abandoned to grey beds of dead grass
black sumac, withered weed stalks
mud and thickets cluttered with dead leaves—
the river comes pouring in above the city
and crashes from the edge of the gorge
in a recoil of spray and rainbow mists—
—Say it, no ideas but in things—
and factories crystallized from its force,
like ice from spray upon the chimney rocks
. . . . . .
Say it! No ideas but in things. Mr.
Paterson has gone away
to rest and write. Inside the bus one sees
his thoughts sitting and standing. His thoughts
alight and scatter—
Who are these people (how complex
this mathematic
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