From “The Collected Later Poems” (1950)
Thesis:
William Carlos Williams communicates a sailor’s
anger as he is on a boat in a storm.
Structure:
• The poem only has 2 stanzas, the first one is
short while the second one is long.
• The poem mentions jagged ribs and he also
uses this in the structure of the poem by using
dashes and indentations.
• In some sentences, punctuation is put half
way through lines. This is done because
Williams wanted the reader to pause so that
they can interpret the meaning more.
Sound:
• The man in the poem seems to be enticing the
storm, trying to make it worse. This is proven in
the second stanza, “He invites the storm, he lives
by it!”
• The poem features both alliteration and
assonance. Some examples are: “with fears that
are not fears” and “at the sea than the sea”.
• The poem features repetition as well. An
examples is: “It is I! I who am the rocks!”
Style:
• Overall Tone: Depressing and Delusional.
• There also seems to be a non-caring
personality as well. “a secret liquor, a fire that
inflames his blood to coldness” proves this
because the coldness shows his willingness to
not care even though he is becoming angry.
• There is dialogue included in the poem
through the use of a previous quote: “It is I! I
who am the rocks!”
Language:
• There was use of imagery which showed fear
and anger.
• “instinct with fears that are not fears but
prickles of ecstasy,”
• This could mean that he loves the feeling of
fear because ecstasy means that you love the
feeling of something.
Interpretation:
• Our interpretation was that reality itself was
setting in on the man in the ship. Maybe
something happened to the man which made
him feel regret to an instance in his life.
Activity:
• Think of any emotion and try to compare it to
a real life object or action. Explain why you
chose this.
• BE PREPARED TO SHARE!!! :D