The Poetry of Walt Whitman versus William Carlos Williams...

The Poetry of Walt Whitman versus William Carlos Williams Perhaps the most basic and essential function of poetry is to evoke a particular response in the reader. The poet, desiring to convey on emotion or inspiration, uses the imagination to create a structure that will properly communicate his state of mind. In essence he is attempting to bring himself and the reader closer, to establish a relationship. William Carlos Williams contends that art gives the feeling of completion by revealing the oneness of experience (194) This argument relies on the precept that art is reality is not nature or a reflection of nature but a completely original creation. And additionally, that art is holistic, where†¦show more content†¦His poetry is an exploration of momentary images, a jagged journey through personal perception, that the reader can relate to. Williams diction and visual presentation of words resists the artificial; his poetry has a rhythm that is natural and American, a gregarious appeal to the common man. In Spring and All Williams creates a persona that is appealing, establishing a relationship and affecting the reader. Both Whitman and Williams create a harmony between themselves and the reader that suggests the universality of experience. The creation of an acceptable persona is essential to Whitmans poetic program. In Song of Myself this is accomplished through a congenial style that consists of unbridled enthusiasm, a friendly voice; an image emerges of Whitman shouting at the reader, saying Look what Ive discovered!: Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,/ You shall possess the good of the earth and sun (25). His poetry is often conversational, lacking a highly structured form. From the beginning of Song of Myself it is clear that the poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and reader. When Whitman writes what I assume you shall assume,/For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you (23), he implies a meeting of minds; not only is he going to