By William Carlos Williams
It is a willow when summer is over,
a willow by the river
from which no leaf has fallen nor
bitten by the sun
turned orange or crimson.
The leaves cling and grow paler,
swing and grow paler
over the swirling waters of the river
as if loth to let go,
they are so cool, so drunk with
the swirl of the wind and of the river --
oblivious to winter,
the last to let go and fall
into the water and on the ground.
a willow by the river
from which no leaf has fallen nor
bitten by the sun
turned orange or crimson.
The leaves cling and grow paler,
swing and grow paler
over the swirling waters of the river
as if loth to let go,
they are so cool, so drunk with
the swirl of the wind and of the river --
oblivious to winter,
the last to let go and fall
into the water and on the ground.
Willow Poem Analysis
By Ashley
“Willow Poem” is set on a river, where the branches of the
willow lean over the water, as Williams writes, “a willow by the river”
(Williams, Ln.2). The willow is the main focus of the poem, because one, the
title is “Willow Poem”, and two, the poem only talks about how the tree never
changes and is always, and will always be “a willow by the river” (Williams, Ln.2).
This poem has no rhyme scheme. It is all one stanza
comprised of 14 individual lines. These 14 lines are only two full sentences,
each with acceptable punctuation. Williams writes nothing about a speaker
however. The reason there is no speaker is that it focuses only on the tree,
not in relationship to anything else. The poem is about how little the willow
changes but how much everything else does. It does that by talking about how
the willow’s leaves haven’t fallen or been “bitten by the sun” (Williams, Ln.4),
or how the leaves “cling and grow paler” (Williams, Ln.6), and every other tree’s
do. We can get from our past knowledge that trees are a certain way, and
Williams describes this particular one differently.
The first line, “it is a willow when summer is over”
(Williams Ln. 1), says that it is, and will always be the same. It hints that
the poem wouldn’t really have a story but would create an image. Lines 3, 4,
and 5 describe the willow like an evergreen, which it is not, by writing about
how “no leaf has fallen, nor bitten by the sun, turned orange or crimson” (Williams,
Ln.3-5). Line 8 describes the scene as “swirling waters of the river” (Williams,
Ln.8), which also says the willow is by a river. Line 9 was strange to me; “As
if loath to let go” (Williams Ln.9). Loath means reluctant, so this line means
the leaves (of a willow tree) are reluctant to fall off the willow tree. But
willow trees aren’t evergreen so their leaves fall off anyway, and loath is a
human trait, so a leaf can’t loath. In this line, Williams used personification
to describe the leaves of the willow.
The lines that confused me most were lines 10 and 11:
“They are so cool, so drunk with the swirl of the wind and the river”
(Williams, Ln.10-11). Cool probably meant moderately cold in Williams’ time as
opposed to awesome. I think it could mean that the tree is healthy because of
the temperature and location. The river provides water, the tree gets plenty of
sun, and the temperature is nice. Williams probably used a more poetic way to
say that. Also, “drunk” is a human trait, so again, Williams uses
personification.
Line 12 says the leaves are “oblivious to winter”
(Williams, Ln.12), which hints that willows are evergreen. I looked it up and
they are not. Possibly this could be another hint toward the location. This
particular willow could be in a very warm place that barely sees winter.
“The last to let go and fall” (Williams, Ln.13) describes
the leaves, again, hinting similarities to an evergreen. I know, though, that
willows are not evergreen, and this line is very unclear. It could describe one
particular leaf that has fallen after all the rest, but it uses plural pronouns
to describe the leaves. It could just be that willows loose their leaves after
all the other trees, but I am not completely sure. The next line, “into the
water and on to the ground” (Williams, Ln. 14), talks about the location. It
is, I think, a good way to end the poem because it is about the leaves on a
willow tree, and their story ends as they fall and hit the ground. It makes
perfect sense for Williams to use the leaves falling to end the poem.
Williams used imagery to set a beautiful scene where a willow
is among trees by a river. He then compares the willow to other trees in
general, but quite subtly. He doesn’t say “regular trees lose their leaves, but
this willow hasn’t yet.” Instead he talks about the willow, and from our past
knowledge, we can distinguish similarities and differences from trees in
general. Since there was no story to the poem, it was slightly confusing why he
wrote what he did and what he meant by it. I think he meant that the willow is,
and will always be, the same, but also is different from everything else.
Williams wrote poems to be understood by everyone, and
the simplicity of the poem probably reflects the simplicity of life back then. After
all, how simple is a willow tree that barely ever changes: “a willow when
summer is over, a willow by the river…” (Williams, Ln. 1)
