The Genius of William Carlos Williams: Poetry in the Everyday

Let’s talk about William Carlos Williams. While Shakespeare dazzled us with his iambic pentameter, complex themes, and words longer than that one town in Wales (Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch), Williams did the opposite—he found profound meaning in the smallest moments using simple language. He focused on the mundane—the things we often overlook. So, why does he matter so much? Let me explain.

The Power of Simplicity: Finding Meaning in the Mundane

William Carlos Williams was an expert in the art of looking at something as simple as a red wheelbarrow, and making you realize that it matters. While other poets were chasing big themes like love or war, Williams focused on the quiet moments. Take his famous poem The Red Wheelbarrow (1923) for example. It’s short and simple yet raises an important point when you look closer:

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.

At the heart of Williams' poetry is his ability to focus on an ordinary moment or object, capturing it in time like a photograph, zooming in and making it significant. What might seem like just a garden tool becomes a symbol of the beauty we often overlook. As Marjorie Perloff puts it, the poem is “a celebration of what is real, immediate, and observable” (Perloff, 2004). Williams uncovers meaning in the seemingly mundane moments of life—the everyday magic we fail to notice because we are caught up in the chaos of life.

Breaking Tradition: The Revolutionary Use of Free Verse

William Carlos Williams wasn’t here for the traditional ‘rules’ of poetry. While poets before him were busy with rhyme schemes and meter, Williams said, “Nah, I’m doing my own thing.” He embraced free verse to capture the natural rhythms of everyday American speech, focusing on the "American idiom" and the experiences of ordinary working-class folk.

As David Perkins points out in A History of Modern Poetry, Williams “employed the organic structure of free verse to mirror the pulse and breath of the everyday” (Perkins, 1981). He made poetry sound like the conversations happening at your local pub or on the street corner—raw, real, and down to earth.

By ditching rhyme and meter, Williams made poetry feel as natural as breathing, making it resonated with the lives of the people he wrote about. In doing so, he flipped the script and created poetry that wasn’t just for the elites, but for everyone.

A Conversation with the Reader: Poetic Accessibility and Hidden Depths

Although Williams employed straightforward language and simple themes, he was able to extract profound meanings from everyday situations. One of his most iconic poems, This Is Just to Say (1934), is basically an apology for eating someone’s plums. Sounds simple, right? But the deeper you go, the more you realise it’s about so much more than just a piece of fruit.

Here’s the poem:

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold.

It’s about guilt, desire, and the moral tug-of-war we all experience. The plums? They’re a metaphor for indulgence. And that request for forgiveness? It’s a nod to the guilt that often follows our impulses. As John N. Serio writes, “Williams’ use of plain speech, coupled with his emotional depth, makes even the most mundane moment seem significant” (Serio, 1994). Williams’ real genius is how he takes an everyday scenario and makes it feel profound—without making you work too hard to understand it.

Williams’ Lasting Relevance: Seeing the Beauty in Everyday Life

So, you’re probably wondering: why does Williams still matter today? In a world where everything is fast, flashy, and focused on the big picture, Williams reminds us to stop and take a moment to appreciate the little things. He’s here to tell you that the real beauty is in those fleeting, easily forgettable moments—the rain on a red wheelbarrow or the plums in your fridge.

Marjorie Perloff sums it up well: “Williams’ poetry brings us back to the immediate, the tangible, the stuff of real life. His work urges us to pay attention to what we often overlook” (Perloff, 2004). And honestly, isn’t that what we need in this chaotic world? With all the distractions out there, Williams’ poetry is the gentle nudge we all need to slow down and notice life for what it is. Beauty is all around us, waiting to be seen.

So, go ahead. The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, pause, take a breath, and look around. Who knows? You might just discover the brilliance in a perfectly ripe piece of fruit you’ve stolen from your mate's fridge. It's all about spotting the extraordinary in the everyday.

Written by Elizabeth Goodall

References:

Perloff, Marjorie. Poetic License: Essays on Modernist and Contemporary Poetry. Northwestern University Press, 2004.

Perkins, David. A History of Modern Poetry: From the 1890s to the High Modernist Mode. Harvard University Press, 1981.

Serio, John N. The Poetry of William Carlos Williams: A Study in American Literature. University of California Press, 1994.

Williams, W.C. (1923). The Red Wheelbarrow. [online] Poetry Foundation. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45502/the-red-wheelbarrow.

Williams, W.C. (1934). This Is Just To Say. [online] Poetry Foundation. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56159/this-is-just-to-say.