The Poet's Art - Perfect word choices

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) lived almost his entire life in New Jersey. He was a quintessential American poet. He was a physician which helps to explain the surgical nature of the construction of his poems. Unfortunately, he did not enjoy much fame or renown in his lifetime. He won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously. His status as the mentor, the "grandfather" if you will, of some of the most well known contemporary poets was not common knowledge in his lifetime. The fact remains though, that today he is a widely recognized and appreciated master of American poetry. I come back to him time after time when I'm struggling with syntax or appropriateness of word choice. These are the elements he mastered. His short, clear phrases ring with power and meaning. I attended a course in Modern Poetry early in my college career and the professor started the first minute of the first class by handing out a copy of a Williams poem and asking the class if it was poetry and why. It remains one of my favorites:

                                              The Red Wheelbarrow
                             
                                               so much depends
                                               upon

                                               a red wheel
                                               barrow

                                               glazed with rain
                                               water

                                               beside the white
                                               chickens.

Consider the first four words: so/much/depends/upon... It's imperative to read poetry aloud to really "hear" it. When one reads that there is a staccato rhythm to it, and a seriousness of tone, which the poet turns on it's head with the next phrase: a red wheelbarrow. This is a completely unexpected coupling of thought and image. And lest we fail to conjure up the right picture of a red wheelbarrow, the poet finishes the painting with precise description: glazed with rain water... beside the white chickens. The choice of the word glazed is masterful for both the sound and the meaning, and, of course, the chickens had to be white. It is highly American to write an ode about the necessity of tools that help get basic things done. I mean, truly, how rich is this one sentence?

For me, poetry succeeds when the words on the page create a picture or mental image in the reader's mind that is memorable, suggestive, and powerful. Consider the first two verses of "Fish":

It is the whales that drive
the small fish into the fiords.
I have seen forty or fifty
of them in the water at one time.
I have been in a little boat
when the water was boiling
on all sides of us
from them swimming underneath.

The noise of the herring
can be heard nearly a mile.
So thick in the water, they are,
you can't dip the oars in.
All silver!

Consider the difference between - they are so thick in water, and "so thick in the water, they are" - one is a longitudinal statement you might find in an essay, the other is the replication of the spoken word. You can hear a fisherman saying it just like that. Subtle distinctions in word choice and word order are at the core of what makes Dr. Williams such an interesting poet.

In "The Dance", Williams describes a painting he'd seen by Breughel, "The Kermess". Now, many poets and would-be poets have described works of art to varying degrees of success. Some have been described as wonderful translations of the original painting. I think the word translation is not at all a complement to the poet. Translation is blue collar work. The poet as an artist should not translate a visual work of art in their poetry, they ought to transform it instead. And that is what Williams does as he brings the reader right into the middle of the action (a dance) that can be seen on the canvas.

It is our good fortune that much of WCW's work can be accessed. His poems appear in a multitude of anthologies and collections and his complete works are available as well. If you appreciate language manipulated as a jazzman manipulates musical notes you must expose yourself to this man's work. We close this posting with another of my favorites, and as it always does, WCW's work speaks most loudly for itself:

                                                                       Poem

                                                               As the cat
                                                               climbed over
                                                               the top of

                                                              the jamcloset
                                                              first the right
                                                              forefoot

                                                              carefully
                                                              then the hind
                                                              stepped down

                                                              into the pit of
                                                              the empty
                                                              flowerpot
 

I'm back -favorite short story writers

 I've decided to return to the blogosphere to write about a topic that seems to be at the core of my life... books. This blog will feature the writers and works that have proved important to me over the years. They've either irritated, provoked, entertained, amused, or fascinated me for any variety of reasons, and over time we will see if you agree. Today's topic is some of my favorite short story writers. The short story seems to be losing steam as a popular form, but I grew up on short stories and it has occurred to me that many of them have influenced me, especially during my especially awkward teenage years. So, in no particular order:

 

Arthur Conan Doyle - Amazing how famous this guy became through the invention of one iconic character and one genre of story telling. Yes, he wrote other things, but really, how many can you name? He goes as far as Sherlock Holmes can carry him, and that's pretty far. Is there a more fascinating or engaging character in all of literature? He has become a true cultural icon. The fact remains that Doyle spins some great stories around Holmes and I don't think he would have become the timeless legend he is without high quality stories to support his character development. There will be a future blog about all things Holmes, but for now, "The Final Problem", A Study in Scarlet", "His Last Bow", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", all from different periods in Doyle's career should support my point.

 

Geoffrey Chaucer- I know, I know, it's barely recognizable as English in the original, but it's worth figuring out how to read it. "The Pardoner's Tale", "The Miller's Tale", "The Nun's Priest's Tale, and of course "The Wife of Bath's Tale", are all classics for a reason.

 

James Thurber- By now, you've figured out that I'm bouncing all over time and place, and so it goes. Thurber is downright funny. I am partial to dogs, but Thurber's collection of dog stories will entertain you regardless of your feelings about animals. And he's no one trick pony, having written plenty of stories that have nothing to do with canine antics.

 

Raymond Carver- reminds me of a painter. His spare use of just the right words strikes the same chord in me as when an artist uses just the right shade of a color, or density of a brushstroke to refine a painting. "Where I'm Calling From", "What we Talk about When we Talk About Love", "A Small, Good Thing", "A Calm Talk" are all masterpieces that demonstrate the power of less is more. 

 

Herman Melville- I know, I know, what the heck is the author of Moby Dick doing in a post about short stories? Well, he wrote, what for my money, is one of the greatest short stories ever written, "Bartleby the Scrivener". It's an amazingly powerful story about passive resistance and the pathology of extreme human behavior. "I would prefer not to", is one of my favorite literary quotes.

 

Edgar Allan Poe- Just say short story, and most people think - Poe. He is truly a master of the craft, with a multitude of stories that are actually famous. To think there are so few people that read, and even less that can rattle off a list of short stories they've read, but almost everyone has heard of "The Telltale Heart", "The Black Cat", or "The Pit and the Pendulum".  Heck, "The Cask of Amontillado" was just referenced on an episode of NCIS for crying out loud. "Murder in the Rue Morgue" is another of my personal favorites. Poe is often credited for inventing the modern detective story, I don't know if that is true, suppose it depends on how one defines "modern".

 

Jack London- An exceptional, naturalistic writer, Mr. London has fallen out of popularity in the last twenty years or so. This may have to do with his personality, as anti-Semitic communists are not on the top of anyone's popular lists in America. However, my view is that the foibles of the person are irrelevant. How does their work stack up on paper? By that measure London is as good or better than anyone in the short story arena. "The White Silence" and "To Build a Fire" are fine examples of his work. When I went to junior high school everyone had to read "To Build a Fire". I have no idea if that is true anymore, but I hope it still is.

 

Kate Chopin- "The Awakening" is one of the most heartrending and brilliant short stories I've ever read. It's a shame her life was so short and we don't have more work from her. What we have is underappreciated and underrated. She is a marvelous writer.

 

The Russians-  There is no way to make a list of great short story writers without Chekhov, Gogol, Gorsky and Turgenev.  Many consider Chekhov the greatest short story writer ever. I certainly admire "The Woman with the White Dog" and "The Black Monk". That said, I think the best Russian short story may be Nikolai Gogol's "The Overcoat". And Turgenev's "The Country Doctor" is a very moving story as well. More about Russian writers in future posts.

 

Collected Short Stories- As hard as it is to write one good short story, imagine writing several that are connected by theme, or a narrative arch, and publishing the result in book length form. Many authors have done this to varying degrees of success. My three favorites are: James Joyce- "The Dubliners" - C'mon now, "Araby", "A Little Cloud", and "The Dead" are three GREAT short stories and they are all part of this one collection. I have a minority opinion that Joyce was more of a genius in the short form that as a novelist. Sherwood Anderson- "Winesburg, Ohio" is a singular work of magnificent quality. "The Untold Lie" may be the great American short story. This collection is as good a view into early 20th century American life as there is. And Ernest Hemingway- "A Movable Feast" is the book many consider the best unified collection of stories ever written. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it is gripping, funny, sad, and provocative. It is a short textbook on human nature and life experience. Hemingway deserves the last word in this blog, as his canon of short stories is as high quality as there is. If you don't believe me try "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" or "The Short, Happy Life of Frances Macomber". or "The Killers". Hollywood has found enough meat in "The Killers" to have made it into a movie several times.

 

That's all for now, except I forgot G.K. Chesterton, whose series of short stories about the ever curious Father Brown, kept me entertained when I was young, and still give me something when I go back to them. 

 

 Some of this will get additional attention in the weeks or months ahead if the Lord is willing and the creek doesn't rise. Coming attractions: The Greatest North American novel, More on Russian writers, the Renaissance, Most Influential Books- part 1.