Sunday, August 17, 2014

Poem of the Day: "Blizzard" by William Carlos Williams, Poet of the Month

The Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for August 16, 2014 is "Blizzard" by William Carlos Williams, Poet of the Month.  The poem was first published in Sour Grapes: A Book of Poems in 1921 http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Poems-William-Carlos-Williams/dp/0811211878.  It is in the public domain and therefore legally reprinted here.  A brief biography of Williams and references may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-songs-of-eretz-poet-of-month-for.html.

Blizzard
William Carlos Williams

Snow:
years of anger following
hours that float idly down —
the blizzard
drifts its weight
deeper and deeper for three days
or sixty years, eh? Then
the sun! a clutter of
yellow and blue flakes —
Hairy looking trees stand out
in long alleys
over a wild solitude.
The man turns and there —
his solitary track stretched out
upon the world.


At first, life is difficult, swirling with anger and emotion.  One drifts as does snow, without purpose, for a time whether long or short.  Finally life improves; the sun comes out, and one may look back at the tracks in the snow, the solitary path which has been trodden.  So, man lives his life alone, most of it in confusion, as if lost in a blizzard.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.