19 pages • 38 minutes read
To Waken An Old Lady
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound (1913)
Perhaps Ezra Pound’s most famous stand-alone poem, “In a Station of the Metro” exemplifies the Imagist aesthetic to which both Pound and Williams are committed. Published in 1913 in Poetry Magazine, the radical openness of the poem’s form and its shockingly short length defined the project of Imagism to a wider audience. While much of Pound’s later work is defined by its complex web of allusions and influences, this poem shows where he and William Carlos Williams intersected in terms of literary craft.
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot (1922)
This unmatched masterwork of High Modernism was published by American/English poet T. S. Eliot in 1922. While William Carlos Williams respected Eliot’s skill, the publication of this masterpiece had a big and not particularly positive impact on the poet’s career. As Williams later wrote in his Autobiography, he “felt at once that [the publication of The Waste Land] had set me back twenty years.” For Williams, Eliot’s poem reaffirmed the power of highly learned and academic poetry, while Williams sought a pared-down poetry of every-day speech. In this way, Eliot’s masterwork stands as an example of precisely what Williams strove to subvert in the poetic establishment.
“Evening” by H. D. (1983)
Hilda Doolittle—or H. D. as the moniker under which she preferred to publish—is an important figure in Modernist poetry and a key member of the Imagist group. Aside from being a fellow member of the Imagist school of poetics, H. D. was a college student along with William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound in the University of Pennsylvania. Although she went on to marry Imagist poet Richard Aldington, H. D. had a relationship with Pound that led to an (albeit, eventually broken) engagement. During her time as a university student, H. D. wrote and discussed poetry along with Williams and Pound, all influencing each other’s poetics and craftsmanship. This poem exemplifies her Imagist commitments, and its similarities to Williams’s work demonstrate the extent to which they influenced one another.
Further Literary Resources
Autobiography by William Carlos Williams (1951)
Williams’s account of his own life and career, his Autobiography is both informative and exemplary of his clear and beautiful diction. This account gives a slew of information on Williams’s life and literary influences and friends. The book details Williams’s relationship with painting and painters, and the way these interests informed his poetic projects. Williams also devotes substantial space to discussing the ways in which his medical career influenced and informed his literature. For an understanding of this Modernist poet’s life as well as an example of his intimate writing, the Autobiography is invaluable.
“William Carlos Williams” on The Poetry Archive
While there are, unfortunately, no recordings of Williams reading his poem “To Waken an Old Lady,” The Poetry Archive has put together a great collection of Williams recordings. In addition to recordings of Williams reading his work—an invaluable resource on how to understand the role of line breaks and length in his poetry—the Archive also contains a great introductory essay and analyses of his literary career.
“William Carlos Williams, The Art of Poetry No. 6” from The Paris Review (1964)
Interviewed by Stanley Koehler, this great addition to The Paris Review’s landmark interview series details Williams’s poetics and more. Because the interview was done at the very end of William Carlos Williams’s life, the answers are abbreviated and come through the lens of an elderly artist with difficulty speaking after his series of strokes. Despite this obstacle, the interview contains innumerable gems on Williams’s craft, his views on the poetic establishment, and intimate details of the Modernist master’s life.
Listen to Poem
While there are multiple surviving recordings of William Carlos Williams reading his own poetry, there are unfortunately none of him reading his poem “To Waken an Old Lady.” Instead, this YouTuber reads the poet’s text in a clear, measured baritone, providing rhythmic clarity for those who learn better by listening in addition to reading.
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By William Carlos Williams
