Paterson
“Paterson” is a long poem written by American modernist poet William Carlos Williams and published in five parts between 1946 and 1951. Williams names the poem “Paterson,” as Patterson, NJ is where he lived and worked as a doctor.
The poem is a sprawling and ambitious work that was published in four parts and tend in my reading to go from great (Book 1) to so-so (Book 2), and on downward in overal quality.
Just a fragment from the first book:
It is the ignorant sun
rising in the slot of
hollow suns risen, so that never in this
world will a man live well in his body
save dying—and not know himself
dying; yet that is
the design. Renews himself
thereby, in addition and subtraction,
walking up and down.
and the craft,
subverted by thought, rolling up, let
him beware lest he turn to no more than
the writing of stale
poems . . .
Minds like beds always made up,
(more stony than a shore)
unwilling or unable.
Williams presents a mosaic of voices and experiences. These range from the working-class residents to the landscape and industrial elements of the city. He delves into the lives of ordinary people, capturing their struggles, desires, and aspirations.
Williams portrays “Paterson” with a fragmented and experimental structure, reflecting the poet’s innovative style. Williams employs free verse and uses colloquial language, creating a sense of authenticity and immediacy.
Some parts of the poem sound like a census accounting of the city:
“From the ten houses Hamilton saw when he looked (at the falls!) and kept his counsel, by the middle of the century—the mills had drawn a heterogeneous population. There were in 1870, native born 20,711, which would of course include children of foreign parents; foreign 12,868 of whom 237 were French, 1,420 German, 3,343 English—(Mr. Lambert who later built the Castle among them), 5,124 Irish, 879 Scotch, 1,360 Hollanders and 170 Swiss—”
While “Paterson” does not follow a traditional narrative structure, it offers a multi-layered exploration of place, community, and experience. Williams celebrates the beauty and significance of everyday life, finding poetic inspiration in the seemingly mundane.
Related
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- The Angel's Game — 13 Apr '10
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