Williams named his 1923 collection Spring and All after the poem you're about to read, which suggests that this particular poem was very important to him. As you read the collection's title poem, keep in mind Williams' desire to be a simple, straightforward, "local" poet. After you've read the poem two or three times, click Next and answer the questions beside the poem.
What is the effect of the first line? How does it differ from the rest of the lines of the poem, in terms of word choice?
How does the unusual break between the following two lines affect how you read them?
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
How does the speaker's point of view evolve throughout the poem? Are we taken on a linear tour of the landscape, or do we move in a certain direction?
What do you think the poem is saying about spring? Do you think the historical context of life after World War I is important?
Is this poem Imagist in any way? What do the images in this poem represent?
| Your Responses | Sample Answers |
|---|---|
| The rest of the poem uses natural imagery, so the description of a hospital stands out. The word "contagious" sticks out the most, and its clinical, negative tone makes readers enter the rest of the poem with a suspicious, doubtful eye. | |
| The abrupt break between "blue" and "mottled" separates the adjectives from the noun "clouds." Instead of "blue clouds," they're "blue ... clouds," which is a big difference in tone. Williams doesn't want the clouds to seem too appealing. | |
| The speaker begins by describing the clouds and the sky and then moves farther down, from the trees to the grass to the roots. Over the course of the poem, readers slowly "return to their roots." | |
| The poem doesn't describe spring as hopeful or bright. Spring arrives with the words "dazed," "sluggish," "cold," and "uncertain." The world is beginning to reawaken, but it's unclear whether that renewal will be good. That uncertainty seems to fit the mood following World War I. | |
| This piece is definitely too long and complex to be an Imagist poem, but some stanzas create vivid images that reflect an Imagist influence. For example, the description of the plants along the side of the road is simple and straightforward—even though the landscape acts as a metaphor, the image itself is clear and doesn't contain any suggestive or abstract language. | |
Spring and All
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance, sluggish
dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted they
grip down and begin to awaken
