Poem by American poet William Carlos Williams from his 1936 book of poetry, Adam & Eve & The City. IMHO, one of his best pieces of work, which ranges from themes of lovers to that of racist hatred, to the beauty of "stars of matchless splendour" and "bright-edged clouds..."
—a dream
we dreamed
each
separately
we two
of
love
and of
desire—
that fused
in the night—
in the distance
over
the meadows
by day
impossible—
The city
disappeared
when
we arrived—
A dream
a little false
toward which
now
we stand
and stare
transfixed—
All at once
in the east
rising!
All white!
small
as a flower—
a locust cluster
a shad bush
blossoming
Over the swamps
a wild
magnolia bud—
greenish
white
a northern
flower—
And so
we live
looking-
At night
it wakes
On the black
sky-
a dream
toward which
we love—
at night
more
than a little
false-
We have bred
we have dug
we have figured up
our costs
we have bought
an old rug—
We batter at our
unsatisfactory
brilliance-
There is no end
to desire-
Let us break
through
and go there—
in
vain!
—delectable
amusement:
Milling about—
Money! in
armored trucks—
Two men
walking
at two paces from
each other
their right hands
at the hip-
on the butt of
an automatic—
till they themselves
hold up the bank
and themselves
drive off
for themselves-
the money
in an armored car-
For love!
Carefully
carefullytying
carefully
selected
wisps of long
dark hair
wisp
by wisp
upon the stubs
of his kinky wool—
For two hours
they worked-
until
he coiled
the thick
knot upon
that whorish
head-
Dragged
Insensible
upon his face
by the lines—
—a running horse
For love.
Their eyes
blown out-
—for love, for love!
Neither the rain
Nor the storm—
can keep them
for love!
from the daily
accomplishment
of their
appointed rounds—
Guzzling
the creamy foods
while
out of sight
in
the sub-cellar—
the waste fat
the old vegetable
chucked down
a chute
the foulest
sink in the world—
And go
on the out-tide
ten thousands
cots
floating to sea
like weed
that held back
the pristine ships—
And fattened there
an eel
in the water pipe—
No end-
There!
There!
There!
-a dream
of lights
hiding
the iron reason
and stone
a settled
cloud-
City
whose
stars
of matchless
splendour-
and
in bright-edged
clouds
the moon—
bring
silence
breathlessly-
Tearful city
on a summer's day
the hard grey
dwindling
in a wall of
rain-
farewell!
Williams began to play more with the rules of mechanics and language later on in his career, and a perfect example of this is Perpetuum Mobile: The City from Adam & Eve & the City, which was published in 1936. In this poem, the first sentence has a much different structure from his usual work, with a tone that is actually quite similar to E. E. Cummings in his use of language and his word placement:
-a dream/ we dreamed/ each/ separately/ we two// of love/ and of/ desire-// that fused/ in the night.
He then weaves this thought among phrases describing a city, and his life there with a partner. There also seems to be a cynical, yet still-hopeful yearning about his life:
We batter at our/ unsatisfactory/ brilliance-/...Let us break/ through/ and go there.
This much more personal glimpse into the life of Williams is characteristic of his later works, as he leaves behind the patronizing tone heard in Riposte. Williams then tells various short stories about various acts of violence, from a bank robbery to an act of hate against an African-American man, and ends them with the exclamatory phrases For love! For love. -for love, for love! with his message implying that these horrendous ‘daily accomplishment(s)’ are anything but love.
Interestingly, the structure of the poem is a bit closer to the poems of E.E. Cummings, in that he cuts up the sentences with space, and he uses punctuation, such as exclamation points, to put more power in his words. Furthermore, Williams seems more comfortable with syntax, as he overlaps a sentence upon itself, becoming almost repetitive:
Carefully/ carefully tying/ carefully// selected/ wisps of long/ dark hair/ wisp/ by wisp.
This technique affects the imagery, as the scene is slowly revealed to the reader. In this way, Perpetuum Mobile is really quite close to a stream of consciousness style for Williams, though at times it reads more like a series of memories and bits of newspaper articles, and then comments on those, as opposed to the relatively mono-stylistic method of Cummings.