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William Carlos Williams

ウィリアム・カーロス・ウィリアムズ

William Carlos Williams

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1883-09-17 （Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.）
Died
1963-03-04 （Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.） age 79
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, Spanish
Residence History
Rutherford, New Jersey → New York City → Paris (Lycée Condorcet) → Leipzig (advanced pediatric study)

Career

Occupations
poet, physician, writer
Active Years
1906-1963
Affiliations
Passaic General Hospital (later St. Mary's General Hospital), University of Pennsylvania (alumnus)
Influenced By
John Keats, Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound (early friend/collaborator), H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Influenced
Allen Ginsberg, Beat poets, Black Mountain school, New York School, San Francisco Renaissance writers

Education

Horace Mann School
Period: 1899–1902
Year of Graduation: 1902
Country: United States
Attended prior to admission to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania
Lycée Condorcet (Paris)
Period: 1897–1899
Year of Graduation: 1899
Country: France
Early schooling in Paris that influenced his linguistic and cultural background
University of Pennsylvania (Perelman School of Medicine)
Medicine
Degree: MD
Period: 1902–1906
Year of Graduation: 1906
Country: United States
Completed medical degree; undertook internships in New York and advanced pediatric study in Leipzig

Awards

National Book Award (Poetry)
1950
Work: Paterson (Book III) and Selected Poems
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Prize
1953
Organization: Bollingen Prize Committee
Result: 受賞（アーカイブ上は共同受賞の記録あり）
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1963
Work: Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 追贈（受賞）
Gold Medal for Poetry, National Institute of Arts and Letters
1963
Organization: National Institute of Arts and Letters
Result: 追贈（受賞）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Spring and All

1923 poetry collection (hybrid prose and verse)

A hybrid of prose and poetry containing key poems such as 'The Red Wheelbarrow'; it presents a fresh approach to modern American poetry.

everyday lifelocalismimagism
Translations

The Red Wheelbarrow

1923 poem (single) 1 pages

A concise poem that uses a simple everyday image to demonstrate poetic power; often cited as an example of imagism.

beauty of everyday objectsobservation
Adaptations
  • [painting] I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold / Charles Demuth (1928)

Paterson

1946 long poem (five volumes)

A modern epic focusing on the city of Paterson, New Jersey—its history, people, and landscape—reflecting his dictum 'No ideas but in things.'

place and historyrole of the poet in societyepic treatment of the everyday

Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems

1962 poetry collection (poems responding to paintings)

A late collection of poems engaging with paintings by Brueghel and others; awarded the Pulitzer Prize posthumously.

dialogue between painting and poetryobservation and interpretation

This Is Just to Say

1934 poem (short) 1 pages

A short poem written in the form of a note, depicting apology and everyday temptation in a simple domestic scene.

domestic momenthumor and remorse

Bibliography

  • Poems (1909)
  • The Tempers (1913)
  • Al Que Quiere! (1917)
  • Sour Grapes (1921)
  • Spring and All (1923)
  • Go Go (1923)
  • Paterson (Books I–V, 1946–1958)
  • Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962)
  • Selected Essays (1954)
  • Autobiography (1951)

Adaptations

  • Charles Demuth's painting 'I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold' was inspired by the poem 'The Great Figure', an example of the interaction between Williams's poetry and visual art.
  • Public wall-poem installations (e.g. 'This Is Just to Say' as a wall poem in The Hague)

Translations by Author

  • Last Nights of Paris (translation from French of Philippe Soupault, 1929)
  • Translations and edited volumes of Spanish and Latin American poetry (posthumous collections include translations)

Translations of Works

  • Spring and All and major poems have been translated into Japanese and many other languages (numerous translations exist)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial, economical languageimagist descriptionlocalist modernism
Recurring Motifs
everyday objectsurban landscapes (e.g., Paterson)dialogue with visual artsmedical/patient vignettes

Health

  • heart attack
    1948
    Reduced his working capacity and preceded a series of later strokes
  • strokes (multiple)
    1949以降
    Significantly affected his poetry and daily life during the 1950s; severe depression after a stroke led to hospitalization in 1953

Legacy

William Carlos Williams significantly shaped American modern poetry through his localist, colloquial approach, influencing Beat poets and several mid‑20th century movements. He received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize and his house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Museums

  • William Carlos Williams House Rutherford, New Jersey Opened in 1973

Academic Societies

  • Poetry Society of America (namesake award)

Archives

  • Yale Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (papers)
  • University of Pennsylvania Kislak Center (research collection)
  • Harry Ransom Center (collection)
  • Dartmouth College Library (manuscripts and correspondence)

In Popular Culture

  • 'This Is Just to Say' has frequently been parodied and displayed as wall poetry around the world.
  • Charles Demuth's 'I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold' is a well-known painting inspired by Williams's poem.

Quotes

  • No ideas but in things.
    Source: Paterson; poem 'A Sort of a Song' (1946)
  • I felt at once that The Waste Land had set me back twenty years.
    Source: Autobiography (1948)

Trivia

  • He practiced medicine by day and wrote poetry by night, maintaining a dual career.
  • Spanish was commonly spoken at home during his childhood; English became his main literary language later.
  • He mentored Allen Ginsberg and wrote the introduction to Ginsberg's first book.
  • He was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for 'Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems'.