Analysis of A Goodnight
William Carlos Williams 1883 (Rutherford) – 1963 (Rutherford)
Go to sleep--though of course you will not--
to tideless waves thundering slantwise against
strong embankments, rattle and swish of spray
dashed thirty feet high, caught by the lake wind,
scattered and strewn broadcast in over the steady
car rails! Sleep, sleep! Gulls' cries in a wind-gust
broken by the wind; calculating wings set above
the field of waves breaking.
Go to sleep to the lunge between foam-crests,
refuse churned in the recoil. Food! Food!
Offal! Offal! that holds them in the air, wave-white
for the one purpose, feather upon feather, the wild
chill in their eyes, the hoarseness in their voices--
sleep, sleep . . .
Gentlefooted crowds are treading out your lullaby.
Their arms nudge, they brush shoulders,
hitch this way then that, mass and surge at the crossings--
lullaby, lullaby! The wild-fowl police whistles,
the enraged roar of the traffic, machine shrieks:
it is all to put you to sleep,
to soften your limbs in relaxed postures,
and that your head slip sidewise, and your hair loosen
and fall over your eyes and over your mouth,
brushing your lips wistfully that you may dream,
sleep and dream--
A black fungus springs out about the lonely church doors--
sleep, sleep. The Night, coming down upon
the wet boulevard, would start you awake with his
message, to have in at your window. Pay no
heed to him. He storms at your sill with
cooings, with gesticulations, curses!
You will not let him in. He would keep you from sleeping.
He would have you sit under your desk lamp
brooding, pondering; he would have you
slide out the drawer, take up the ornamented dagger
and handle it. It is late, it is nineteen-nineteen--
go to sleep, his cries are a lullaby;
his jabbering is a sleep-well-my-baby; he is
a crackbrained messenger.
The maid waking you in the morning
when you are up and dressing,
the rustle of your clothes as you raise them--
it is the same tune.
At table the cold, greeninsh, split grapefruit, its juice
on the tongue, the clink of the spoon in
your coffee, the toast odors say it over and over.
The open street-door lets in the breath of
the morning wind from over the lake.
The bus coming to a halt grinds from its sullen brakes--
lullaby, lullaby. The crackle of a newspaper,
the movement of the troubled coat beside you--
sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep . . .
It is the sting of snow, the burning liquor of
the moonlight, the rush of rain in the gutters packed
with dead leaves: go to sleep, go to sleep.
And the night passes--and never passes--
Scheme | XXXXXXABXXXXCD EFXXXDFXXGG XXHXXHBXIJXEHJ BBXXXXJ AXXJIDAXDC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111111 111100101 1010100111 1101111011 10011010010 1111110011 101011001101 011110 1111010111 011000111 1111100111 1011010011001 10110100110 11 111101110 1111110 111111011010 10100110110 00111010011 11111111 1101100110 01111101110 01101101011 10111001111 101 0110110101011 110110101 01101110111 10110111011 111111111 11110 1111101111110 1111110111 101001111 110111010010 0101111111111 111111010 11101111011 01100 011010010 1111010 0101111111 11011 1100111111 101011010 11001101110010 0101110011 010111001 0110101111101 10100101010 01010101011 1111 110111010101 01011100101 111111111 0011001010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,490 |
Words | 435 |
Sentences | 30 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 11, 14, 7, 10 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 386 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 2:10 min read
- 171 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Goodnight" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39635/a-goodnight>.
Discuss this William Carlos Williams poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In