Analysis of Complaint
William Carlos Williams 1883 (Rutherford) – 1963 (Rutherford)
They call me and I go.
It is a frozen road
past midnight, a dust
of snow caught
in the rigid wheeltracks.
The door opens.
I smile, enter and
shake off the cold.
Here is a great woman
on her side in the bed.
She is sick,
perhaps vomiting,
perhaps laboring
to give birth to
a tenth child. Joy! Joy!
Night is a room
darkened for lovers,
through the jalousies the sun
has sent one golden needle!
I pick the hair from her eyes
and watch her misery
with compassion.
Scheme | ABCDEEFGHIJKKLMNEHOEPH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111011 110101 1101 111 00101 0110 11100 1101 110110 101001 111 01100 01100 1111 01111 1101 10110 10101 1111010 1101101 010100 1010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 467 |
Words | 92 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 355 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 90 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 27 sec read
- 587 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Complaint" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39650/complaint>.
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