Analysis of Tract
William Carlos Williams 1883 (Rutherford) – 1963 (Rutherford)
I will teach you my townspeople
how to perform a funeral
for you have it over a troop
of artists-
unless one should scour the world-
you have the ground sense necessary.
See! the hearse leads.
I begin with a design for a hearse.
For Christ's sake not black-
nor white either - and not polished!
Let it be whethered - like a farm wagon -
with gilt wheels (this could be
applied fresh at small expense)
or no wheels at all:
a rough dray to drag over the ground.
Knock the glass out!
My God - glass, my townspeople!
For what purpose? Is it for the dead
to look out or for us to see
the flowers or the lack of them -
or what?
To keep the rain and snow from him?
He will have a heavier rain soon:
pebbles and dirt and what not.
Let there be no glass -
and no upholstery, phew!
and no little brass rollers
and small easy wheels on the bottom -
my townspeople, what are you thinking of?
A rough plain hearse then
with gilt wheels and no top at all.
On this the coffin lies
by its own weight.
No wreathes please-
especially no hot house flowers.
Some common memento is better,
something he prized and is known by:
his old clothes - a few books perhaps -
God knows what! You realize
how we are about these things
my townspeople -
something will be found - anything
even flowers if he had come to that.
So much for the hearse.
For heaven's sake though see to the driver!
Take off the silk hat! In fact
that's no place at all for him -
up there unceremoniously
dragging our friend out to his own dignity!
Bring him down - bring him down!
Low and inconspicuous! I'd not have him ride
on the wagon at all - damn him! -
the undertaker's understrapper!
Let him hold the reins
and walk at the side
and inconspicuously too!
Then briefly as to yourselves:
Walk behind - as they do in France,
seventh class, or if you ride
Hell take curtains! Go with some show
of inconvenience; sit openly -
to the weather as to grief.
Or do you think you can shut grief in?
What - from us? We who have perhaps
nothing to lose? Share with us
share with us - it will be money
in your pockets.
Go now
I think you are ready.
Scheme | AAXXXB XCXXXBXDX XAXBXXEXXXFGXXXDHX XGIXJHXAXXC IXEBBXKEBXKF XXKXBXXJXBXXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110 11010100 11111001 110 01111001 11011100 1011 1011001101 11111 11100110 111110110 111111 0111101 11111 011111001 1011 111110 111011101 11111111 01010111 11 11010111 111010011 1001011 11111 0101001 0110110 011011010 110111101 01111 11101111 110101 1111 111 01011110 110010110 10110111 11101101 111110 1110111 110 1011110 1010111111 11101 1101111010 1101101 1111111 1101000 101011111100 111111 10010011111 10101111 011 11101 01101 011 1101101 10111101 1011111 11101111 10101100 1010111 111111110 11111101 1011111 11111110 0110 11 111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,026 |
Words | 415 |
Sentences | 36 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 9, 18, 11, 12, 13 |
Lines Amount | 69 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 266 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 30, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 89 Views
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"Tract" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39739/tract>.
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