William Carlos Williams and the Traditions of Georgic

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Long linked to pastoral, Williams’s engagement with the literary past is more complex than critics recognize. His emphasis on formal mediation and compositional method rather than rigid convention connect him to traditions of georgic that emphasize the craftwork of writing poems. Particularly in Spring and All, Williams engages georgic to critically examine the classical “praise of spring” motif and rethink dominant accounts of perceptual experience.