The Mind HesitantWilliam Carlos Williams

Thesis

William Carlos Williams expresses the structure of imagery techniques to enhance the metaphor of comparing the waters of a river to the heady complications of the mind to show how we as humans, never stop thinking and our thoughts are continuous.

Overall Interpretation

The poem, “The Mind Hesitant”, is an explanation of what our minds are made up of and how they purposely function in the eyes of Williams. In reality though Williams himself is hesitant to how the mind really works and processes, hence the first stanza. Though the poem does go on in explaining the metaphor of the mind like a river, connecting them both together.

Sense: Meaning and Language

Point of View: First Person Mood: hesitancy

“a river in the mind or of the mind or in and of the mind” (Lines 2-4)

Tone: Neutral Theme: Mind Process Speaker: William Carlos Williams Allusion: The mind as the flow of water

“Sometimes the river becomes a river in the mind” (line 1-2)

Senses: Imagery and Symbols Visual Imagery

“Its banks snow”

“the tide falling a dark rim”

“something of white brows bound by a ribbon”

“sooty thought”

“swiftly flowing waters”

Symbols

River/ Stream

The mind processes we go through

Tide

The constant changes of the mind

Snow

Thoughts get piled up like banks of snow

Ribbon

Sooty thoughts

Style: Poetry Techniques Juxtaposition:

“ribbon of sooty thought”, “swiftly flowing waters”

“water”, “shore”

Metaphor: River and mind

“the river becomes a river in the mind or of the mind”

Stream of Consciousness: our thoughts are continuous and always keep going just

like a stream of water

Irony: Structure of the poem

Structure: Form, Organization, and Pattern

Enjambment:

The first three stanzas

Incremental Repetition:

Strong rhythm (1st stanza)

Repetition:

river 2x

mind 4x

tide 2x

water 2x

Stanza:

6 stanzas

4 lines in each stanza

Isolated Words:

Senses

Mind senses different things like emotions and behavior

Change

How our thoughts constantly changed

Last three Stanzas:

No period-mind is a never ending process

Hyphen

Colon

Commas x3

Capital and Lower Case

First three stanzas more important than last three stanzas

Sound: Musicality and Auditory Techniques

Consonance

Sometimes

Snow

Hesitant

Stream

Senses

Something

Sooty

Swiftly

First three stanzas

Fluent rhythm

Without any breaks

Last three stanzas

Has breaks

Makes the reader hesitate when reading (- , : )

Activity Describe each picture as if it were a processing

mind. Which one is most like you on how your mind works? Share amongst your group. 5 minutes.

Connection to Other Poems

“The Bitter World of Spring”

Uses water to symbolize something

“Seafarer”

Uses the movement of the water as a symbol

Conclusion

William Carlos Williams is a very honest and image driven poet. He uses the waves of the water to emphasize on our thought progressions. The structure and sound of the poem helped enrich the meaning of the mind by including hesitation; the reader themselves begin to waver while reading.