Analysis of : “Raindrops On A Briar”

William Carlos Williams

Thesis:•Williams uses the allusion of the arts,

such as paintings, writing, and music to show a sense of life by describing movement throughout the poem.

Interpretation:• When a male looks at a painting there

are more thought that are being processed, whereas when a female looks at a painting, she has an emotional view on it.

• If any person sees a painting of a male, they will think about it, but if they see a painting of a female, they will have an emotional understanding.

Sense:• Speaker: The poet• Point of View: First Person• Mood:

▫ Thoughtful (1-9) “contrary the stillness” “necessity merely to move”

▫ Fulfilled “not children!”(10)

▫ Confident (11-20) “but the thinking male” “female frantic”

• Tone:▫ Passive: using smooth and flowing

words. “stillness” (5)

The Effect:Williams uses the mood change from thoughtful to confident to show how the person in the poem is slowly coming to the realization of the point to their thought.

Senses:• Imagery:

▫ Title: “Raindrops On A Briar”

▫ Line 6 “the flowers, the gloves”

▫ Line 10 “thinking male”

▫ Line 11-12 “the charged and deliver-/ing

female frantic with ecstasies”▫ Line 15-16

“varying leaves/ clinging still”▫ Line 17

“cat-briar”▫ Line 18-19

“storm, it’s waterdrops/ ranged upon the arching stems”

Effects:These image patterns are shown to help the reader get a sense of the visual aspect to the poem.

Style: • Stream of Consciousness: ▫Throughout the poem▫Random consecutive

thoughts•Juxtaposition:

▫Stillness vs movement “the contrary, the

stillness of/…from necessity merely to move” (5-8)

Effect:Williams uses Stream of consciousness throughout the poem to show how everything is just his thoughts and how he is putting them together to come to a realization. Juxtaposition is used to contrast the stillness vs. the movement.

Sound: • Rhyme:▫“precisely…necessity merely”

(7-8) ▫“varying…clinging” (15-16)

• Punctuation: creates pauses in the poem.▫commas▫hyphens▫semicolons▫colons

Effect:Williams uses the pauses of punctuation to show how he has fragments of thoughts that he is trying to put together in line 1-6.He uses rhyme to help the poem flow in lines 7-20 when he becomes confident and it helps to show his confidence.

Structure: •Each stanza is set up for a different thought.

•4 lines:▫Categorizes his thoughts in

a flowing way for the readers to follow it easier.

•Syllables:▫Most lines are 5-6 syllables.▫The others vary to show

more of a thought process rather than structure because thoughts are not structured.

Effect:Using this structure allows for readers to understand each thought Williams is having and follow along with the poem more easily.

Stanza Analysis:

• Stanza 1:▫ This stanza shows how,

although he is not a painter himself, he is obsessed with the paintings he is viewing.

• Stanza 2:▫ This stanza is used to show the

description of how the painting allows people to see the movement and he is trying to describe it, but he is having difficulty and that is why there are so many pauses.

Stanza Analysis (continued)

• Stanza 3:▫ He has finally come to a

realization in what he is trying to say.

▫ He is talking about how you emotionally reacts to the painting or you thin about it.

• Stanza 4:▫ He is talking about the

confidence of what you are seeing in the painting.

• Stanza 5:▫ The summarization what

another artistic point of view, which is music.

Connections:•Other Poems:

▫“A Portrait of the Times” Stream of consciousness and talking about

paintings.▫“A Woman in Front of a Bank”

It compares woman and the bank, just like the comparison of the stillness and movement.

•Historical Connection:▫1948- Society was changing to a more

modern civilization.

Activity: • Talk about the paintings.

Conclusion:• Williams uses contrasting elements

between stillness and movement to describe his emotions and thoughts towards the arts.