[Book Sip] Intense Poetic Revolution 'The Fragility of Flowers Penetrates Space'

William Carlos Williams 'The Fragility of Flowers Penetrates Space'

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book in themselves, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We present meaningful sentences excerpted from books. - Editor's note

A collection of poems by 20th-century American poet William Carlos Williams, who demonstrated the highest poetic achievement in everyday language, has been published for the first time in Korea by Minumsa. It contains several of his poetry collections, including those that earned him the distinction of being the first poet to receive the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Included are works up to 1938 such as "To the Desired One," which Ezra Pound, considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, praised as having "not a single meaningless line," as well as "New Grapes," and "Spring and All."

A single line begins at the edge of a petal

Endlessly thin and endlessly

The solid existence of that steel

Pierces

The Milky Way

Without contact?there

It rises?neither clinging

Nor pushing?

The unbruised

Fragility of the flower

Pierces through space.

- From "The Fragility of the Flower Pierces Space," 'That Rose'

So many things

Lean

On the red unicycle

Cart

Glistening raindrops

Wet

Beside it, white

Chicks.

- From "The Fragility of the Flower Pierces Space," 'That Red Unicycle Cart'

Why do I write today?

Our insignificant people

Their terrible faces

Their beauty

Shakes me and bids me do so.

Dark-skinned women,

Day laborers?

Aged and experienced?

With faces like bluish old oak trees

Shedding their clothes

Returning home at dusk.

- From "The Fragility of the Flower Pierces Space," 'Apple'

Written by William Carlos Williams | Minumsa | 15,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.