The Mind Hesitant 1A
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Transcript The Mind Hesitant 1A
The Mind Hesitant
William 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 24)
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
Isolated Words:
Senses
Mind senses different things like emotions
and behavior
Change
How our thoughts constantly changed
Last three Stanzas:
tide 2x
No period-mind is a never ending
process
water 2x
Hyphen
Stanza:
6 stanzas
4 lines in each stanza
Colon
Commas x3
Capital and Lower Case
First three stanzas more important than
last three stanzas
Sound: Musicality and Auditory
Techniques
Consonance
First three stanzas
Sometimes
Fluent rhythm
Snow
Without any breaks
Hesitant
Last three stanzas
Stream
Has breaks
Senses
Makes the reader hesitate when
reading (- , : )
Something
Sooty
Swiftly
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.