One such example is found in my favorite poem by Williams entitled “Danse Russe.” If we take this poem at face value, we envision a grown man prancing about naked in front of a mirror while the rest of his family sleeps only pausing to marvel at his own body and genius. I think that to stop the interpretation and just take it for what it is would be a disappointing injustice. This poem in particular needs to be read repeatedly and with each reading, something new can be contrived from it.

The first time you read “Danse Russe,” you picture the whole scenario and make a quick mental inventory of the even

The next social taboo that is addressed by Williams, when we read the poem again, is that of comfortably enjoying our own nakedness by ourselves in a setting that doesn’t call for it. For example, many of us may be indifferent to being naked while bathing, changing, or in an intimate setting with someone else, but to be naked in a situation where it is not necessitated struck me, and no doubt others, as being rather odd. Williams, on the other hand, joyously embraces the idea. He goes so far as to approach it with a cavalier attitude by “waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself…” Williams is further without shame by audaciously dancing “before my mirror” consequently making himself to be his own voyeur. He is basically speaking directly to our insecurities about ourselves, and although we may overcome our own inhibitions regarding our own nudity, it is a far leap to be able to perform for ourselves in front of a mirror.

ts taking place. If we just stopped there and didn’t read the poem again, the first aspect that would be lost is the social commentary taking place that not only applied to Williams’s era, but to ours as well. Even to this day, we still look at nudity as being taboo and the idea of enjoying our own nakedness as being perverse. Williams addresses this social attitude by describing his dance naked as “grotesquely.” This description is almost made in a facetious manner as Williams goes on to list parts of his body that he admires dispelling the idea that he believes that his naked romp is anything but grotesque. In my opinion, by acknowledging and accepting this belief of Williams that the human body is not grotesque, but rather something to be admired, we are able to get past the shock of our initial reading and dive deeper into the poem.

The second aspect of Jeffers’ works that can’t be missed is his blatant disdain for people and society. In the poem, “The Beauty of Things,” he touches on how nature is really the true beauty and humanity is merely a glint in nature’s eye. Jeffers illustrates this by saying that the beauty of human nature is “blood shot” and that “its thoughts, frenz

Some topics in this essay:
Carlos Williams, Beauty Things”, Robinson Jeffers, Secondly Williams, Christianity Jesus, front mirror, , happy genius, enjoying own nakedness, genius household, own body, “it is”, “danse russe”, jeffers poems, read poem, own nakedness, enjoying own,