Table Of ContentWILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS
AND TRANSCENDENTALISM
WilliaIn Carlos
WilliaIns and
TranscendentalisIn
Fitting the Crab in a Box
Ron Callan
Assistant Professor, Dickinson College
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Palgrave Macmillan
© Ron Callan 1992
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1992
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1992
ISBN 978-1-349-12118-2 ISBN 978-1-349-12116-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12116-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Callan, Ron, 1948-
William Carlos Williams and transcendentalism: fitting the crab
in a box / Ron Callan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-07596-5
1. Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963-Criticism and
interpretation. 2. Transcendentalism in literature. I. Title.
PS3545.I544Z5825 1992
811 '.52-dc20 91-42218
CIP
For
Gillian, Gavin, Sorcha
and
Breda Carson Callan
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
List of Abbreviations x
Introduction xiii
1 Emerson: Facing the Ignoble World 1
2 Thoreau: A Purely Sensuous Heaven 27
3 Whitman: A New Distribution of Roles 50
4 Marriage out of Despair: The Stecher Trilogy 77
5 Caught Half Off the Earth in Ecstasy: The Poems 103
6 The Art of Domestic Husbandry: Paterson 134
Snail-like 138
The grasshopper 149
White hop-clover 158
Pregnant ash 169
King-self 180
Fiercely loyal 190
Notes and References 193
Select Bibliography 201
Index 207
vii
Acknowledgements
I first studied American Literature with Peggy O'Brien and it was
her excellence as a critic and teacher which inspired me to see the
importance of working in this field. For her criticisms of my work,
for the example of an exemplary passion for excellence and for the
gift of friendship, my debt is enormous.
Stephen Matterson became involved at a crucial stage of my
research and has made many valuable suggestions. Again I have
been very fortunate in having a colleague and friend with the
ability and interest to be significantly helpful.
There has been some very fine scholarship in the area of Williams's
studies but I must acknowledge the work of Paul Mariani in
particular. His A New World Naked is a watershed in this field and
was the source of so much support for me in my research.
I would like to record my thanks to the following people who
have in their own inimitable ways contributed to the development
of my work: Bob French, John Hicks, Stanley Koehler, Paul Mariani,
John Nelson, Sharon O'Brien, David Rabey and Gareth Reeves. To
Geraldine Mangan I am deeply grateful for years of support. India
Nolen and Romeo Grenier of South Hadley deserve much praise
for their efforts to keep my personal library up to date.
The Scholarship Exchange Board and the Embassy of the United
States of America in Dublin financed an extended visit to the
University of Massachusetts during my thesis studies. My work
there was an important addition to my research.
I have had two editors at Macmillan. Sarah Roberts-West guided me
through the early stages of the project but it has been left to the
perceptive Margaret Cannon to suffer the trials of completing the work.
I wish to thank the School of English in Trinity College Dublin
for the opportunities they have given me and for their unstinting
support. The Department of English at Dickinson College, Carlisle
has provided me with the facilities and encouragement to complete
the final stages of my work.
During my time of study and research I have worked in non
scholastic fields. These experiences were made significant and
pleasant by the remarkable people I have met. I would like to
acknowledge the men and women, too numerous to name, who
work the night shift in the Central Telephone Exchange in Dublin.
viii
Acknowledgements ix
From an earlier career I wish to record the long and stimulating
conversations I shared with Tony Fahey.
My family has been a particular source of strength. My parents,
Michael and Margaret Callan, created a loving environment in
which to grow and constantly urged their children to do their best.
Eamonn helped me begin my studies and has never stopped
willing me on; Jeannette fed me on her surfeit of enthusiasm while
Michael has shown by example how much can be achieved. To my
wider family of in-laws, The Carsons, and especially the late Paddy
Whack and Mary, I acknowledge their extraordinary faith in such
dreams as mine.
To Breda Carsen Callan, Gillian, Gavin and Sorcha I dedicate
this book. In many ways you wrote it by making my love for
Williams not simply a matter of criticism but also a belief born out
of experience. Your love has meant the world to me.
I alone am responsible for all the errors in this book.
The author and Publisher are grateful to Carcanet Press Ltd and
New Directions Publishing Corporation, New York for permission
to reprint the following material:
Extracts from The Autobiography of William Carlos Williams © 1951
William Carlos Williams; The Build-Up, © 1946, 1952 William Carlos
Williams; The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, 1909-1939,
Volume 1 © 1938 New Directions Publishing Corporation; The Col
lected Poems of William Carlos Williams, 1939-1962, Volume II © 1962
William Carlos Williams; The Embodiment of Knowledge © 1974 Florence
H. Williams; The Farmers' Daughters © 1938 William Carlos Wil
liams; Imaginations © 1970 Florence H. Williams; In the American
Grain © 1933 William Carlos Williams; In the Money © 1940 Florence
H. Williams; Interviews with William Carlos Williams © 1976 the
Estate of William Carlos Williams; I Wanted to Write a Poem © 1958
William Carlos Williams; Many Loves and other Plays © 1948 William
Carlos Williams; Paterson © 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958 William
Carlos Williams, 1963 © Florence H. Williams; A Recognizable Image
© 1978 the Estate of William Carlos Williams; Selected Essays © 1954
William Carlos Williams; A Voyage to Pagany © 1938, 1970 New
Directions Publishing Corporation; White Mule © 1937 New Direc
tions Publishing Corporation; Selected Letters © 1957 William Carlos
Williams.
List of Abbreviations
EMERSON
CW The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 12 vols, 2nd
edn, introd. and notes Edward Waldo Emerson; introd. to
AMS edition Joel Myerson, (1903--4; rpt New York: AMS
Press, 1979).
THOREAU
A W A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, in Henry David
Thoreau: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden;
or, Life in the Woods, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod (New York:
Library of America, 1985).
CC Cape Cod, in Henry David Thoreau: A Week on the Concord
and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, The
Maine Woods, Cape Cod (New York: Library of America,
1985).
TMW The Maine Woods, in Henry David Thoreau: A Week on the
Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in the Woods,
The Maine Woods, Cape Cod (New York: Library of
America, 1985).
W Walden; or, Life in the Woods, in Henry David Thoreau: A
Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in
the Woods, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod (New York: Library
of America, 1985).
WHITMAN
LOG Leaves of Grass, eds, Sculley Bradley and Harold W.
Blodgett (1965; rpt London: W. W. Norton & Company,
1973).
x
List of Abbreviations xi
WILLIAMS
A Autobiography of William Carlos Williams (1951; rpt New
York: New Directions, 1967).
BU The Build-up: A Novel by William Carlos Williams (1952; rpt
New York: New Directions, 1968).
CP1 The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Vol. I, 1909-
1939, eds A. Walton Litz and Christopher MacGowan
(New York: New Directions, 1986).
CP2 The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams, Vol. II,
1939-69, ed. Christopher MacGowan (New York: New
Directions, 1988).
EK The Embodiment of Knowledge, ed. and introd. Ron Loewin
sohn (New York: New Directions, 1974).
FD The Farmers' Daughters: The Collected Stories of William Carlos
Williams, introd. Van Wyck Brooks (New York: New Di
rections, 1961).
I Imaginations, ed. and introd. Webster Schott (1970; rpt
New York: New Directions, 1971).
lAG In The American Grain: Essays by William Carlos Williams,
introd. Horace Gregory (1925; rpt New York: New Direc
tions, 1956).
1M In The Money: A Novel by William Carlos Williams (1940; rpt
New York: New Directions, 1967).
Int Interviews with William Carlos Williams: 'Speaking Straight
Ahead', ed. and introd. Linda Welshirner Wagner (New
York: New Directions, 1976).
IWWP I Wanted to Write a Poem: The Autobiography of the Works of a
Poet, ed. and rpt Edith Heal (1958; rpt New York: New
Directions, 1978).
ML Many Loves and other Plays: The Collected Plays of William
Carlos Williams (New York: New Directions, 1961).
P Paterson (New York: New Directions, 1963).
RI A Recognizable Image: William Carlos Williams on Art and
Artists, ed. and introd. Brarn Dijkstra (New York: New
Directions, 1978).
SE Selected Essays of William Carlos Williams (1954; rpt New
York: New Directions, 1969).
SL The Selected Letters of William Carlos Williams, ed. and
introd. John C. Thirlwall (New York: McDowell,
Obolensky, 1957).
