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"I believe that poetry should communicate: it is, by its very nature, complex, but its complexity should not prevent its making an immediate impact on the reader." -William Jay Smith

Fulfillment in the sight of sight replying,

Of sound in the sound of small birds southward flying,

In life life-giving, and in death undying.

Geraniums are annual flowers, so

even though they die in the winter,

they come back in the spring every

year

It rhymes every other line and is fun to read out loud, which is the purpose of the poem. He uses funny phrases like "Dill Pickle" to appeal to the younger audience. It describes a seal exactly how a child would imagine a seal. Children would think seals swim around the crabs, stingrays , sharks, and all the other sea creatures, although seals don't actually interact with all those animal. The poem itself was written in a flowing shape that reminds the reader of water or a seal's movements.

The imagery used in "Seal" paints a clear scene in the reader's mind of a seal swimming and diving around in the ocean. He uses simple but descriptive words like "Down he plunges/ and sweeps away" and "Back up he swims/ past Sting Ray and Shark/ out with a zoom". It is carefree and lyrical, which demonstrates Smith's mastery over many styles.

American Primitive

Q&A

Look at him there in his stovepipe hat,

His high-top shoes, and his handsome collar;

Only my Daddy could look like that,

And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.

The screen door bangs, and it sounds so funny--

There he is in a shower of gold;

His pockets are stuffed with folding money,

His lips are blue, and his hands feel cold.

He hangs in the hall by his black cravat,

The ladies faint, and the children holler:

Only my Daddy could look like that,

And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar.

How does the language and word choice add to the poem as the reader discovers the true meaning?

--William Jay Smith

Who do you think the speaker is based on the way he/she speaks? How does this effect the impact of the poem?

What literary devices did Smith use? Does he use them to reveal something significant about the poem? If so, what?

The geraniums I left last night on the windowsill,

To the best of my knowledge now, are out there still,

And will be there as long as I think they will.

uses repetition for emphasis

And will be there as long as I think that I

Can throw the window open on the sky,

A touch of geranium pink in the tail of my eye;

The World below the Window

As long as I think I see, past leaves green-growing,

Barges moving down a river, water flowing,

Fulfillment in the thought of thought outgoing,

Rhyme Scheme: aaa bbb ccc ddd

Four stanzas of three lines which shows Smith's love for traditional poetry forms.

The geraniums I left last night on the windowsill,

To the best of my knowledge now, are out there still,

And will be there as long as I think they will.

During his life, Smith studied at Washington University, Columbia University, and at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. From 1959-1967, Smith was poet in residence at Williams College. Then, he served U.S. Poet Laureate from 1968 to 1970. From 1973 until 1975, he was Chairman of the Writing Division of the School of Arts at Columbia University. Smith is currently the Professor Emeritus of English at Hollins College. Since 1975, Smith has been a member of The Academy of Arts and Letters, and was also a former vice-president for literature. His translations, critiques, and published work have all won awards. over the years. (Academy of American Poets)

Later, when he was an undergraduate, he began to translate poetry to English after reading and being inspired by Jules Laforgue's poetry. Smith was influenced by both Laforgue and T.S. Eliot, and translated and wrote criticisms on their work. He was also influenced by most other poets he translated. In the 50s Smith was a regular poetry reviewer for The New Republic. From 1961 to 1965, he became the annual poetry reviewer for Harper’s Magazine. (Smith)

Smith began writing criticism in the 1930s while working on his master's degree in French at the Institut de Touraine in Tours, France. Then, he became a liaison officer between the US navy on a French war vessel in World War II. (Smith)

Emma Nettie Bradbury was a major influence in Smith's life. Mrs. Bradbury was a theatrics teacher that helped Smith find his love of poetry and his acting skills through theater classes and performances. (Gioia)

Smith's father was described as a "powerful but troubled man" with gambling and drinking problems. In the 1930s, his father entered the bootlegging business out of the family cellar. Because of this, Smith stayed in his room at night while his father ran the speakeasy in the living room. Smith was afraid people would find out about the business and his father would be arrested. He felt like a stranger in his own home. (Gioia)

Smith's father was very disciplined, and expected the same from his son(Gioia). His father was also a musician, and played clarinet for the infantry band(Gioia). This may be where Smith drew inspiration for his love of lyrical poetic forms.

Because his father was enlisted as a corporal, Smith grew up on army bases between WWI and WWII. Most notably, he writes about his time on a base near St. Louis in his memoir, "Army Brat". (Gioia)

Smith was born on April 22, 1918, and is still alive today at the age of 94.

Poet Laureate

1968-1970

William Jay Smith

1918-

And will be there as long as I think that I

Can throw the window open on the sky,

A touch of geranium pink in the tail of my eye;

As long as I think I see, past leaves green-growing,

Barges moving down a river, water flowing,

Fulfillment in the thought of thought outgoing,

Fulfillment in the sight of sight replying,

Of sound in the sound of small birds southward flying,

In life life-giving, and in death undying.

[1957]

William Jay Smith

Smith writes poetry for both adults and children. He has shown a mastery over many different styles of witting. His more serous poems start light and "often end in an ominous detail"(Poetry Foundation).

This is an example of his last-line revelations. "Structure of Song" is also written in three stanzas of

four lines.

During a time when most poets were starting to use free verse poetry, Smith stuck with the "traditional rhymed metrical-stanzaic forms"(Poetry Foundation). He does have poems that are written in free-verse, but his poetry is usually traditional(Poetry Foundation). Smith loves harmony and measure in his poetry an dislikes any messy, non-poetic-form poems(Frank). He uses a lot of English verses like quatrains, sonnets, and couplets(Frank).

In the poem, "Structure of Song", Smith writes in a light, airy tone about how poetry and songs should "Rise smoother than the Hawk" and "so lightly should it flow". But the poem ends with the lines, "That none could ever know/ what torment gave it birth"

An example of his use of quatrains can be seen in American Primitive:

"Look at him there in his stovepipe hat,

His high-top shoes, and his handsome collar;

Only my Daddy could look like that,

And I love my Daddy like he loves his Dollar."

The poem is written in three stanzas of four lines each that has an ABAB CDCD EFEF rhyme scheme.

Smith's style

The poem starts off simple. It seems like it is just

stating things about the world that the speaker sees outside, but the last lines reveal the meaning of the rest of the poem. "Fulfillment in thought" through "death undying" shows a more optimistic tone. The speaker is reassured by the cycle of life, and that everything comes together in nature. "Fulfillment in the sight of sight replying" is like finding happiness in seeing everything outside his window work together and play their parts; the birds flying southward, the water flowing down the river and carrying the barges, and the knowledge that the geraniums will still be there. "In life life-giving, and in death undying": Things in nature help each other and create each other, like the birds are going to leave to fly south, but they are also going to have baby birds, so they create other life.

The last line in this poem demonstrates Smith's last line style.

This is one of Smith's poems for children

Seal

(As published)

A super intriguing description of the the Atelier de la Main d'Or by Smith in 2011....

(Stop video about here its actually about 45 minutes long of opera singers singing his poems...)

Works Cited

Academy Of American Poets. "William Jay Smith." Poets.org.

Academy of American Poets, 2001. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Frank, Elizabeth. "The Pleasures of Formal Poetry." The

Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Coompany, 1998. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Gioia, Dana. "The Journey of William Jay Smith."

Danagioia. Cumberland Poetry Review, 2001. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Poetry Foundation. "William Jay Smith." : The Poetry

Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 2012. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Smith, William Jay. "The Role of the Poet-Critic: William

Jay Smith." Interview by Garrick Davis. The Contemporary Poet Review. Contemporary Poet Review, 2008. Web. 2012. <http://www.cprw.com/Davis/smith.htm>.

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