Danse Russe

Danse Russe Robert Morgan once said, “If a poem is not memorable, there’s probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable.” Most people think that one must you use a certain type of traditions meter to make good poetry. In reality there are many other ways to make great poetry, one example would be free verse. Free verse poetry is structured according to formal and rhythmic patterns invented for the particular poem. If the poet does decide to forgo elements of regular meter and traditional poetic poems, there are many alternate elements in free verse that can create a different structure. Unlike traditional poetry, poets are allowed to create their own pattern to achieve the emotional effects that he wanted to get across. In Danse Russe, Williams uses a lot of repetition of sound, while using free verse, to create his own structure that will be interesting to the reader. The pattern that he creates does a good job of connecting to the emotional or imaginative effect he is aiming for. William creates a repetition of sound in this poem by using enjambment, end-stopping, assonance and many other ways which allow him to make the reader focus on important parts, and emphasize important things. These patterns he creates work with the feeling of freedom that comes with free verse. In Danse Russe, William Carlos Williams generates a feeling of freedom, and looseness. For example Williams writes, “if I in my north room/dance naked, grotesquely/before my mirror/ waving my shirt round my head.” (7-10) In these lines Williams paints this picture of a old man who has had a long day, and needs to blow off some steam, just dancing in front his mirror freely in a room alone. The man in this poem is living free without care while he can. Williams then gives the reader a sense of insecurity, or shame while the man is standing in front of the mirror. In the poem the man says, “and singing softly to myself:/ I am lonely, lonely./ I was born to be lonely,/ I am best so!” (11-14) Williams is painting a picture of this man looking at himself dancing in front of the mirror, and he starts to notice his flaws, and any imperfections he might have. Once he notices these imperfections he begins to “sing softly” of his loneliness and how he was built to be a lonely person. In the last few lines, “If I admire, my arms, my face,/ my shoulders, flanks, buttocks/ against the yellow drawn shades,/ Who shall say I am not /the happy genius of my household?” The man starts to acknowledge his imperfections and embrace them. This makes the man more confident and he is able to enjoy himself eventually becoming the “happy genius of his household,” and no one can tell him otherwise. Williams presents a change of consciousness, at the end of the poem. He gives the reader this gloom, and shameful affect then switches it up and creates this newfound happiness and acceptance at the end.
Williams does a good job of creating this feeling by creating his own structure and pattern. He writes, “if I in north room/ dance naked, grotesquely” (7-8) these lines are a good example of enjambment; enjambment is when a poet breaks the sentence and does not follow correct grammar. If a poet had every sentence end at the same time it could deaden the poem, which would make it boring for the reader. Enjambment is a way for the poet to create his or her own pattern, and it is also a way to maintain the readers interest. Williams also uses the opposite of enjambment, which is endstopping, to create his own pattern structure. An endstopped line is a line that is broken in correspondence to correct grammar. For example Williams writes, “I am lonely, lonely./ I was born to be lonely,/ I am best so!” (12-14) As you can see all these lines are broken up in a way that is grammatically correct. Williams uses both of these because it affects the speed the readers use to read this poem. When a poet has both enjambment and endstopping in his or her poem it creates an unique pattern that effects the poem in a certain way.
Another way that Williams creates his own unique pattern in free verse is by using assonance, which also creates a repetition of sound. Assonance is when a poet uses repeated vowel sounds that can create internal rhymes within the poem. Assonance also give a poet flexibility, when he or she do not want to have a predetermined, or traditional metric pattern. In the first three lines Williams writes, “If when my wife is sleeping/ and the baby and Kathleen/ are sleeping.” (1-3) In these lines, Williams repeats the vowel sounds “ee” with “sleeping” and “Kathleen.” Williams is creating his own pattern and directing the attention of the reader to where he wants it to go. Williams hopes to give the poem a sense of continuity or fluidity, by using assonance. The use of assonance in these lines gains the attention of the reader in a way that a traditional metrical poem does.
Toward the end of the poem Williams starts to use the repetition of possessive words, like “I” and “my,” to change up his pattern in this poem. For example Williams writes, “I am lonely, lonely./ I was born to be lonely,/ I am best so!/ If I admire my arms, my face,/ my shoulders, flanks, buttocks/ against the yellow drawn shades.”(12-17) It is for one to see the reoccurrence of these possessive pronouns, Williams does this to draw the reader’s attention and focus on these certain lines. Williams wants the reader to focus on this part specifically because this is where he starts to present a change of consciousness. The man in this poem goes from feeling a sense of freedom to feeling this sense of embarrassment about his body, and he starts to notice his flaws. Williams also use these lines as a way to build up to his ending lines, “Who shall say I am not /the happy genius of my household?,” (18-19) and the point he is trying to get across in the poem. These last lines are separated from the majority of the poem, and put into a separate stanza by itself. Williams does this because these last two lines show what his main idea of the poem, and separating these lines from the poem helps draw more attention to those lines. Although it may be different, free verse can still be a good to make great poetry. Free verse allows the reader to create an emotional effect on the reader in his or her own way. When it comes to free verse pattern recognition is key. The poet use different methods to catch the reader’s attention. At times this almost works better because it allows the poet to focus the reader’s attention on what he deems necessary. Danse Russe by William Carlos Williams is a good example of a free verse poems that creates its own unique structure to make it just as good as any other poem that uses traditional meter.