Carlos Williams Influence On Modernism

Known as a physician with a hobby of writing, William Carlos Williams, born in 1883, had a particular passion for expression through poetry. Inspired and influenced growing up in Rutherford, New Jersey, Williams dedicated all of his poetry to his grandmother, Emily Dickenson Wellcome. Modernism, the era in which Williams wrote, affected his poetry, as did poets such as Walt Whitman and John Keats. Thanks to imagism and modern painting, he acquired new strategies for verse forms, which he supported from the work of French post impressionists and cubists. He found sight to be his strongest sense, causing him to write many pieces relating to the arts. Despite receiving little recognition, he was a successful writer, with many of his works published in the 1920s. After battling a heart ailment and suffering several severe strokes, Williams lost his life in 1963, but his late writing possessed insightful expression and maturity (William Carlos Williams).

The modernist era brought about popular inventions, such as electricity and wireless radio. In addition to these inventions, skyscrapers stood tall in New York City with advertisements plastered on them, showing the impact modern time had on major cities. The age brought together all different groups and aspects, including ones that would normally contradict one another. Aesthetic modernism took place between 1890 and 1930, roughly. Modernists tended to stray from reality and turn their focus towards abstraction. William Carlos Williams showed his modernist side through his free verse poetry and the usage of Imagism in his writings. Motivated by the changing times, modernist poets took advantage of the opportunity to create new forms of writing.