A Book of Poems, Al Que Quiere!

William Carlos Williams

• Publisher: Perlego
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9700000051997
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

William Carlos Williams was born in 1883 in New Jersey. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father was English. William was a true renaissance man. He became a doctor, specializing in pediatrics, and he was also a talented painter and poet. He traveled around the US and Europe, and lived for most of his life in New Jersey. Williams loved playing with language. He loved trying new things and seeing how they worked out. He experimented and tested. He thought of painting and poetry as intertwined, and maybe his learning and testing in his medical field influenced this as well. Williams brought a fresh, unusual breath to the world of poetry. He has inspired countless readers and poets throughout the years. Al Que Quiere!: a book of poems was published by Williams in 1917. He, in fact, "self-published" this - he paid $50 to the Four Seas Company in Boston to produce the book for him. Williams chose the title to mean "To Him Who Wants It." It refers to the idea of a soccer player - someone who actively wants to receive the ball. Williams was feeling as if his poetry was unappreciated and was hoping to find those curious recipients who would "receive the ball" from him. It would be another six years before Williams was ready with his famous work Spring and All. Few people read or appreciated Al Que Quiere! at the time of its publication. Still, it formed the starting path for a poet who soon would help inspire countless others. I hope you enjoy his poetry as much as I do. I'd love to hear your thoughts!