Paterson (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Carlos Williams
- First Published: 1946
- Type of Work: Long poem
- Genres: Poetry, Epic, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: 1950’s, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Folkloric or magical people, Love or romance, 1940’s, Poetry or poets, New Jersey, City life, Death or dying, Rivers or waterways, Witches or witchcraft, Atomic bomb, Cities or towns
- Locales: Paterson, NJ
Paterson is a long poem originally in four parts, or books, published separately in 1946, 1948, 1949, and 1951, although sections of them had existed in various forms in earlier works. Williams added a fifth part in 1958, and fragments of the incomplete Book VI were published posthumously (1963) as an appendix to the collection of the first five parts. According to most critics, Paterson is one of Williams's greatest works and one of the finest long poems written by an American.
Like most long modern poems that abandon traditional narrative forms, Paterson...
[The entire page is 1505 words long]
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